Jan 16 Flashcards
where do emotions fall between reflexes and volitional control?
emotions are EVOLVED PACKAGES of FUNCTIONAL ADAPTATIONS
are MORE CONSTRAINED than REFLEXES
but are MORE MULTIDIMENSIONAL and FLEXIBLE than reflexes
building blocks
essential, basic properties of emotions
shared by ALL or MOST specific emotions
present in PRECURSORS to full emotion states in simpler organisms
features
more ELABORATED and VARIABLE properties of emotions
NOT SHARED BY ALL emotions
car example: building blocks versus features
wheels: building blocks
air conditioning: feature
valence
this is a BUILDING BLOCK of emotion
all emotion states share a quality of GOOD or BAD, PLEASANT or UNPLEASANT, APPROACH or AVOID
social communication
this is a FEATURE of emotion
very prominent in mammals but likely recently evolved and not present in all animals
is the division of building blocks and features black and white?
no
it’s INSTRUCTIVE, not absolute
emotion properties
the processing features that define emotion states
the things we look for in the brain to discover an emotion state
provisional list of operating characteristics of emotion states - what is this list for?
the things on this list are ESSENTIAL to carrying out the functional role of emotion
allow us to begin to illustrate how we can INVESTIGATE EMOTIONS IN GENERAL
provisional list of emotion properties
- scalability
- valence
- persistence
- generalizability
- global coordination
- automaticity
- social communication
scalability
emotion states can scale in INTENSITY
parametric scaling can result in DISCONTINUOUS behaviours
ie. transition from hiding to fleeing during the approach of a predator
intensity is often conceptualized as arousal - although these aren’t the same thing
valence
thought by many psychologists to be a NECESSARY FEATURE of emotion experience (or affect)
corresponds to the psychological dimensions of PLEASANTNESS/UNPLEASANTNESS
or the stimulus-response dimension of appetitive vs aversive
persistence
an emotion state OUTLASTS its eliciting stimulus (unlike reflexes) and so can:
- INTEGRATE INFO over time
- INFLUENCE COGNITION and BEHAVIOUR for some time
diff emotions have diff persistence
how long do emotions typically persist for?
seconds to minutes
generalization
emotions can GENERALIZE over stimuli and behaviour
much of which depends on LEARNING
creates a “fan-in”/”fan-out” architecture
“fan-in”/”fan-out” architecture
MANY DIFF STIMULI link to ONE EMOTION STATE
created by generalization: fact that emotions can generalize over situations and behaviour (depends on learning)
what underlies the flexibility of emotion states?
persistence and generalization
global coordination
related to property of generalization
BROADER feature that emotion states orchestrate VERY DENSE CAUSAL WEB of EFFECTS
in BODY and BRAIN - they engage the whole organism
in this respect, they’re once again differentiated from reflexes
features of emotions
things that are essential to carrying out the functional roles of emotions
how does the global coordination feature of emotions differentiate them from reflexes?
the fact that they engage the body and brain - the WHOLE organism
they have wide-reaching effects
automaticity
emotions have GREATER PRIORITY over behavioural control than does volitional deliberation
requires EFFORT TO REGULATE them
this property appears disproportionate/unique in humans
social communication
emotion states = pre-adapted to serve as social communicative signals
they can function as HONEST signals that predict another animal’s behaviour
taken advantage of by co-specifics, predators and prey
the provisional list of emotion properties can be used to differentiate…
emotion states from REFLEXES
can also use these properties to CHARACTERIZE a specific emotion state
and differentiate it FROM ANOTHER emotion state
two axes that define “core affect”
VALENCE and AROUSAL
these axes create a 2D space
core affect 2D space
axes: arousal and valence
we can LOCATE ANY EMOTION within this 2D space
proximity/distance between 2 emotions = indication of similarity
way of thinking of the core affect dimensional space
as a SIMILARITY STRUCTURE for emotions
how well does the core affect 2D dimensional space correspond to human ratings of emotions?
pretty well
the dimensional rep is based on HUMAN SUBJECTIVE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE
rather than behavioural/neural data
what is the core affect 2D dimensional space based on?
human subjective emotional experience
not on behavioural/neural data
alternative to core affect dimensions: what did Edmund Rolls propose?
proposed emotions can be defined as STATES
elicited by ADMINISTRATION or WITHHOLDING of REWARD or PUNISHMENT
Edmund Rolls’ dimensional space
S+ > presenting POS REINFORCER
S- > presenting NEG REINFORCER
S+ / S+! > omitting/terminating pos reinforcer
S- / S-! > omitting/terminating neg reinforcer
Edmund Rolls’ dimensional space suggests that different reinforcement contingencies…
will produce diff emotional states
although axes in the core affect and Edmund Rolls models are different…
the dimensionality REMAINS LOW IN BOTH
ie. fear is a high arousal, negative valence state OR a state caused by administration of a neg reinforcer
any two dimensions are UNLIKELY TO BE SUFFICIENT TO CAPTURE ALL THE VARIANCE IN EMOTIONS
problem with the dimension spaces
their dimensionality is too low
any two dimensions = unlikely to be sufficient in capturing all the variance in emotions
dimensional spaces: effects of English labels
in core affect and Rolls’ spaces, specific emotions have been given English labels (fear, anger, disgust)
BUT a dimensional approach could also be used to classify emotions without needing to classify under specific labels
adding a third dimension
ie. intensity, valence and PERSISTENCE
could also add more
we can categorize emotion states based on their LOCATION within multidimensional space
can then observe how emotion states associated with similar/diff behaviours CLUSTER (or don’t)
how is scalability often incorporated in psychological models?
as arousal
does scalability differentiate from stimulus-response reflexes?
yes
scalability refers to arousal (kinda like diff intensity levels)
reflexes, however, are all-or-nothing responses
what about intensity of emotion isn’t yet clear?
isn’t yet clear is intensity of emotion is INHERENT to the mechanism of a SPECIFIC emotion
or if there might exist some kind of GENERAL AROUSAL SYSTEM for emotion
scalability: 2 conceptions
- a GRADED INCREASE in intensity could be observed by INCREASING VIGOR of the same behaviour
ie. running from threat
- gradations in emotional intensity can also have NON-LINEAR EFFECTS on behaviour
ie. threat imminence continuum of defensive behaviour in rodents and octopi (freezing during high threat imminence before flight)
valence in connection to Darwin’s “antithesis” idea
Darwin’s antithesis: emotions come in PAIRS OF OPPOSITES which are expressed by physical opposite and complementary behaviours
this could be important for social communication functions
ie. good-bad
ie. pleasant-unpleasant
ie. appetitive-aversive
persistence
emotions often outlast the stimulus that elicited them
this is a KEY FEATURE that distinguishes emotions from stimulus response reflexes
example of persistence: fear
fear has a LONG-LASTING effect on behaviour
heart rate, stress hormone levels, breathing rate etc
these all remain elevated for some time after encountering a threat
persistence of emotion also allows emotion states to…
INTERACT with other INTERNAL STATES
and POWERFULLY INFLUENCE COGNITION and BEHAVIOUR
examples of persistence in Drosophila
- air puffs cause persistent state of INCREASED MOVEMENT
- BRIEF optogenetic stimulation to activate specific neurons leads to COURTSHIP WING EXTENSIONS that lasts for minutes
persistence: diff emotion states tend to…
persist for DIFF AMOUNTS OF TIME
ie. surprise or joy or sadness
moods
emotion states that persist for hours, days or longer
is persistence of emotion independent from memory and consciousness?
yes, appears so
amnesic patients still experience persistent sadness after watching sad films
even though they don’t remember having seen the film
how long can moods last?
hours-years
but most emotions generally don’t persist long after the situation that triggered the emotion has been resolved
while emotions function to cope with present, acute situations, moods may function to cope with…
events in the PAST or FUTURE
they may not just be emotions on a larger time scale
side note on moods
- moods often have NO CLEAR TRIGGERS
- often involve effects on COGNITION more than on behaviour
- moods are similar to emotions in having dimensions of persistence, scalability, valence, generalization and automaticity
- moods are distinct from emotions in not serving a clear social communication function
how are moods similar to emotions?
they have dimensions of:
persistence
scalability
valence
generalization
automaticity
how are moods distinct from emotions?
they don’t serve a clear social communication function
because of the property of ____________, an emotion state can….
PERSISTENCE
an emotion state can GENERALIZE to a diff context
and INFLUENCE RESPONDING to diff stimuli
context generalization/trans-situationality
because of PERSISTENCE
emotion state induced by one stimulus can generalize to a DIFF CONTEXT
and influence RESPONDING to DIFF STIMULI
assessing generalization can distinguish between…
a BEHAVIOURAL RESPONSE mediated by a SIMPLE REFLEX
and a PERSISTENT INTERNAL STATE that GENERALIZES to other contexts and influences subsequent behaviour
honeybee example of generalization
stressed honeybees show a NEGATIVE BIAS in a test of ambiguous odour cues
this suggests that the STRESS MANIPULATION INDUCED AN INTERNAL STATE in honeybees that influenced their behaviour in other contexts
pleiotropy
genetic phenomenon
where a single gene influences multiple traits that may seem unrelated
fan in and fan out in relation to stimulus generalization and pleiotropy
many stimuli FAN IN (STIMULUS GENERALIZATION) to cause an emotion state
which can then FAN OUT (PLEIOTROPY) to cause many effects
generalization: even regarding behaviour that doesn’t serve a useful purpose?
the same behavioural expression can be triggered by many DIFF STIMULI
including those for which the behaviour appears to serve NO USEFUL PURPOSE
as long as these stimuli EVOKE THE SAME INTERNAL EMOTION STATE
cats kneading paws on blanket - Darwin’s example
generalization
this behaviour serves to STIMULATE MILK FLOW from nursing mother
but SERVES NO PURPOSE in the blanket example
DARWIN ARGUES that it became associated with the same state (pleasure) either through habit (learning) or inheritance
“emotion states are pleiotropic” - what does this mean?
they have multiple, parallel effects on behaviour, body, cognition
simple reflex responses generally don’t induce multidimensional responses
pleiotropic nature of fear
fear induces DEFENSIVE BEHAVIOURS (freezing, fleeing)
as well as ENDOCRINE CHANGES
(stress hormone release)
and AUTONOMIC CHANGES
(heart rate, blood pressure, sweating)
and COGNITIVE CHANGES
(attention, memory)
types of changes brought on by fear - exemplifies what?
defensive behaviours
endocrine changes
autonomic changes
cognitive changes
exemplifies the PLEIOTROPIC nature of emotions
emotions & learning
stimulus generalization is closely linked to LEARNING
most stimuli that cause emotions gain this property THROUGH EXPERIENCE
ie. associative emotional learning
best understood example of this = PAVLOVIAN LEARNING
Pavlovian fear conditioning
through presentation with a FOOT-SHOCK, a previously NEUTRAL CUE comes to elicit the SAME BEHAVIOURAL RESPONSE (freezing) as the shock itself
all species show associative emotional learning
another way that learning occurs
through OBSERVATION
humans also learn from BEING TOLD about things
connection between learning and stimulus generalization
learning is a KEY MECHANISM that INCREASES stimulus generalization
domain specificity in relation to emotion
emotions have some DOMAIN SPECIFICITY
there’s a restricted range of stimuli or circumstances that can cause an emotion state
and some stimuli are more readily learned about than others
example of how some stimuli are more readily learned about than others
TASTES readily elicit disgust
much less likely that a TONE will come to elicit disgust
domain specificity distinguishes emotions from….
volitional control
associative learning can be used to test what?
to test if a stimulus induces an emotion state
PROCESS: using associative learning to test if a stimulus induces an emotion state
- conditioned place preference pairs a NEUTRAL STIMULUS (one half of a box) with something potentially rewarding or aversive (ie. a drug injection)
- later test session - WHERE the animal spends time is an INDEX of any internal state induced by the stimulus
if the state is REWARDING, animals will spend more time where they encountered it
if the state is AVERSIVE, animals will avoid the location where they encountered it
global coordination
- emotion states CAUSALLY INTERACT with other internal states to a large extent
- emotions influence behaviour & cognition, endocrine & autonomic responses (PLEIOTROPY)
- emotions evolved to DEAL W/ CHALLENGES that required a WHOLE BODY response
- outputs of emotion states need to be COHESIVE and to achieve this they must be COORDINATED
coordination
a GLOBAL FEATURE of emotions
and a PROPERTY to look for in the brain
coordination differentiates emotion from…
reflexes
global coordination can occur in diff ways…
anatomical projections to diff downstream targets
ie. projections from central nucleus of amygdala to brain stem and hypothalamic nuclei mediate diff components of the fear response
another potential mechanism of global coordination: synchronized…
synchronized oscillations across networks of brain regions
ie. freezing associates with a brain state of synchronized 4 Hz oscillations in PREFRONTAL CORTEX and AMYGDALA
multiple types of ________ ___________ could achieve coordination
system architectures
- DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS could control individual components with synergistic/antagonist interactions between components
- CENTRAL SYSTEMS with a single command neuron could execute a range of responses
likely that the brain uses what to coordinate responses to emotion states?
multiple solutions
ie. distributed systems and central systems
coordinated control exerted by emotion states is distributed in…
time and space
coordinated control exerted by emotion states is distributed in TIME explanation
emotion states often involve a LARGE TIME RANGE of SENSORIMOTOR PROCESSING
ie. shrinking back from an attacking bear versus planning how to escape from bear that is still some distance away
automaticity: somewhat like reflexes, emotion states exhibit…
automatic effects on behaviour
NO EFFORT is needed to elicit the behaviour
it’s generally EFFORTFUL to INHIBIT the behavioural response
automaticity of emotions: can be thought of as what type of mechanism?
as an INTERRUPT mechanism for prioritizing urgent/important needs
control of emotions is most commonly observed in…
adult humans
in young kids and animals, emotion exerts LARGER CONTROL on behaviour
emotion regulation through _______ ______ may be largely unique to…
conscious control
adult humans
emotion regulation
ability to have SOME CONTROL over your emotion state
occurs at multiple levels
multiple levels at which emotions can be regulated
- at the point of INDUCING the emotion state
- REAPPRAISING the stimulus
- directly trying to CONTROL the experience or expression of the emotion state
emotion regulation: at point of INDUCING the emotion state
ie. choosing CIRCUMSTANCES/ENVIRONMENTS that will influence IF and HOW an emotion is induced
ie. avoiding taking a class that has an oral presentation to avoid experiencing fear of public speaking
emotion regulation: REAPPRAISING the stimulus
ie. INTERNALLY RE-INTERPRETING a situation that could induce an emotion
ie. a friend ignores you when you say hello to them in the hall, you convince yourself they didn’t hear you
emotion regulation: trying to DIRECTLY CONTROL the experience/expression of the emotion state
ie. telling yourself to stop feeling sad
tie between emotion regulation and psychiatric disorders
DISRUPTED emotion regulation is implicated in a range of psychiatric disorders
ie. PTSD, phobias, depression
what can help develop strategies to re-establish cognitive control over one’s emotions?
cognitive behavioural therapies
what brain area is implicated in emotion regulation?
prefrontal cortex
one of the last brain regions to develop - plays major role in emotion regulation
nature of the prefrontal cortex - what could be relevant in understanding diffs in emotion regulation?
substantial SPECIES DIFFERENCES in prefrontal cortex
it is the LARGEST and MOST ELABORATED in humans
this could be relevant to UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENCES in emotion regulation
because emotion states are hard to control, they can serve as authentic…
social signals
about an individual’s emotion state
emotional behaviours are poised to be co-opted as social….
communication signals
we can INFER something about another person or animal’s emotion state from their behaviour
what complicates the emotional communication role of emotion?
volitional control
leads to possibility of DECEPTION and MANIPULATION
in humans, FACIAL EXPRESSIONS may have evolved from emotion behaviours to also serve as social communication signals
what are facial muscles controlled by?
a MIX of 1) VOLITIONAL control and 2) AUTOMATIC control
we have more volitional control over the LOWER HALF of our faces
we can see this in the difference between a smile elicited by a genuine emotion and a fake smile
facial expressions can be very complex and _______ to interpret - smile example
ambiguous
ie. people SMILE in diff circumstances & for diff reasons (anxious, happy, submissive)
ie. CULTURAL diffs in meaning of facial expressions & WHEN it’s appropriate to display them
are some emotion states uniquely human?
it’s likely that some emotion states are UNIQUE TO HUMANS/PRIMATES
ie. pride, embarrassment, awe
are some emotion features uniquely human?
likely yes
VOLITIONAL CONTROL ie. emotion regulation could be thought of as an ‘add-on’ specific to humans
SUBJECTIVE REPORT ie. ability to verbally report on our emotional experience can be conceived of as a human-specific emotion behaviour caused by an emotion state
STIMULUS DE-COUPLING ie. emotion states can be induced in humans simply by thinking about stimuli
3 uniquely human emotion features
- volitional control
- subjective report
- stimulus de-coupling
stimulus decoupling
in humans, emotion states can be induced by JUST THINKING about stimuli
this could be an extreme example of STIMULUS GENERALIZATION
how do we recognize emotional expression in mammals, model organisms and martians?
to study emotion states and their neural mechanisms we must IDENTIFY OBSERVABLE BEHAVIOURS
these can be used as a READOUT of experimental manipulations
ie. identified through similarity to human behaviours ie. freezing to threat in rodents
but how do we identify emotions in say drosophila (fruit flies) whose behavioural repertoires are more primitive than our own?
requires taking a more ETHOLOGICAL approach
- observe range of behaviours in the species
- look for those that exhibit the properties of emotions that we outlined
- then investigate how these behaviours are controlled by brain states
why do drosophila mate? 2 views
do they have emotion states, or is all behaviour controlled by chains of stimulus-response reflexes?
- SR VIEW: specific SENSORY CUES trigger REFLEXIVE BEHAVIOURAL RESPONSES that in sequence produce mating behaviour
- EMOTION VIEW: behaviours are organized by a CENTRAL EMOTION STATE
why do drosophila mate? SR VIEW
drosophila mate because they’re GENETICALLY PROGRAMMED to respond to a specific STIMULUS (ie. odour cues) emitted by a potential mate
why do drosophila mate? EMOTION VIEW
drosophila mate because it’s associated with a central emotion state that provides a REWARD
do drosophila like sex?
- drosophila males will SPEND MORE TIME CLOSE TO AN ODOUR that they encountered during MATING
(recall stimulus generalization and associative learning)
- brief activation of COURTSHIP NEURONS leads to PERSISTENT courtship behaviour
^ together, these observations suggest that SR accounts are incomplete at best
example of how we might distinguish between ‘central states’ and the outputs of central staates
research on circadian oscillator
circadian clocks
circadian rhythms = evident across brain regions, behaviour, physiology etc
circadian research has identified a CENTRAL CIRCADIAN OSCILLATOR in the SUPRACHIASMATIC NUCLEUS (SCN)
this is the master controller of circadian rhythms
central circadian oscillator: location and role
located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)
is the master controller of circadian rhythms
disrupting the central circadian oscillator in the SCN does what?
disrupts ALL circadian rhythms
manipulating a sIGNLE OUTPUT of the clock only changes the circadian rhythms in that specific output
this confirms that there’s a CENTRAL STATE regulating circadian oscillations
take home point: circadian oscillator and central state connection
the defining feature of a central state is that experimental manipulations of that state should AFFECT MULTIPLE OUTPUTS of that state
to determine this, it’s necessary to be able to manipulate components of the state (brain cells, genes, etc)
for this, we need model organisms and modern neuroscience techniques
