Chapter 17 - Biopsychology of Emotion, Stress, and Health Flashcards
James-Lange theory
The theory that emotion-inducing sensory stimuli are received and interpreted by the cortex, which triggers changes in the visceral organs via the autonomic nervous system and in the skeletal muscles via the somatic nervous system. Then, the autonomic and somatic responses trigger the experience of emotion in the brain.
Cannon-Bard theory
The theory that emotional experience and emotional expression are parallel processes that have no direct causal relation
Decorticate
Lacking a cortex
Sham rage
The exaggerated, poorly directed aggressive responses of decorticate animals
Limbic system
A collection of interconnected nuclei and tracts that ring the thalamus
Klüver-Bucy syndrome
The syndrome of behavioral changes (e.g., lack of fear and hypersexuality) that is induced in primates by bilateral damage to the anterior temporal lobes
Amygdala
A structure in the anterior temporal lobe, just anterior to the hippocampus; plays a role in emotion
Polygraphy
A method of interrogation that employs ANS indexes of emotion to infer the truthfulness of a person’s responses
Control-question technique
A lie-detection interrogation method in which the polygrapher compares the physiological responses to target questions with the responses to control questions
Guilty-knowledge technique
A lie-detection method in which the polygrapher records autonomic nervous system responses to a list of control and crime-related information known only to the guilty person and the examiner; also known as the concealed information test.
Facial feedback hypothesis
The hypothesis that our facial expressions can influence the emotions we experience
Duchenne smile
A genuine smile, one that includes contraction of the facial muscles called the orbicularis oculi
Fear
The emotional reaction that is normally elicited by the presence or expectation of threatening stimuli
Defensive behaviors
Behaviors whose primary function is protection from threat or harm
Aggressive behaviors
Behaviors whose primary function is to threaten or harm other organisms
Alpha male
The dominant male of a colony
Target-site concept
The idea that aggressive and defensive behaviors of an animal are often designed to attack specific sites on the body of another animal while protecting specific sites on its own
Fear conditioning
Establishing fear of a previously neutral conditional stimulus by pairing it with an aversive unconditional stimulus
Contextual fear conditioning
The process by which benign contexts (situations) come to elicit fear through their association with fear-inducing stimuli
Hippocampus
A structure of the medial temporal lobes that plays a role in various forms of memory
Lateral nucleus of the amygdala
The nucleus of the amygdala that plays the major role in the acquisition, storage, and expression of conditioned fear
Prefrontal cortex
The areas of frontal cortex that are anterior to the frontal motor areas
Central nucleus of the amydala
A nucleus of the amygdala that is thought to control defensive behavior
Urbach-Wiethe disease
A genetic disorder that often results in the calcification of the amygdala and surrounding brain structures
