Jan 14 Flashcards
what did Joe LeDoux and his team do?
published many influential studies on FEAR LEARNING and FEAR CIRCUITS in rodents
more recently he stopped using the word “fear” or “emotion” to describe his findings with non-human animals
^ because of the sloppiness in how emotion terms are used - confusion between referring to BEHAVIOURS versus INTERNAL STATES
he now talks about SURVIVAL BEHAVIOURS and SURVIVAL CIRCUITS
we can start to answer the question of “what is emotion?” by answering other questions
- what do emotions DO?
- what CAUSES emotions?
- what is CAUSED BY emotions?
^ ie. a definition of emotion in terms of its functions
emotions are functional states - what does this mean?
emotions are STATES OF THE BRAIN
while emotions are in fact states of the brain, if we define emotions literally by their brain state then…
we need different definitions for humans, flies, octopus etc because they have completely DIFF NERVOUS SYSTEMS
a more abstract definition can be more useful and broadly applicable
a different way of saying that emotions are states of the brain
emotions can be IMPLEMENTED in the brain
we need a functional account of emotions that defines emotions in terms of…
the STIMULI that CAUSE the brain state
and the BEHAVIOURS that are CAUSED BY the brain state
how do functional definitions identify states?
by their causal relations (ie. what does it do?)
NOT by how they’re constituted (ie. what’s it made of?)
functional definitions describes causal effects how?
in an ABSTRACT MANNER
that is independent of the physical way that the state is implemented
are functional definitions generalizable to other species?
yes
clock example: functional definition
pic of a bunch of diff types of clocks, all of which look very different and are made of diff parts
but by defining a clock by its FUNCTION (MEASURING TIME) we have a definition that’s BROADLY APPLICABLE to a category
how can we functionally define mental states?
in terms of their CAUSAL RELATIONS to INPUTS and OUTPUTS
functionally defining emotions in terms of their inputs and outputs
emotions are FUNCTIONAL STATES that are caused by SENSORY INPUTS and cause BEHAVIOURAL OUTPUTS
emotions can also be caused by and cause changes in other mental states (ie. memory, perception, attention etc)
overview of the architecture for emotions as functional states
starts with STIMULI (input)
^ moderated by CONTEXT
leads to CENTRAL EMOTIONAL STATE
^ moderated by VOLITIONAL CONTROL
leads to outputs: OBSERVED BEHAVIOUR
SUBJECTIVE REPORTS
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
COGNITIVE CHANGES
SOMATIC RESPONSES
emotions as functional states: what are stimuli affected by?
context
emotions as functional states: what are central emotional states affected by?
volitional control
emotions as functional states: 5 outputs caused by central emotional state
- observed behaviour
- subjective reports
- psychophysiology
- cognitive changes
- somatic responses
describe the fan-in fan-out architecture
many stimuli (inputs) can lead to the same central emotional state
the same central emotional state can leads to many outcomes
^ process is called GENERALIZATION
volitional control can _______ emotion
inhibit
why is thinking about emotions in a functional architecture helpful for neurosceince?
because we can think about manipulating stimuli that lead to central emotional states and then observe the diff outcomes
spider example: researching emotions as functional states
stimulus = spider
goal = to study fear
measure the types of effect brought on by the stimulus
ie. stepping back (observed behaviour)
ie. cognitive changes (amygdala activation)
ie. somatic responses (skin conductance, HR)
then compare these responses to a stimulus like a butterfly
spider example: context
context: where you encounter the spider (stimuli) might matter
ie. is it on a pin behind glass, or under your pillow in the morning?
spider example: volitional control
you can use volitional control to overcome a central fear state
ie. get a jar and trap spider and take it outside
^ maybe you haven’t changed the fear state, but you’ve changed the outcome through volitional control
^ or maybe you’ll run away instead
spider example: cognition
if you did find a spider under your pillow, you’re more likely to remember the details of this morning as opposed to other mornings
emotion state interacts with memory processes
additionally, awareness that say the spider is a Huntsman (harmless and shy) may differentially affect your emotion state than if you knew it was a Black Widow
evolutionary account of the function of emotions
explanation in evolutionary terms that explains why an emotion is adaptive
and what purpose it served in the evolutionary environment
anything that evolved via natural selection is selected based on its functional effect for an organism in its given environment
unlike the clock, the adaptive functions of emotions…
may not be immediately clear
ultimately we need a functional explanation of emotion at the level of the ENTIRE ORGANISM and how it interacts with its environment
whether the emotions can be embodied in all brains or even in systems that aren’t brains is what type of question?
an EMPIRICAL one
may turn out that there are limits on the kinds of systems that can instantiate emotion, even once emotion is more fully understood
the basic problem of type identity - when you experience an instance of emotion…
when you experience an instance emotion (ie joy) this corresponds to a PATTERN OF BRAIN ACTIVITY
and this is presumably DIFFERENT from the pattern of activity when you experience another emotion ie. fear
but is the brain activity when you feel fear today the same as when you experienced fear last week?
is it the same as when your friend experiences fear?
is it similar to when your cat experiences fear?
even though any instance of emotion is a brain state, it’s less clear if a particular type of emotion corresponds to…
a type of brain state
the fundamental problem of type identity
how does emotion state map to brain state?
may be that a single human brain can implement emotion in many … or …
in many different ways (flexibly encoded)
or
there may be only one way to implement emotion by a particular circuit architecture (hardwired)
TRUTH IS LIKELY SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN
malfunction and psychiatric disorder
understanding the proper function of emotion also leads to the study of when emotions ‘malfunction’ and aren’t serving an evolved adaptive function
we can conceptualize disorders as…
an inappropriate application of emotion
the emotion in itself is not maladaptive, but the way it’s being applied is maladaptive
ie. think of all the ways a clock could be used for things other than measuring time, like being thrown to smash a window
PTSD: emotions may not be adaptive in all contexts
ie. fear in PTSD
symptoms of PTSD could be adaptive in context of IMMEDIATE THREAT ie. war-zone
but become maladaptive in another context ie. in safe home environment
what are often considered the defining feature of emotions?
feelings (the conscious experience)
but feelings are just one aspect of emotion
explaining feelings requires explaining consciousness
focus on feelings alone limits studying emotion…
- because requires explaining consciousness (really hard)
- and puts animals as off limits in studying emotion (because no language and cultural expressions of emotion)
while cognitive scientists are solving consciousness, affective neuroscientists can make a start on understanding emotion by…
side-stepping feelings
focus on the functional state ie. what do emotions do
can functional definitions eventually be applied to study feelings?
yes
(whereas feelings and words we use to describe emotion are unlikely to provide a reliable starting point)
our conscious experience ____ veridical
isn’t
feelings are a kind of conscious experience
our brains CONSTRUCT our conscious experience
this conscious “reality” isn’t infallible, and selectively presents elements of some external (not internal) reality
vision example: how our conscious experience is constructed
what we experience as vision is an INCOMPLETE REPRESENTATION of the external visual world
we have the sense that we’re consciously aware of everything in our visual field
yet experiments and day to day experience DISPROVE THIS
ie. failing to see an oncoming car when crossing an intersection
is our conscious experience the best guide to understanding what’s happening in our brain during vision?
not
it’s not a complete and faithful reproduction of objective reality
what’s the problem with equating emotions with feelings?
raises the problem the problem of attributing conscious experience to animals
part of Joe LeDoux’s concerns about talking about emotion in non-human animals
if an animal has feelings, then they have consciousness
do animals now automatically have consciousness?
can we know about the conscious experience of emotions in non-human animals or in other humans?
no, we can’t
separating study of emotions from study of conscious experience
we can define emotion in scientific usage as something DISTINCT from conscious experience of emotion
ie. vision scientists study vision using behavioural measures without studying visual consciousness
blindsight
demonstrates that vision and visual consciousness can be separated
people will have no conscious awareness of a visual stimulus, but when asked/pushed and told to guess something about a the stimulus, they respond well above chance
how do we separate the study of emotions from the study of conscious experience?
by using BEHAVIOUR and NEUROBIOLOGY as the foundation
as opposed to self-reported feelings
quote: “the paradox of emotions is that, on the one hand…”
“the paradox of emotions is that, on the one hand, they seem SELF-EVIDENT and OBVIOUS when examined INTROSPECTIVELY;
on the other hand, they have been extremely DIFFICULT TO DEFINE in OBJECTIVE scientific terms”
conventional view of emotion framework
stimuli lead to the emotional experience
(^ cognitive, motivational, somatic, behavioural response)
emotional experience leads to subjective feelings
and to verbal report
EMOTIONS INCORPORATE MANY COMPONENTS THAT NEED TO BE COORDINATED AND OFTEN SYNCHRONIZED FOR THE EXPERIENCE OF EMOTION
how is Anderson & Adolphs’ view diff from the conventional one?
they believe that emotions involve all the same components as the conventional view, BUT these aren’t a part of the emotion, rather they are CAUSED BY THE EMOTION STATE
stimuli > central emotion state > components
(observed behaviour, subjective reports etc)
from what standpoint did Darwin consider emotional expression?
from a FUNCTIONAL and EVOLUTIONARY standpoint
Darwin asserted that emotion homologous to our own…
asserted that emotion homologous to our own is easily recognizable in HUMANS and other ANIMALS, even INSECTS
did Darwin provide objective criteria for identifying emotion?
no
Anderson & Adolphs agree with Darwin in that…but differ from Darwin in that…
they believe even INVERTEBRATES have PRIMITIVE EMOTIONAL STATES
but they differ from Darwin in that they argue that these states AREN’T NECESSARILY HOMOLOGOUS to specific categories that have been used to define HUMAN EMOTIONS
(ie. fear, anger, happiness)
emotion primitives
Anderson & Adolph’s term
they assert that emotion states in all animals share certain fundamental properties (emotion primitives)
these are the EVOLUTIONARY BUILDING BLOCKS OF EMOTION that are SHARED across species
while emotion primitives are shared across species, what are not necessarily shared?
SPECIES-TYPE BEHAVIOURS that arise from these emotion primitives
Anderson & Adolphs 4 operational criteria for emotion across species
- the CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP between emotions and behaviour
- the relationship between EMOTION STATES and SUBJECTIVE FEELINGS
- the CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES of emotion states shared by specific emotions
- if there are UNIQUELY HUMAN features of emotion
is there universal agreement on the direction of causality between emotion and behaviour?
no
partly come from lack of data
behaviourist view on relationship between central emotion states and subjective feelings
emotional stimuli DIRECTLY EVOKE behaviour in animals
in humans, conscious awareness of behavioural and somatic responses evoked by emotional stimulus gives rise to subjective feelings
Anderson & Adolphs view on relationship between central emotion states and subjective feelings
emotional stimuli evoke CENTRAL EMOTION STATES
in animals and humans these states give rise to behavioural and other responses
including SUBJECTIVE FEELINGS (in humans)
difference between behaviourists and Anderson & Adolphs in view on relationship between central emotion states and subjective feelings
BEHAVIOURISTS:
emotional stimuli > behaviour
A & A:
emotional stimuli > CENTRAL EMOTION STATE > behaviour (+ subjective feelings in humans)
is there a reason to conclude animals don’t have central emotion states?
no
but if we equate subjective feelings and emotions, we can’t study emotion in animals
Koko the gorilla
she learned sign language
was given a pet kitten who she named
and then the kitten died (escaped and got hit by a car)
they told Koko and she whimpered with grief and discussed her kitten’s death for several days
how should affective neuroscience look for evidence in animals of central emotion states?
through looking for certain fundamental properties that are causal in responding to certain stimuli with specific behaviours and corresponding neural mechanisms
