Emotions Flashcards
What part of the brain processes the cognitive aspect of emotions ?
The neocortex
What system processes raw reflexive feelings ?
The lymbic system
What part of the lymbic system processes fear ?
Amygdala
Where are streams of thoughts processed ?
Cerebral cortex
Where are streams of feelings processed ?
Limbic system
What are the 2 variables of the neuroscience wheel of emotions ?
- Distance from center (arousal)
- Direction or valence (pleasure)
How many dimensions of emotions is there according to big data ?
25 dimensions
When do babies start displaying facial expressions from primal emotions ?
36 hours after birth
People can distinguish between how many classes of facial expressions ?
6 classes of facial expression: fear, anger, surprise, disgusted, sad, and happy.
The ability to display emotions and recognize them in others transcends _____and _____barriers
Cultural and linguistics
Genuine, automatic, involuntary facial expressions sometimes involve different facial _____ than artificial expressions of emotions
Muscles
Condition where people cannot voluntarily control their facial muscles (due to damage in or around primary motor cortex)
Volitional facial paresis
Condition where people do not show automatic facial expressions of emotion, but they have no trouble voluntarily moving facial muscles. This is often seen in Parkinson’s Disease.
Emotional facial paresis
What are behavioral responses to emotions ?
Muscular movements
What system controls autonomic responses to emotions ?
Peripheral nervous system (fight or flight, energy)
What do hormonal responses to emotions signal through ?
Blood
Hormonal responses reinforce ______ responses
Autonomic
What is anthropectomy ?
The denial that animals exhibit humanlike characteristics.
Defense mechanisms in animals are linked to what emotion ?
Fear
What is this called : put metal wire in brain and give on/off switch to animals to self stimulate their own brain
Intracranial self-stimulation
Self electrical stimulation always ______dopamine levels
Increases
Is correlation between dopamine signaling and pleasure strong or poor ?
Poor
What type of learning is dopamine linked to ?
Association learning
Smelling the right pheromone triggers what type of behavior in rodents ?
Sexual behavior
Stimulating GABA neurons in the medial amygdala of the posterior dorsal division causes what behaviors ?
Try to have sex and extreme rage
Stimulating Glutamate neurons in the medial amygdala of the posterior dorsal division causes what behaviors ?
disengage socially and start grooming themselves
The 25 unique emotion blends result in what type of expressions ?
Multimodal behavioural expressions involving voice, touch, posture, gaze, and head/body movement
What are the 3 steps of the theory of emotions ?
- Perception of emotion-eliciting event/stimuli
- Subjective feelings of emotion
- Behavioral and physiological responses
People with damage to what peripheral structure feel emotions less intensely ?
Spinal cord
Reduction in emotional experiences correlated with how much _____the people had lost
Sensation
Could people with spinal cord damage still have behaviors linked to emotions ?
People could exhibit behaviors but not feel emotions
What are the 3 steps of the James-Lange theory ?
- Perception of emotion-eliciting event
- Collection of behavioural and physiological responses are triggered by the brain unconsciously
- Feedback from the peripheral nervous system to the brain triggers subjective feelings of emotion (e.g., fear).
According to James Lange, an emotion is a 1 to 1 mapping to ____ responses
Body
Does interfering with the muscular movement associated with a particular emotion decreases people’s ability to experience that emotion ?
Slightly
What type of drugs can eliminate the fight or flight response ?
Beta blockers
Do beta blockers eleminate the emotion ?
Beta blockers only eleminate the behavior
Do our internal organs respond to emotions quickly ?
No because they are relatively insensitive to emotions
True or false : cutting the sensory nerves between the internal organs and the central nervous system abolishes emotional behaviour in animals
False
True or false : injecting hormones or artificially activating the autonomic nervous system cannot create emotions
True
The arousal of the brain changes the cognitive assessment of the emotion in the ___ cortex
Precortex
Where is the cingulate cortex ?
In the lymbic system, it overlies the corpus callosum.
In what lobe are located the hippocampus and amygdala ?
The temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex
The hippocampus is critical for…
Explicit memory formation
The amygdala is critical for…
Feeling and recognizing emotions, particularly fear
What surgery did patient SP receive ?
Bilateral amygdalectomy to treat a seizure disorder
What emotion did patient SP no longer feel ?
Fear
Could patient SP still recognize people in photographs ?
Yes, only not identify their fear (same in pictures of herself)
What other emotions did she have difficulty recognizing to a lesser extent ?
Disgust, sadness, happiness
Patient SP could still detect which 2 emotions ?
Anger and surprise
People with no amygdala…
Have no concept of personal space, do not understand social situations, put themselves in dangerous situations.
What part of the face do we spontaneously look at to identify someone’s emotion ?
The eyes
When shown faces, patient SM (bilateral amydgala damage) does not look at…
The eyes. She had to be taught to do so to identify emotions.
What part of the amygdala regulates emotional responses, especially fear ?
Central nucleus
Lesions of the central nucleus reduce/eliminate ____and ____fear responses
Both innate and learned
What fear is normal in people with bilateral amydgala damage ?
Fear of suffocation
What creates the fear of suffocation ?
The medulla detects the raising levels of CO in the blood.
Stimulation of the central nucleus of the amygdala causes…
Fear, anxiety, agitation
Persistent stimulation of the central nucleus of the amygdala can cause…
Stress induced illnesses like ulcers
What activates the central nucleus of the amygdala ?
Viewing threatening stimuli or fearful faces
The central nucelus of the amygdala receives information from…
Superior colliculi, visual thalamus, and visual association cortex
Patients with damage to primary visual cortex or visual association cortex may have no conscious awareness of looking at a person’s face, but they may still show…
Amygdala activity in response to viewing faces mimicking the presented facial reaction (happy or fearful face).
What other areas of the brain activate when we look at emotional faces ?
Somatosensory cortex, insular cortex, premotor cortex, and cingulate cortex.
What hemisphere seems more involved in recognizing emotions ?
The right hemisphere (especially in the lateral fissure)
What is the role of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC) ?
Regulating expressions of emotions
Is the vmPFC inhibitory or excitatory ?
Usually inhibitory
When learned fear responses are extinguished, connections between the vmPFC and amygdala are strengthening or reducing ?
Strengthening
Lesioning the vmPFC and amygdala selectively disrupts…
Extinction learning and restores the original fear memory.
The original fear memory is in the…
Medulla
The learned fear memory is in…
The prefontal cortex
People with damage to their vmPFC often struggle to…
Control their emotions and act with adult maturity
This is the last part of the brain to be myelinated in teen years
Prefrontal cortex
Interactions between the prefrontal cortex and amygdala regulate ____ responses.
Emotional
What brain damage was Phineas Cage victim of ?
Damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)
After his injury, Phineas Cage was…
Childish, irresponsible and thoughtless of others
Damage to the vmPFC weakens behavioral control and impair decision-making; but not …
Cognitive abilities
There is a ___(small/big) correlation between risky behaviour, impulsive aggression, and low serotonin levels.
small
The _____was measured in the cerebrospinal fluid of rhesus monkeys that were tracked over 4 years.
serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA
The monkeys with the _____ lower/highest levels of 5-HIAA were risk taker
Lower
Low crebrospinal serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA in humans is linked to…
Aggression and antisocial behavior, including assault, arson, murder, and child beating.
Drugs that increase serotonin signaling, such as SSRIs like Prozac, tend to _____decrease/increase irritability and aggressiveness.
Decrease
