L7: FEAR, THREAT & CONDITIONING Flashcards
state the 4 components of the limbic system
- cingulate gyrus
- amygdala
- hippocampus
- parahippocampal gyrus
role of the limbic system
generating emotional experience and expression
what are the 2 parallel systems of emotion and cognition?
- one low level (subcortical) and one higher level (cortical) systems interact to govern emotional experience and expression
- emotionally salient information reaches the amygdala via the parallel circuits
describe what is meant by threat conditioning
- learning to fear a stimulus
- conditional responses are skeletomotor and physiological
- they are acquired with little training & effects are long lasting
summarise the auditory threat conditioning circuitry
- auditory receptors transmit signals to neurons in the brainstem auditory nuclei via the auditory afferent fibre
- CS and US information is brought together in the lateral amygdala nucleus
what is the evidence for the lateral amygdala being the major site of learning in threat conditioning
- damage prevents CR acquistion
- damage after training abolishes acquired CRs
where does CS and US information converge
amygdalae - lateral nucleus
where are signals sent after arriving in the lateral nuclei?
central nucleus which sends signals to regions that generate responses
what response does the central grey area generate?
freezing
what response does the lateral hypothalamus generate?
autonomic responses
what response does the paraventricular hypothalamus generate?
endocrine responses
describe the threat conditioning circuitry
emotional / fearful feelings are generated in the cerebral cortex
what is the cerebral cortex?
sensory cortical areas important for fine discrimination between conditional stimuli
role of the sensory cortex
discrimination between similar stimuli, identification of distal (threatening) stimuli
role of subcortical circuit
quick, coarse responses to threatening / dangerous stimuli
role of amygdala (lateral)
primary site of learned changes that result from threat conditioning
which brain region is critical for contextual learning?
hippocampus
what is meant by contextual learning?
conditioning procedures occur within a context, the context is associated with the unconditonal stimulus so contextual cues can evoke conditional responses
- reduces or absent if hippocampus is damaged / removed
role of the cortex
feelings
- fear and emotional experiences
role of cortical components
determines whether stimulus is worth responding to
role of insula, cingulate and frontal cortical areas
generate feelings and important in extinction
role of left postcentral gyrus
receives somatosensory information from the right side of the body
role of right postcentral gyrus
receives somatosensory information from the left side of the body
define functional specialisation
if a structure / regions of CNS performs one particular function
define functional localisation
if a particular function is carried out in only one specific regions within CNS
define functional lateralisation
if a particular function carried out in one side of the CNS but not the other
