Emotion

Question 1

Describe the 3 suggested components of emotion and how these can be tested in research.

Answer 1

1. A physiological reaction to a stimulus
   (scoring/measuring)
2. A behavioural response
   (measure)
3. A feeling
   (questionnaires/scales)

Question 2

Differentiate between emotion and related terms (i.e. affect).

Answer 2

• Emotions fall under the umbrella term of
  affect, which includes not only discrete
  emotions that have a relatively short
  duration, but also more diffuse, longer-
  lasting states such as chronic stress and
  mood
• Five basic emotions (happiness, sadness,
  anger, fear, disgust)
• Temperament: Predisposition to experience
  a certain emotion

Question 3

Describe ethical and methodological problems when studying emotions.

Answer 3

• Ethical concerns in humans
  
  • Relive painful events, eliciting unpleasant
    emotions
• Methodological concerns in humans
  
  • Subjective nature (introspection)
  • Subcortical structures, highly complex and
    interconnected
  • Both short-term and long-term effects
    (hormonal effects, mood)
  • Variation across and within subjects

Question 4

Explain the categorical and dimensional theories of emotion.

Answer 4

• relate to emoji culture
• The categorical theory proposes the
  existence of six basic, distinct and
  universal emotions, with clear
  boundaries separating emotional states.
  (sadness, happiness, fear, anger,
  surprise and disgust)
• The dimensional theory proposes the
  existence of the two fundamental
  dimensions of valence and arousal,
  which form an emotional space.

Question 5

Briefly describe methods to study physiological and behavioral parameters of emotion.

Answer 5

• If we can measure it, then it is physiological (biometrically measureable)
• If we can observe it, then it is behavioural
  (verbally (through words and tone of
  voice) or by using nonverbal
  communication, including the use of
  body language or facial expressions)

Question 6

Compare and contrast the input/output and the role of the main subnuclei of the amygdala in emotional processing.

Answer 6

• Lateral nucleus: convergence of input
• Central nucleus: initiating emotional
  response

Question 7

Explain the concept and the neural substrates of fear conditioning and describe how fear conditioning may be studied in rodents and humans.

Answer 7

• fear conditioning is studied by presenting
  a stimulus in association with another
  fear-evoking stimulus

Question 8

Describe the role of the high and low road in emotional processing and the brain areas involved in these roads.

Answer 8

• Low road
  
  • Quick automatic processing
  • Fixed responses
• High road
  
  • Modified by cognition
  • Slower, more accurate, re-evaluation

Question 9

Describe how the amygdala influences explicit learning (instructed fear) and how it influences the hippocampus under these circumstances.

Answer 9

• instructed fear has less amygdala activation than conditioned fear

Question 10

Be able to describe both the fear conditioning and the instructed fear paradigm involving the respective brain areas.

Answer 10

• Amygdala: implicit emotional learning
  
  • Meaning you learn subconsciously, bodily
    response
  • Fear conditioning (compare with rat
    experiments)
• Hippocampus: explicit emotional learning
  
  • Meaning you know what is coming
  • You can explain, talk about it
  • Instructed fear paradigm

Question 11

Describe the memory modulation theory (how mild arousal affects memory).

Answer 11

• Lasting memories are emotional and
  arousing; labelled as important
• Amygdala modulates memory through
  (mild) arousal
• More activation = stronger memory (slower
  forgetting)
• But: chronic, extreme stress impairs
  memory

Question 12

Describe the main ideas about the effects of chronic stress on hipppocampal and amygdala functioning and its link to PTSD pathology and symptoms.

Answer 12

• Chronically elevated cortisol levels cause:
  
  • Dendritic atrophy in the hippocampus
  • Dendritic outgrowth in the amygdala
• Behavioral symptoms of chronic stress?
  
  • Mild to moderate amnesia for everyday
    events
  • Reliving of stressful events: many types of
    input trigger a fear response or original
    feelings of trauma
  • Link to PTSD

Question 13

Describe the role of the amygdala in the recognition of facial expressions, including deficits of patient SM (amygdala lesions). Be able to come up with examples of studies showing this.

Answer 13

• Patient S.M. had severe atrophy of the
  amygdala due to a rare genetic disorder,
  with the brain tissue now replaced by
  cerebrospinal fluid (black)
• was thus unable to recognize or experience
  fear
• dendritic atrophy