final study guide Flashcards by Jasmine Floro

what are the regions of the prefrontal cortex and what are their functions?

dorsolateral
understanding rationale behind others
ventrolateral
understanding one’s feelings and others (theory of mind)
medial
understanding oneself
orbitofrontal
memory, learning, rewards and habits, decision-making

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is the limbic system? what parts make it up? what do they do?

limbic: emotion center

amygdala
fear, anger, anxiety

anterior cingulate cortex
attention

hypothalamus
reward center: dopamine, maintains homeostasis

hippocampus
memory/learning

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is the insula?

insulates emotions in response to bodily reactions (for homeostasis)
- insulates pain

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is the dorsal striatum?

long term habits & decision-making
- smoking (addicts) (doesn’t bring pleasure anymore)
- brushing teeth
- morning routines
- breathing

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what are nucleus accumbens?

rewards, pleasure, motivation, immediate gratification
- food
- sex
- completing hw

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is the ventral tegmental area (VTA)?

located in midbrain

where dopamine is created

involved in reward, motivation, pleasure -> sends info to nucleus accumbens

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is the temporo-parietal junction?

incorporating emotions (limbic system) and senses (external stimuli) to process environment

theory of mind
interpreting facial expressions

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what are 5 chemicals and their functions?

dopamine
reward, motivation,
pleasure

oxytocin: love hormone
trust, connectedness,
stress reliever

endorphins: runner’s high
pleasure, pain reliever

cortisol: stress
fight/flight response, regulating BP and glucose levels, fluctuates during the day

sex hormones: sex drive
testosterone: males
estrogen: females

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is body-image?

one’s perception of their own body in regards to feelings

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

tripartite influence

peers, parents, media

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what are the two factors that lead to negative body-image?

internalization of the thin ideal and social comparison

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is interoceptive awareness?

one’s ability to sense and interpret signals from the body
- measuring one’s heartbeat
- feeling hot/cold

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what are some things that activate the nucleus accumbens?

rewards
learning
anticipation
pride
shame
positive social feedback
avoiding criticism

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is body dysmorphic disorder?

when one has a distorted perception of one’s body

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what do social species thrive on?

relationships because it is rewarding

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is the social rejection and cyberball study and what did it show?

fMRI scan while people simulated a game of catch
eventually stopped passing it to the person
activated ACC (attention to one’s mistakes)
dorsomedial PFC (rationalizing one’s mistakes)

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

difference between lust, attraction, and love?

lust
nucleus accumbens, amygdala, hypothalamus

attraction
nucleus accumbens

love
oxytocin, VTA, caudate nucleus (rewards), temporo-parietal junction, thalamus (senses), anterior cingulate

what shapes our brain circuitry?

genetics and early childhood experiences

types of childhood attachment?

secure

anxious-resistant
uncomfy with mom gone but hesitant to accept help

anxious-avoidant
uncomfy with mom gone but doesn’t go back to mom for comfort

disorganized
doesn’t feel discomfort when mom is present or gone

types of adult attachment?

secure

anxious-preoccupied
craves relationships and is scared of being alone

fearful-avoidant
craves relationships, but afraid of being hurt so distanced

dismissive-avoidant
doesn’t want to depend on others

what is the theory of mind?

the ability to attribute mental states (beliefs, intentions) to oneself and others

regulated by medial PFC, dorsomedial PFC, temporo-parietal junction

what is the mirror neuron system?

allows us imitate others
- learning/memory

what did the social laughter vs real laughter study find?

social laughter: activates ACC (attention) and dmPFC (rationale to one’s own mistakes)

what did the effective communication study find? (synchronization)

synchronization in brains between reader and listener

some regions in listener lagged behind the speaker
- insula (feelings), parietal regions (senses), nucleus accumbens (rewards)
- speaker already knows what happens

some regions in listener preceded speaker
- mPFC (attention), orbitofrontal (reward and emotion), DLPFC (decision-making), nucleus accumbens (rewards)
- listener is anticipating motives of characters

what are the 3 types of conversations?

what happened, feelings, identity convo intent vs impact

what is empathy? what brain regions are involved in empathy?

ability to feel one's pain and suffering - ACC - insula

what is novelty? how does it relate to the brain?

playing new video games/trying new experiences activates the nucleus accumbens (reward system) - releases dopamine (VTA)

what did the multitasking study show?

- more variety throughout day increases happiness - more variety in short amount of time decreases happiness - undermines productivity

what is gamification and what are the benefits?

setting goals and markers to achieve - activates reward system (nucleus accumbens) operates on achieving rewards/points

what is cyberchondria?

an unhealthy habit of constantly searching up health info (health anxiety

what brain regions are involved in working memory and long-term memory?

working: dorsolateral PFC long-term: hippocampus

what are the benefits of emotional self-awareness?

- decreased risk of depression

what is the culture of availability? what are the pros and cons?

FOMO pros - stay connected - peace of mind - rewarding to receive unexpected invites cons - too addicted to phone unimportant interruptions - signals to others that they're less important

what are the 3 mediators of stress?

- controllability - certainty - consequences

what did the social media and mental health studies show?

- FB use correlates negatively with life satisfaction - correlates with depressive symptoms mediated by social comparison

what are the physiological responses to music?

-increased BP during crescendos (sympathetic: exciting) - decreased BP during static parts (parasympathetic: calming) - nucleus accumbens activate - endorphins are released: midbrain is activated where endorphins are produced (hypothalamus) -oxytocin: trust, love, calming, pain reliever - cortisol decreases

what is the flow state?

when there is an equal balance between challenge and skill which results in peak fulfillment traits of flow state - distorted sense of time - clear feedback to one's actions - lose self-consciousness - merge of actions and awareness - activity becomes autotelic (done for itself) - no worry of failure

what is the default mode network?

- parts of brain that are active at rest (usually thinking about oneself) - medial pfc - angular gyrus(ventromedial pfc)

what are the effects of awe?

- hippocampus: relating to past experiences - striatum: engraining new habits/reward - lateral pfc: imagination deactivates default mode network because you're in different state of mind and attention is heightened

what is the mesolimbic dopamine system?

-center of VTA (where dopamine is produced) - amygdala - ACC: evaluating reward from dopamine - PFC: cognition; regulating behaviors - nucleus accumbens

what is brain-gut connection/microbiome?

- millions of bacteria in gut (microbiome) change what you eat can affect type of bacteria in your gut