Emotions

Question 1

Emotion

Answer 1

An automatic physiological, behavioral, and cognitive reaction to external or internal events.

Question 2

Emotional experience:

Answer 2

Subjective feelings that are labeled to identify particular emotions.
I feel sad

Question 3

Emotional expression:

Answer 3

The covert and overt behaviors that accompany emotions ex : accelerated heartbeat, increased rate of respiration, dilated pupils, slowed digestion, and increased muscle tension

Question 4

Evolutionary Theory

Answer 4

Charles Darwin :emotions were important for the survival of species and that they serve adaptive functions and are universal across cultures

Question 5

James- Lange theory

Answer 5

A theory of emotions in which the sensory stimuli that compose certain sensory events directly result in bodily changes and emotions are the brain’s interpretation of these changes.
Example : the sensory stimuli within the movie, after being processed by sensory areas of the brain, triggered the physiological arousal that consisted of crying. The emotional experience of feeling sad came from the brain’s interpretation of the crying

Question 6

Cannon-Bard theory

Answer 6

the same patterns of physiological responses can be caused by a variety of stimuli. so A theory of emotions in which physiological arousal and emotional experience can occur at the same time and are independent of each other. different stimuli create different patterns of activity in the thalamus. It is these different patterns of activity that give rise to the wide range of emotions that can be experienced

Question 7

Schachter and Singer’s two-factor theory

Answer 7

A theory of emotions in which physiological changes triggered by stimuli are accompanied by an interpretation of what these changes mean.
example : if you interpreted the alarm as being part of a fire drill (the cognitive label), your fear would soon subside.

Question 8

Emotions and bodily changes

Answer 8

emotions can be differentiated by the patterns of bodily changes to which they give rise.

Question 9

Discrete theories of emotion

Answer 9

that a small set of emotions exist that can be distinguished from one another. Each of these emotions is believed to be represented by particular response patterns in the brain, physiological processes, and facial expressions.

Question 10

Basic emotions

Answer 10

A subset of discrete emotions thought to be universal across cultures.:
anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, and surprise.

Question 11

Dimensional theories

Answer 11

the proponents of dimensional theories argue that emotions do not fit neatly into categories. They believe that emotions can be broken down into basic elements and that individual differences exist in the way people experience emotions

Question 12

the basic elements go dimensional theories

Answer 12

emotional valence, which is the perception of whether an emotion is pleasant (positive) or unpleasant (negative); (2) arousal, which refers to how strongly an emotion is felt; (3) potency, which refers to feelings of power or weakness; and (4) unpredictability, which is an appraisal of novelty

Question 13

Theory of constructed emotions:

Answer 13

The theory that emotions are not hardwired entities but emerge into consciousness from interoception and categorization.

Question 14

Interoception

Answer 14

the brain senses and integrates signals from the body.

Question 15

Categorization:

Answer 15

The process by which signals from the body are labeled using knowledge about emotions, past experiences, and the current situation.

Question 16

Papez circuit

Answer 16

The circuit of brain areas once thought to be dedicated to processing emotions.
the hypothalamus is responsible for the behavioral responses that are part of emotional expression. Emotional experience is thought to be produced by the cingulate cortex. The hypothalamus and the cingulate cortex are linked to each other through a loop that includes the hippocampus and the anterior thalamic nuclei.

Question 17

Lymbic system

Answer 17

A revised version of the Papez circuit that includes the amygdala, septum, and prefrontal cortex.

Question 18

Brain activity associated with emotions

Answer 18

happiness> right superior temporal gyrus.
sadness> left medial frontal gyrus
anger> left inferior frontal gyrus
fear> left amygdala
disgust> right insula and inferior frontal gyrus.
emotions are not likely to be dependent on any single area but on functional networks consisting of several areas

Question 19

Klüver-Bucy syndrome:

Answer 19

A set of symptoms, including a loss of fear and flattened emotions, that follow the removal of the temporal lobes.

Question 20

Fear conditioning:

Answer 20

A procedure in which animals (typically rats) are exposed to a mild foot shock simultaneously to hearing a tone, resulting in the conditioning of a fear response.
The amygdala is important for fear conditioning.

Question 21

Role of amygdala

Answer 21

the amygdala is subdivided into the lateral nucleus, the accessory basal nucleus, the central nucleus, and the basolateral nucleus. Sensory information from the thalamus is relayed to the lateral nucleus. The lateral nucleus sends projections to the central nucleus, both directly and by way of the accessory basal and basolateral nuclei. Activation of the central nucleus leads to emotional responses such as freezing, increased autonomic system activity, and the release of cortisol through the central nucleus’s connections with the central gray matter, lateral hypothalamus, and basal nucleus of the stria terminalis, respectively

Question 22

Direct pathway (to the amygdala):

Answer 22

Also known as the low road and “quick and dirty road”; brings sensory information from the thalamus directly to the amygdala.
the direct pathway gives rise to a quick and reflexive response to potential threats. However, because information along this pathway is not analyzed by the cortex, the direct pathway cannot discriminate between a real threat (a snake) and an innocuous situation (a branch sticking out of the ground).

Question 23

Indirect pathway (to the amygdala):

Answer 23

Also known as the high road and “slow but accurate road”; brings sensory information from the thalamus indirectly through the cortex ( hippocampus ).
Whether activation of the amygdala was really worth it is assessed moments later along the indirect route, in which information is sent to the sensory cortices where it is analyzed and discriminated. The outcome of this analysis is then transmitted to the amygdala. If a stimulus indeed presents a danger, the amygdala’s response is accentuated. If it does not present a danger, the amygdala’s response is attenuated.

Question 24

Urbach-Wiethe disease:

Answer 24

A disease that causes the temporal lobes to degenerate because of a calcium build-up in the brain.
People are unable to be feared conditioned and
nable to recognize emotional facial expressions, especially fearful ones
amygdala plays an important role in recognizing emotional facial expression
he amygdala can even learn to respond to potential threats without conscious awareness :
the angry faces also likely triggered an emotional response through the direct pathway, which does not depend on conscious experience to activate the amygdala.

Question 25

the role of prefrontal cortex in the regulation of emotion

Answer 25

both Gage and Elliot suffered severe disruptions in decision making and in the ability to regulate their emotions, both of which depend on the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) (Bechara, Tranel, & Damasio, 2000; Fellows & Farah, 2007). In fact, it is thought that the VMPFC plays a role in emotional regulation by dampening the activity of the amygdala

Question 26

Somatic-marker hypothesis:

Answer 26

ational analysis is not enough to make decisions that are personally beneficial, especially under conditions of uncertainty..
The hypothesis that the unconscious activation of past emotional experiences informs decision making.
The hypothesis was developed in response to the observation that people with damage to the VMPFC (such as Elliot, whose case was described in the previous unit) are severely impaired in personal and social decision making, leaving other intellectual abilities intact

Question 27

Somatic marker:

Answer 27

The perception of physiological changes that act as a biasing mechanism in decision making.
bodily changes induced by autonomic nervous system activity, as well as changes in posture and muscle tension that result from emotionally arousing stimuli, are stored within the brain

Example : he later realized that company B’s logo resembled the logo of a company that had previously defrauded her company of a considerable sum of money. According to the SMH, the manager’s choice to shy away from choosing company B was due to the reactivation of the somatic marker created when her company was defrauded.

Question 28

Iowa gambling task:

Answer 28

A task used to assess the role played by emotions in decision-making processes in brain-damaged patients.

Question 29

how do somatic marker help in the Gambling task ?

Answer 29

n normal subjects, choosing from the bad decks, C and D, presumably resulted in the creation of somatic markers, biasing their choices away from those decks in the future. This was observed by an increased SCR in the moments before choosing from the bad decks. In contrast, patients with damage to the VMPFC showed no such increase in SCR. These results suggest that, when uncertain about one’s choices, making decisions that lead to personally advantageous situations involves the activation of somatic markers, as measured by increased SCR. In the Iowa gambling task, these somatic markers biased participants’ choices away from the bad decks.