Emotions Flashcards
slides 1-13
How do we conceptualise emotions?
We can illustrate them in models (ex. The Circumplex Model)
What are the brain structures involved in the processing of emotions called?
Circuit models
Explain the relation between the limbic system and emotional processing
- Originally, people thought that the limbic system was mostly involved in emotional processing but this basis is now outdates
- Many areas that are linked to the limbic system perform functions different from emotional processing
How are emotions triggered, and how are they perceived?
- It is still debated whether the feeling state of emotions is triggered by an awareness of automatic bodily changes (James-Lange Theory) OR we first perceive emotions which then triggers the bodily changes
Explain the James-Lange Theory
- It argues that perception triggers bodily emotional responses, which then trigger the emotional perception
How does The Cicumplex Model classify emotions?
- By how they activate/deactivate a person (arousal levels)
- By whether they are pleasant or unpleasant
How does the circuit-based model classify emotions?
It uses brain circuits involved in processing specific emotions to classify the emotions
Explain fear conditioning
- Pairing a neutral stimulus with an aversive stimulus result in fear conditioning
- The neutral stimulus presented on its own results in fear responses
Explain the concept of unlearning in fear conditioning
- If the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the aversive stimulus after stimulus, the fear response will diminish
- a.k.a. Extinction = Unlearning
How does skin conductance measure changes in emotional states?
- Emotionally arousing (positive or negative) stimuli cause us to sweat more
- This changes the electrical conductivity of the skin, which can thus be measured
- Ex. use in lie-detector tests
Explain the Damasio’s card game (somatic marker hypothesis)
- Your bodily reactions trigger consciousness but also as markers to detect danger
- Visceral responses first, then forms conscious perception of fear to guide behaviour
- Supports James-Lange Theory
- explain the card game’s concept
How do amygdala pathways play a role in emotional processing?
- Many cortical areas send inputs to the amygdala
- continue from slide 27
Explain how emotional processing entails estimation of value?
- Neural regions central to emotional processing include the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the amygdala
- Within the OFC, there are the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the lateral orbitofrontal cortex
- The OFC is a key area in enabling somatic markers to influence value-based decision making and learning
Explain the high and low roads to the amygdala for emotional processing
- The amygdala receives visual information along two pathways
- The visual information activates affective memories through the cortical “high road” and subcortical “low road” projections to the amygdala
- Produces autonomic changes (ex. increase in heart rate and blood pressure) AND influences the subsequent actions through the projections to the frontal cortex
- The individual will use this emotion-laden information in choosing their next action
Explain the differences between the high road and the low road of the amygdala
- The cortical (slow/high) road entails high level processing of
information, where most likely conscious awareness of e.g.
danger triggers fear and the associated responses. - The subcortical low road allows for fast processing of potential danger/benefit, and physical reactions can be triggered before an awareness of and emotion.
How is fear conditioning induced in humans?
By pairing the presentation of a neutral stimulus to an aversive response (e.g. presence of a blue square is followed by a mild electric shock to the hand)
- Presenting the conditioned stimulus alone will result in autonomic fear responses after the conditioning process (e.g. changes in skin conductance)
Explain the process of implicit and explicit fear learning
- slide 37
How does fear conditioning show in humans?
slide 39-40
What are the 2 types of learning systems that operate separately?
- Hippocampus
- Mediates learning by awareness (declarative memory system) - Amygdala
- Mediates conditioned autonomic responses
- Amygdala activation aids the retention of hippocampus dependent memories (emotional events are much better remembered)
Explain how S.M. shows deficits in interpreting emotions
slides 42-46
How does the size of eye whites affect amygdala responses to fearful expressions?
- Volume of eye whites is greater in fearful expression than in happy/neutral expressions
- Activity in the left ventral amygdala in response to eye whites and eye blacks relative to fixation demonstrate that fearful eye whites alone induce increased response above baseline
Define “implicit attitude”
slide 47
Differentiate between implicit learning and explicit learning
slide 48
