Emotion lecture 4 Flashcards
Describe constructed emotion theory and name the person who is most associated with it
Lisa Feldman Barrett:
Conscious feelings are constructed from sub-components. Similar to appraisal theory, but without distinct processing stages. Emotions are constructed from other elements (like molecules). Core affect (arousal, valence) as a low dimensional representation of interoceptive sensations.
For the construction of an emotion, knowledge, thoughts, memories, concepts are added to this core bodily feeling. There is no differentiation between emotion state, conscious experience, and emotion concepts
Are emotions innate according to constructed emotion theory? What implication does this have for the neural correlates of emotion?
Emotions are socially constructed categories, not natural kinds. Rejects “basic emotions”, emotion categories are just linguistic labels constructed in the minds of laypeople or in the minds of scientists. Typologies (e.g. categories like fear or anger) are thought to vary by epoch and culture => There are no brain systems for distinct emotions
If there are no specialised brain networks for particular kinds of emotions in constructed emotion theory, how do describe emotions through brain activity?
They explain that domain-general processes (e.g memory, perception, attention) work together to construct an emotion episode on the fly, as a particular situation requires it. Different brain areas are associated with there domain general processes.
What brain areas did they associate with the domain of Core effect? (6)
Amygdala, insula, OFC, ACC, hypothalamus, PAG
What brain areas did they associate with the domain of conceptualisation of the emotion? (2)
Medial PFC, posterior cingulate
What brain areas did they associate with the domain of the emotion words? (6)
Inferior frontal gyrus, anterior temporal cortex
What brain area did they associate with the domain of the executive attention?
Dorsolateral PFC
In what two ways can basic emotion theory have neural correlates?
Locationist view-specific brain areas for specific emotions
Alternatively, specialized brain networks or circuits for (particular kinds of) emotions
How was an attempt made to determine which of these two theories are true?
Meta-analyses of brain imaging studies
•Compiled results from a set of individual studies, which often have low statistical power. Many different meta-analytical methods for compiling data cross individual studies.
Predictions from basic vs. constructed emotion theory:
Basic emotion: Specific neural profile (brain areas, networks, or circuits) for specific emotions
Constructed emotion: All emotion categories distributed across multiple overlapping regions
Why is it difficult to conduct a meta analysis over emotion studies?
They may use different visual, auditory, and recall induction methods across studies and for different emotions etc. We have to accept that we average across this broad range of experimental approaches and they might come to different results individually.
What results were obtained from the meta-analysis on 55 older fMRI and PET studies?
They found some evidence for
- fear-specificity in the amygdala,
- anger-specificity in the anterior cingulate and OFC,
- happiness and disgust in the basal ganglia
- No specificity in insula and a general role of the PFC.
This gave some evidence for the locationist basic emotion theory
What conclusions did the meta-analysis on 91 fMRI and PET studies conducted by constructivists come to?
They focused on the amygdala, insula, IOFC and pACC. They stated that evidence for basic emotion theories would be found through correlating brain activity in these regions to the emotion which they are associated with. This was not found to be the case, in each of the brain areas there were other emotions that evoked equally, if not more consistent activity.
This showed evidence for no specific brain areas for specific emotions therefore evidence against strictly locationist views.
A further meta-analysis was compiled from the same group with more advanced methods using 148 fMRI and PET studies. Describe the conclusions drawn.
Firstly they arrived at a similar conclusion, that there are no specific brain areas for specific emotions. However they then tried to decode across these brain areas, to see if there was a certain pattern of brain activity which distinguished these emotions.
They found that although emotion categories can not be linked to specific brain areas, the patterns within these brain areas distinguish these emotions pretty well and consistently. This suggests that there are unique patterns of network activity.
What overall conclusions could be drawn for these meta-analyses?
No specific brain areas for specific emotion categories
=> Against strictly locationist basic emotion theories
Unique patterns of distributed activity for every emotion category
=>Against fully domain-general constructionist emotion theories
What type of emotional theories are also referred to as Neo-jamesian and why is that?
Interoceptive theories; because the claim that body representations are key for feelings
Name and briefly mention the focus point of two of these interoceptive theories of emotion
Antonio damasio’s (neurologist) theory- focused more on the role of emotions in decision making (in impaired decision making in patients with brain damage.)
Bud Craig’s (neuroanatomist) theory- discovered the ‘lamina 1’ interoceptive system.
Describe Damasio’s patient, Elliot
a modern-day Phineas Gage: Tumor removal damaged orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Intact intelligence, memory, language comprehension and production, visual perception, and attention. Intact knowledge of social and moral norms, but can’t use this knowledge to his own advantage in the social and personal realm => fired at work, unstable relationships
What observations and inferences did damassio draw from this patient and other OFC patients
The Gage matrix: “To know but not feel”
•OFC patients show normal skin conductance response (SCR) to loud noise or bright light (capable of becoming aroused)
•However, no SCR to gruesome images or emotional memories
•“Gage matrix” as alterations in emotional reactivity leading to great difficulties in making advantageous decisions in social and personal life despite intact cognitive and intellectual functions
To which other cases did Damasio draw comparisons to Elliot and what were the similarities?
Patients with a right somatosensory cortex lesion. e.g DJ could not move the left side of her body after a stroke. She denied the existence of her paralysis until he asked her to show him her left arm moving when she acknowledged it briefly. This denial of a, or lack of awareness of a disease is called anosognosia.
Damasio claimed that in anosognosia, one main characteristic is that you also have altered emotions and decision making. Patients seem completely unconcerned about their physical condition and loss of emotion leads to poor life choices (e.g. not engaging in rehabilitation therapy). Damasio observed parallels in the Elliot case in which he denied the disease and not being emotionally moved by the changes occurring.
What conclusions did Damassio draw from these similarities in patients?
These observations did not occur in those with left hemispheric lesions. He concluded that right somatosensory cortices representing external (touch, temperature, pressure, pain) and internal body sensors (viscera) are key for emotions and social/ personal decisions.
How did Damassio put everything together to discern two types of emotion? Describe this
He put together his observations from Amygdala lesions, OFC lesions, right somatosensory cortex lesions. He concluded that:
Primary emotions: Innate or simple learned responses to salient features of an external stimulus, mediated by the amygdala
=> Intact in Elliot (SCR to loud tones, bright light). Impaired in S.M. (bilateral amygdala damage)
Secondary emotions: Acquired through learning about emotional consequences of our behavior, can be activated mediated by the OFC.
=>Impaired in Elliot (no SCR to gruesome pictures and emotional memories) and in S.M
How did Domassio tie in the role of the somatosensory cortex into his theory?
Secondary emotions in the OFC activate the body via the amygdala and body changes are registered in somatosensory cortex. These somatic markers (“gut feeling”) triggered by the OFC provide a summary of our past experiences with a stimulus. They work through body loops (circle of connections from brain to the body and back to the brain. Bodily responses are then sensed by somatosensory cortices as feelings. As-if loops which did not have connections to the rest of the body meant that body representations in somatosensory cortices can be activated directly without actually inducing the full-fledged body responses. This protected against some of the criticisms against James’ theory.
Domassio tasked a student of his with developing a test which could actually capture what is going wrong with patients like Elliot ( who passed regular neuro-psychological tests in the lab.) Describe the measure which was constructed
One issue that they identified with this neuro-psychological test is that they they have no real consequences and they don’t require any emotional engagement which is what goes wrong in Elliot’s case.
For this they developed the Iowa gambling task which is supposed to measure real life value based decision making: “Good” decks pay out initially less, but “bad” decks come with massive losses every now and then
•Normal players learn to take from the good decks over time
•Patients with OFC damage continue to take from the bad decks
With this new theory, Domassio wanted to put it to the test with his new task. Describe how he did this
He had patients and controls perform the Iowa gambling task while he measured SCR. SCR was the same for participants and controls after turning over a card. However there was an SCR difference in the anticipatory phase, a few seconds before choice: larger for bad decks, but only in controls, even before controls could explicitly label the decks (”pre-hunch”). Even with explicit knowledge (“conceptual period”), OFC patients continue to take from bad deck. Also 70% of control participants reached this conceptual period while only 50% of the patients did.
