Emotions-Piasecki Flashcards
What is the evolutionary purpose of emotions?
Emotions have evolved to help us respond to important situations and to convey our intentions to others
T/F Different social groups exhibit different facial expressions for emotions.
False. They are universal.
What drives the voluntary smile?
Driven by motor cortex, pyramidal tracts
What drives the involuntary smile? A genuine smile. Which extra muscle is activated?
Driven by motor areas in
ant cingulate, extrapyramidal,
reticular activating system
**includes action of the orbicularis oculi muscle.
What are the emotional states that are involved in the emotional motor system?
Subjective experiences
Visceral Motor response
Somatic Motor responses
Fear is a primary motion involving which responses?
Visceral Motor response
Somatic Motor responses
What are some measures of fear in animals?
Heart rate and blood pressure Salivation Respiratory rate Scanning Startle Urination/ Defecation Freezing
Describe the brain’s shortcut for the fear response.
eyes–>thalamus–>amygdala
automatic fear response
Describe the brain’s long pathway of fear response.
eyes–>thalamus–>occipital cortex–>amygdala
understanding the nature of the threat & then being afraid.
What are some ways to measure fear in humans?
Heart pounding or racing Dry Mouth Pale skin Respiratory Rate Hypervigilance Increased Startle Urination/ diarrhea Apprehensive expectation
What are the brain structures that mediate emotion?
Hypothalamus Limbic System limbic cortex amygdala Brainstem Nucleus Accumbens Prefrontal Cortex
What are some of the functions of the hypothalamus?
Light dark cycle
Temperature regulation
Neuroendocrine
Integral in emotional and sexual (and other) behaviors
The hypothalamus is anatomically right on top of which structure?
the stalk of the pituitary gland
HOw did we discover the functions of the hypothalamus?
ablation studies
stimulation studies
In ablation studies, when the cat’s hemispheres & hypothalamus were removed…what was the emotional result of the cat?
no rage response.
What did lateral hypothalamic stimulation cause in the cat?
rage, attack mode
What is the hypothalamus’ input?
the cortex (relatively unprocessed)
What is the hypothalamus’ output?
the brainstem’s reticular formation
What is the function of the limbic system?
Link between higher cortical activity and the “lower” systems that control emotional behavior
**Integrates information about emotional content from cortical association areas
What are the deep lying structures to the limbic lobe?
amygdala
hippocampus
mamillary bodies
Where is the limbic lobe found? What surrounds it?
primitive cortical tissue
near the: cingulate gyrus; parahippocampal gyrus
**encircles the upper brainstem around the corpus callosum
What happened in the Kluver Bucy situation?
removal of the temporal lobe in the monkey.
started off as rageful monkey & became docile, orally fixated, increased sexual and compulsive behaviors
stimulation: sympathetic NS stimulation
What happens to humans with Kluver Bucy syndrome?
Humans: severe temporal lobe damage tumors, surgery, trauma Visual Agnosia Apathy/ placidity Disturbance in sexual function Dementia, Aphasia, Amnesia
What are some important structures that are a part of the limbic system?
Orbital and medial prefrontal cortex (PFC)
Nucleus of thalamus
Amygdala
What is the amygdala?
a nuclear mass that is buried in the white matter of the temporal lobe, in front of the hippocampus
What does the amygdala connect to?
Connects to:
Olfactory bulb
Cerebral cortex (frontal and association areas of temporal lobe)
Brainstem and hypothalamus
What is the function of the amygdala?
Emotional Association Area”
Links cortical areas that process sensory info to hypothalamus and brainstem effector systems
Allow for emotional learning (“Associative Learning”)
How can you abolish the fear response?
Remove one amygdala and block visual information from the eye on that side
Classical conditioning & the learned fear response involves which structure mainlY?
once again, the amygdala.
What happens to fear response if connection between medial geniculate and amygdala are severed prior to learning?
the tone will cause no fear. No learned fear response.
What are some examples of non-adaptive learned fear?
PTSD
Depression
Phobias
What is the structure responsible for learned rewards?
amygdala
Which structure is important in experiencing reward & pleasure?
the nucleus accumbens
Which substance was monitored when considering the nucleus accumbens & addiction?
dopamine levels
**linear relationship b/w dopamine & subjective sense of pleasure
T/F Food causes dopamine levels to go up (a natural reward).
True.
T/F Sex causes dopamine levels to go up even higher than food.
True.
In relation to food & sex, what is the dopamine effect of amphetamine?
Much higher. Food: 150 units; Amphetamines: 1000 units.
T/F Interleukins are involved in empathic responses.
True.
T/F Medical students become more empathic during their 4 years of schooling.
FALSE. Sadly, studies show that students are less empathic after the 4 years.
T/F Emotional responses to pain, anxiety, and happiness all mapped onto the same parts of the brain.
False. Different parts of the brain.
Which deficits are seen in psychopaths who “don’t care”?
the amygdala is abnormal
deficits in activation of certain parts of the brain–>aren’t happy for someone, don’t feel empathy for someone in pain.
Once again Kluver Bucy syndrome involves destruction of which are of the brain? And what are the symptoms?
anterotemporal lobe agnosia, apathy disturbed sexual behavior dementia, aphasia, amnesia **make love not war. Not aggressive, but very sexual.
What is Urbach-Wiethe?
Rare genetic disease
Bilateral calcification and atrophy of anterior temporal lobes
Unable to identify fear from photos
A patient had right temporoparietal infarction due to MCA embolism. It caused left hemiplegia. What happened to her?
Cheerful Talkative Joking Inflated self esteem Previously quite depressed, but not anymore.
Left sided damage does what to emotions?
loss of positive emotions. risk of depression
Right sided damage does what to emotions?
elevated mood
What is the result of right anterior damage?
euphoria
Activity in which structure predicts the level of depression?
right amygdala
People with active left prefrontal cortex have what type of mood?
tigger. peppy.
People with depressive left prefrontal cortex have what type of mood?
sad. woe is me.
In patients with recurrent depression & repeated stress…which structure often shrinks?
the hippocampus shrinks.
**caused by chronic exposure to cortisol
Stress plays an important role in inflammation. Which substances are involved?
interleukins
cytokines
