Emotional Behaviours Flashcards
Emotion is defined as having three elements
cognition, action (physiological), feeling
Emotional situations arouse which nervous system
Autonomic nervous system
Common-sense view of emotion
Snake - fear - running away, increased heart rate
James-Lange view of emotion
Snake - running away, increased heart rate - fear / snake - appraisal - running away, increased HR - fear
James-Lange predictions
Those with weak physical response should feel less emotion, increasing one’s autonomic or motor response should enhance emotion
Those with “pure autonomic failure” can still recognize emotion
but do not feel it as strongly
You may need to be able to move the muscles in your face in order to experience empathy - true/false
True
How can we increase emotion, according to James-Lange
Drugs that increase arousal (eg. caffeine), mimicking facial expressions (eg. pen in teeth vs. lips)
Forebrain areas surrounding the thalamus, traditionally regarded as critical for emotion
Limbic system
Other areas involved in emotion
Many areas of cerebral cortex, especially the frontal and temporal lobes
Disgust
Insular cortex - also primary taste cortex
Left Hemisphere (behaviour)
Behavioural activation system (approach), marked by low to moderate arousal, happiness & anger
Left hemisphere asymmetry (personality)
Happier, more outgoing, friendlier
Right hemisphere (behaviour)
Behavioural inhibition system (avoidance), increased arousal, fear & disgust
Right hemisphere asymmetry (personality)
socially withdrawn, less satisfied with life, prone to unpleasant emotions
Functions of emotion
Adaptive responses, decision making, moral decision making
Attack behaviours
Corticomedial area of amygdala. First attack response increases likelihood of another
Agressive behaviours - environmental factors
exposure to lead, witness/victim of violence in childhood, violent neighborhood
Twin studies in aggressive behaviours
monozygotic > dizygotic
Low MAOa + childhood maltreatment
high antisocial behaviour
High MAOa + childhood maltreatment
lower antisocial behaviour
High testosterone
higher rates of violent behaviour
Triple imbalance hypothesis
Cortisol, serotonin, testosterone. High rates of violence when cortisol is low and testosterone is high. Serotonin inhibits violent impulses.
Testosterone might inhibit the ability to recognize angry behaviour - true/false
true. May increase response of amygdala, and decrease ability of cerebral cortex to identify and regulate.
Turnover
the amount of neurotransmitter that is released and resynthesized by neurons
low serotonin turnover =
high aggressive behaviour
low levels of 5-HIAA indicate
low serotonin levels
serotonin levels are influenced by
diet, genetics, tryptophan hydroxylase
Amygdala is crucial in
regulating fear
The startle reflex is
very fast, mediated by medulla and pons, unlearned
fear signals enhance startle, pleasant decrease - true/false
true
Amygdala to hypothalamus
automatic reaction
Amygdala to prefrontal cortex
approach/avoid
Amygdala damage results in
startle response not enhanced by fear inducing stimuli
Damage to amydala does not remove all emotion - true/false
true
Urbache-Wiethe disease
buildup of calcium in the amygdala - results in fearlessness and difficulty processing emotion on faces
fMRI of amygdala shows
activity is strongest when processing ambiguous emotional facial expressions
Bed nuclius of the stria terminalis
regulates long term, generalized emotional arousal
Panic disorder
women > men, possible genetic component (15% joint laxity), abnormalities in the hypothalamus, decreased GABA increased orexin
Drugs intended to control anxiety
alter activity at amygdala synapses. Excitatory NT CCK and orexin, inhib NT GABA.
Anxiolytic drugs
target GABA
Benzodiazepines are most commonly used anxiolytic drugs
bind to GABA
