Chapter 3 Flashcards
Which broad region of the brain evolved first?
Subcortical region
Explain bidirectional control
Label the explanations
Subcortical activations send excitatory and inhibitory info to the cortical brain (bottom-up)
Cortical activations send excitatory and inhibitory info to the subcortical brain
How does the cortical brain look in terms of appearance?
Bulging, grooved, wrinkled surface
At what level does the cortical brain function?
Conscious, intentional, and purposive level
What kinds of motivations is the cortical brain associated with? Examples?
Cognitively-rich motivations
Goals, plans, strategies, values, and beliefs about the self
What kinds of activities does the cortical brain engage in?
Self-control, resisting temptation, decision-making, assessing risk, self-regulation
Subcortical brain structurally
Small nuclei that make up the anatomic core of the brain
What is the subcortical brain associated with?
Examples?
Basic urges and emotion-rich motivations
Hunger, thirst, anger, fear, anxiety, pleasure, desire, reward, and warning
Bi-directional communications
Examples
Almost all individual brain structures project out nerve fibres that act as info superhighways to communicate reciprocally with other brain structures
Affective subcortical brain and cognitive cortical brain are two interacting systems that are often in competition and conflict with one another (e.g., decision-making, delay of gratification, short-term vs. long-term goals)
7 key brain regions in motivation
PFC
Anterior cingulate cortex
OFC
Hypothalamus
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Reticular formation
What 3 structures are part of the basal ganglia?
Global pallidus
Caudate nucleus and putamen
Substantia nigra
Name 6 subcortical structures
Reticular formation
Amygdala
Basal ganglia
Ventral tegmental area
Striatum and nucleus accumbens
Hypothalamus
Associated motivational or emotional experience with reticular formation
Arousal, alertness, wakefulness
Associated motivational or emotional experience with amygdala
Detects, learns about, and responds to the stimulus properties of environmental objects, including threat-eliciting and reward-eliciting associations
Where does the amygdala send signals?
Hypothalamus
Associated motivational or emotional experience with basal ganglia
Motivational modulation of movement and action
What 2 subcortical structures are involved in the DA pathway?
Ventral tegmental area
Striatum & nucleus accumbens
Associated motivational or emotional experience with ventral tegmental area
Starting point in the brain’s DA-based reward centre
Manufactures and releases DA
Associated motivational or emotional experience with striatum & nucleus accumbens
Brain’s reward centre
Responds to signals of reward (DA release) to produce pleasure, wanting, liking, and approach
Associated motivational or emotional experience with hypothalamus
Responsive to natural rewards in the regulation of eating, drinking, mating
Regulates both the endocrine system and the ANS
What does the amygdala detect?
Presence vs. absence of reward
Value or quality of the available reward
Predictability of the reward
Costs associated with trying to obtain the potential reward
Use a real-world example to explain the responsiveness of the amygdala to the rewarding properties of environmental events
If there is an attractive, emotionally-charged stimulus in the environment, the amygdala will detect it, evaluate it, and respond to it (e.g., I see a cup of orange juice. It is sweet; it is a cool and refreshing temperature)
Insula
Represents bodily-based feelings
How does the dopamine-based reward system work?
DA-based reward circuit begins in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) where DA is manufactured and then released to the nucleus accumbens (NA)
From the NA, the reward centre extends into the PFC, which is involved in the subjective experience of pleasure, and into the OFC, which stores the object’s teamed reward value
When is DA release greatest?
When rewarding events occur in ways that are unpredicted or under-repdicted
A very attractive - but highly expected - stimulus does not produce much DA release
What does DA release occur more with? Why?
Anticipation of reward than it does for the actual receipt of reward Because DA release facilitates learning and approaching, not necessarily consuming
As wanting increases, liking
Decreases
Emotion-related benefits and costs of behavioural escape strategies from negative feelings
Pros: Mild short-term boost in positive affect that indirectly alleviates negative feelings
Cons: Reduces long-term capacity for positive affect, because fewer face-to-face interactions
DA release and incentives
Incentives (stimuli that foreshadow the imminent delivery of rewards) triggers DA release
DA release and reward
DA release teaches us which events in the environments are rewarding
DA and motivated action
DA release activates voluntary goal-directed approach responses
DA and addictions
Addictive drugs are potent reinforcers because their repeated usage produces hypersensitivity to DA stimulation (i.e., cravings)
True or false? Emotions strengthen explicit memories
True
Motivation and memory
Example
Motivation often depends on memory
Emotionally charged events are remembered better
Memory of emotional events shapes future goal-setting
Emotionally salient events drive behaviour
The joy of achieving a goal motivates persistence
The role of amygdala in emotion and memory
Amygdala is key to processing emotional experiences
Enhances memory encoding for emotionally salient events
Works with the hippocampus to store vivid emotional memories
Stronger memories of emotional events influence future decisions
How to apply the role of amygdala in emotion and memory to real life
Use emotionally engaging goals to boost motivation
Positive emotions reinforce effort and persistence
Emotional memory can guide adaptive decision-making (e.g., remembering praise from a teacher drives academic success)
Flashbulb memories
Rapidly formed under conditions of extreme emotions
Vivid and long-lasting
What characterizes flashbulb memories?
Confidence, not consistency
Consistency for both flashbulb and everyday memories declines
Despite this, ratings of vividness, recollection, belief in accuracy remains high for flashbulb memories
6 structures of cortical brain
Insula
PFC
OFC
Ventromedial PFC
Dorsolateral PFC
Anterior cingulate cortex
Associated motivational or emotional experience with insula
Monitors bodily states to produce gut-felt feelings
Processes feelings associated with empathy, intrinsic motivation, risk, uncertainty, pain, and personal agency
Associated motivational or emotional experience with PFC
Makes plans, sets goals, formulates intentions
Right hemispheric activity is associated with negative affect and “no go” avoidance motivation; left hemispheric activity is associated with positive affect and “go” approach motivation
Associated motivational or emotional experience with OFC
Evaluates and stores reward-related value of environmental objects and events to formulate preferences and make choices between options
Associated motivational or emotional experience with ventromedial PFC
Evaluates and stores the unlearned emotional value of environmental events and internal body states
Responsible for emotional control
Associated motivational or emotional experience with dorsolateral PFC
Evaluates and stores the learned emotional value of environmental events and possible courses of action
Responsible for control over urges and evaluates risk during the pursuit of long-term goals
Associated motivational or emotional experience with anterior cingulate cortex
Monitors motivational conflicts
Resolves conflicts by recruiting other cortical brain structures for executive (cognitive) control over basic urges and emotions
Where is the insular cortex located?
Lies deep in the brain between the cortical and subcortical areas
Posterior insula
Receives internal bodily info from subcortical areas
Anterior insula
Integrates and processes bodily info received by posterior insula
Left insula
Associated with processing of positive emotions (pleasure, satisfaction, etc.)
Right insula
Associated with processing of negative emotions (pain, disgust, etc.)
What does insula contribute to?
Subjective experience of emotions and bodily state
“Gut feelings” and risk
Sense of self
Empathy
What makes a serial killer?
Important for empathy
May explain sociopathic behaviour
Less gray matter as compared to controls
Epigenetic influences
What does anterior insula activity correlate with?
Experience of felt satisfaction during a task
DLPFC
Evaluation of learned emotional meaning and value of objects and events (impulse control)
Anterior cingulate cortex
Resolution in decision-making
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex
Evaluation of emotional value of natural rewards (judgment)
OFC
Reward value of object and events, delayed gratification
3 essential hormones underlying motivation, emotion, and behaviour
Cortisol
Testosterone
Oxytocin
Cortisol
Stress hormone
When is cortisol activated?
In reaction to social-evaluative threats
Time duration of cortisol
Short-term adaptive function, but long-term association with poor intellectual functioning, negative affect, poor health outcomes
Testosterone
Associated with high competition, status-seeking, and sexual motivation
Underlies status-seeking behaviour (especially after status is questioned)
Underlies the mating effort (but low levels associated with better parenting)
Oxytocin
Bonding hormone
Supports the tend and befriend stress response
Raises trust in others
Motivates seeking the counsel, support, and nurturance of others during times of stress
What does goal breakthrough model explain?
Explains where new, better, creative ideas and life goals come from
5 steps of goal breakthrough model in order
Dissatisfaction
Preparation
Incubation
Illumination
Creative breakthrough
What networks are involved in dissatisfaction?
Default mode network
Salience network
What networks are involved in preparation?
Cognitive control network
What networks are involved in incubation?
Default mode network
What networks are involved in illumination?
Salience network
What damages the hippocampus?
Chronic stress
What does the DLPFC play a crucial role in?
Motivation by facilitating the initiation of goal-directed behaviours, essentially translating goals into action
What can the DLPFC modulate?
DA signals from the VTA
What does the DLPFC get?
VTA input, helps to sustain effort for long-term rewards and complex decision-making
What is the DLPFC important for?
Delayed rewards
How is the DLPFC related to evaluation?
Evaluation of the learned emotion meaning and value of objects and events
What does the anterior cingulate cortex do?
Conflict resolution and aiding other areas like the dlPFC and vnPFC in decision-making
Where does the OFC project to and from?
The VTA reward circuit
What does the OFC focus more on?
Moment-to-moment reward evaluation and adjusting behaviour based in reward changes
