emotion pt1 Flashcards
3 components of emotional response
behavioural- muscle movemnts for situation
autnomic- facilitate behavioural by providing quick mobilisation and energy for actions
hormonal- reinforce autonomic e.g hormones and converting glucose to energy
what 3 things is amygdala made up of
lateral nucleus
central nucleus
basal nucleus
what happens in terms of fear if central nucleus is damaged
reduces range of emotional and behavioural fear responses
what happens if central nucleus is stimulated artifically (animals) and what does this mean
animals display physiological and behavioural fear responses
long term= stress induced illness
means, central nucleus and amygdala involved
what is an autonomic fear response
automatic stimulation of CN of amygdala
no learning required to fear these
what is a conditioned emotional (fear) response
learn some situations are dangerous
neutral stimulus is followed by another stimulus which causes response (fear)
conditioned stimulus process
US = UR
NS and US = UR
NS becomes CS = CR
how doe CN receive emotional info
from lateral nucleus
what occurs if were exposed to conditioned stimulus without negative stimulus (loud noise)
learn conditioned stimulus is no longer followed by negative
conditioned response is inhibited
vmPFC plays role in inhibiting
3 peices of evidence to support vmPFC plays part in inhibiting conditioned stimulus
stimulation of vmPFC inhibits conditioned stimulus
extinction training activates vmPFC neurons
lesions in vmPFC impair extinction
which 2 ways are conditioned responses in humans likely to be aquired
socially- child may fear dogs observing anothers’ phobia
through instruction - if you’re told fire alarm means fire, you fear response at sound of alarm
patient SM case study and what this means (amygdala damage)
bilateral amygdala damage
impaired fear conditioning, recognition of fear expressions and behaviour in relation to fear
in pet shop, verbally reports fear of spiders and snakes but picks them up
haunted house, doesn’t fear, talks to monsters
so, amygdala must play a part in fear responses
3 ways of neural control of aggression
sensory system- perceive thread through this
hypothalmus and amygdala control activity and circuits of brain
neural circuits- control movement when attacking or defending (animal)
how does serotonin impact aggression
higher serotonin= aggression inhibition and so lower aggression
lower serotonin= no aggression inhibition and so higher aggression
how is serotonin levels measured
some serotonin 5HT escapes reuptake
its broken down to 5-HIAA and ends up in cerebrospinal fluid
increased levels of 5-HIAA means more serotongeric activity
serotonic activity, aggression and rhesus moneky study
measured rates of 5-HIAA in monkeys, tracked for 4 years
monkeys with low, increased risk taking behaviour, most were killed
monkeys with high, more likley survived
role of serotonin in humans
lower levels of 5-HIAA, associated with aggression, anti social behaviour
MZ and DZ twins and antisocial concordance rates
MZ = higher concordance
supposedly same DNA so same 5-HIAA levels and same AB levels
serotonin plays part
role of vmPFC in aggression
input to vmPFC- info about whats happening in environment
what plans are being made by rest of frontal lobes
output from vmPFC- affect behaviors and physiological responses, including emotional responses from amygdala
phineas gage case study (vmPFC support)
damage to prefrontal region
= personality change
damage to prefrontal and vmPFC results in problems with planning, moral judgements and emotional control, which gage struggled with
EVR case study (vmPFC support)
observed personality changes and visual disturbance
had large meningioma that squished prefrontal lobes including vmPFC
after surgery, things back to usual but, bankruptcy, couldn’t keep job, divorce, disorganized (vmPFC)
role of vmPFC and moral desion making (train dilema)
impersonal moral dilema- train run over 1 or 5
perosnal moral dilema- train run over 5 or psuh 1 off bridge to save
personal dilema activates vmPFC, vmPFc patients made logical desicion even for personal dilema
what is claimed the vmPFC acts as an interface between
interface between brain mechanisms involved in automatic emotion response
and mechanisms involved in control of complex behaviours
what is the james-lange theory of emotion
an event in environment triggers behaviour, autonomic and endocrine responses
feedback from these responses produces feelings of emotion
hohman 1966 study (support for james-lange theory)
aimed to describe any alterations in forms of emotional feeling that may have occured due to spinal cord injury
used a structured interview, recall and discuss emotional experiences before and after injury
hohman study results for each emotion interviewed
overall- decreased feelings of anger, sexual excitemnt, fear and overall feelings
increase in sentimentality
concludes- supports view that disruption to autonomic nervous system causes changes in experienced emotional feelings
higher lesions experienced greater reduction in emotional feeling
4 critiques of hohmans study
experimenter bias as he was parapeligic
lack validity and reliability as self report and some injuries were 17 years ago
unique sample so unrepresentative
no control group
what is the cannon-bard theory of emotion
thalamus sends simultaneous signals to cortex (conscious experience) and autonomic nervous system (arousal)
severed nerves in ANS of cats
cats not able to experience somatic signals in ANS but could still display anger, fear and pleasure
