lecture 10: emotion 1

Question 1

What is EMOTION?

Answer 1

A discrete affective response indicating the salience/value of an internal or external event comprised of:
– Klaus Scherer: “interrelated, synchronized changes in the states of all or most of the five subsystems in response to the evaluation of an external or internal stimulus event as relevant to major concerns os the
organism”
– Joseph LeDoux: Subjective Feelings

Question 2

parasympathetic system (rest and digest)

Answer 2

The parasympathetic nervous system predominates in quiet conditions while the sympathetic nervous system drives the “fight or flight” response in stressful situations. The main purpose of the PNS is to conserve energy to be used later and to regulate bodily functions like digestion and urination

Question 3

sympathetic system (fight or flight)

Answer 3

Your sympathetic nervous system is best known for its role in responding to dangerous or stressful situations. In these situations, your sympathetic nervous system activates to speed up your heart rate, deliver more blood to areas of your body that need more oxygen or other responses to help your get out of danger

Question 4

CRF

Answer 4

Cortocotropin
releasing factor released by the thalamus

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH; previously known as corticotropin-releasing factor) is the central regulator of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is the main organizer of the body’s response to stress.

Question 5

ACTH

Answer 5

Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is a tropic hormone produced by the anterior pituitary. The hypothalamic-pituitary axis controls it. ACTH regulates cortisol and androgen production. Diseases associated with ACTH include Addison disease, Cushing syndrome, and Cushing disease

Question 6

Mood

Answer 6

Diffuse affect state, characterized by a
predominance of subjective feelings that affect the experience and behavior of the person. May be longlasting, and not event focus

an emotion can trigger a mood, which is longer lasting

Question 7

Affect Dispositions

Answer 7

Stable personality traits and dispositions that have an affect core. The tendency of a
person to experience certain moods (anxious, jealous).
Can also describe psychopathologies

Question 8

Social Emotions

Answer 8

Love, Guilt

Question 9

Parsing emotional experience

Answer 9

A widely accepted theory of basic emotions and their expressions, developed Paul Ekman, suggests we have six basic emotions. They include sadness, happiness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust

Question 10

Cross cultural affect labels

Answer 10

– around 35 (Scherer, Keltner)

Question 11

There are a few primary dimensions to emotional
experience:

Answer 11

Valence (good-bad) and Arousal (how
intense).

Question 12

Three Theories of Emotion:
The interaction between subjective experience and physiological state

Answer 12

james-lange theory

cannon bard theory

schachter singer two factor theory

Question 13

james-lange theory

Answer 13

The James-Lange theory of emotion suggests that physical changes in the body happen first, which then leads to the experience of emotion. Essentially, emotions stem from your interpretation of your physical sensations. For example, your heart beating wildly would lead you to realize that you are afraid

problem: Another criticism of the James-Lange theory is that physical reactions don’t have a single corresponding emotion. For instance, heart palpitations could suggest fear, excitement, or even anger. The emotions are different, but the physical response is the same.

Question 14

cannon bard theory

Answer 14

The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion states that stimulating events trigger feelings and physical reactions that occur at the same time. For example, seeing a snake might prompt both the feeling of fear (an emotional response) and a racing heartbeat (a physical reaction).

problem: One of the predominant criticisms of the Cannon-Bard theory is that it assumes that physical reactions don’t influence emotions. However, a large body of research on facial expressions and emotion suggests otherwise.

Question 15

schachter singer two factor theory

Answer 15

Schachter and Singer’s (1962) Two-Factor Theory of Emotion suggests that physiological arousal determines the strength of the emotion, while cognitive appraisal identifies the emotion label. So, in this theory, the “two-factor” represents physiological change and cognitive appraisal change.

For example, if you were to see a venomous snake in your backyard, the Schachter–Singer theory argues that the snake would elicit sympathetic nervous system activation (physiological arousal) that would be cognitively labeled as fear (cognition) based on the context.

problem: However there are many weakness of the method used by Schachter and Singer. The experiment definitely lacked ecological validity. We do not usually experience emotions in the way in which Schachter and Singer induced them.

Question 16

Neural Systems of Emotional Processing
Early concept: The Limbic System

Answer 16

Papez (1932) proposed a circuit of neural structures involved in emotional processing including: hypothalamus, anterior thalamus, cingulate gyrus and hippocampus

• Maclean (1949), inspired by demonstrations of Kluver-Bucy Syndrome, named these structures “Papez Circuit” and extended the network of emotion to include the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex and portions of basal ganglia. This
  extended system was called the “limbic system”

Question 17

Kluver-Bucy Syndrome:

Answer 17

Bilateral Damage to Medial Temporal lobe

Kluver-Bucy syndrome (KBS) is a rare neuropsychiatric disorder due to lesions affecting bilateral temporal lobes, especially the hippocampus and amygdala. It is characterized by hyperorality, hypermetamorphosis, hypersexuality, bulimia, placidity, visual agnosia, and amnesia

Question 18

*Problems with limbic system concept:

Answer 18

Unclear why some structures are “limbic” and not others, what is the criteria for a
limbic structure?

– Some limbic regions originally thought to be primarily involved in emotion are now
known to be more important for non-emotional, cognitive behaviors (e.g.,
hippocampus)

– No evidence these regions represent a ‘system’ or ‘circuit’ of emotion

– Because of these issues, some have suggested abandoning the ‘limbic’ system concept

– Terms “limbic system” or “limbic” regions are still used today, primarily because of inclusion of orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala

Question 19

what part of the brain is involved in Acquiring fear/threat

Answer 19

amygdala

How do objects and people acquire emotional
significance?

Question 20

what part of the brain is involved in Controlling fear/threat

Answer 20

amygdala and prefrontal
cortex

– How do we alter emotional significance?

Question 21

Ivan Pavlov

Answer 21

In the study of digestion, Pavlov observed that the experimental dogs salivated when fed red meat. Before feeding a dog, Pavlov might set a metronome at, say, sixty beats a minute. The next time the dog heard a metronome at any speed, it would salivate. But when only that particular metronome setting was reinforced with food the dog became more discriminating

Classical conditioning theory states that behaviors are learned by connecting a neutral stimulus with a positive one, such as Pavlov’s dogs hearing a bell (neutral) and expecting food (positive). The learned behavior is called a conditioned response

Pavlov’s famous experiment of the drooling dog shows that there are two types of reflexes: innate reflexes that are evoked by the irritant itself and acquired reflexes that are evoked by subsequent associations’

Question 22

The Amygdala Fear/Threat Circuit

Answer 22

Sensory information converges in the lateral nucleus (LA - site of memory storage), which projects to the central nucleus (CE), which projects to the
brainstem/hypothalamus

The amygdala can respond to learned threats quickly, prior to full sensory
processing, via projections from the sensory thalamus (LGN, MGN)

Question 23

amygdala

Answer 23

The amygdala participates in the regulation of autonomic and endocrine functions, decision-making and adaptations of instinctive and motivational behaviors to changes in the environment through implicit associative learning, changes in short- and long-term synaptic plasticity, and activation of the fight-or-flight response

Like other animals, the human amygdala is necessary
for the physical expression of a learned
aversive response in fear conditioning

Question 24

Threat Conditioning in Humans

Answer 24

• This simple model of threat learning applies to the social communication of threat
• Cognitive (language) and social
  (observation) means of threat learning takes
  advantage of phylogentically older
  mechanisms of fear conditioning

Question 25

Germs

Answer 25

the social communication of fear/threat

Question 26

Mechanisms of Threat/Fear Control Two techniques currently used clinically

Answer 26

extinction cognitive emotion regulation

Question 27

Extinction

Answer 27

– Forms the basis for exposure therapy Amygdala BOLD Decreases During Extinction vmPFC BOLD Increases During Extinction Exposure therapy is a type of therapy in which you're gradually exposed to the things, situations and activities you fear. There are a few different approaches to this therapy. It can help treat several conditions, like phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and panic disorder

Question 28

* Cognitive Emotion Regulation

Answer 28

– Forms the basis for cognitive therapy Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy. It may help you to change unhelpful or unhealthy ways of thinking, feeling and behaving. CBT uses practical self-help strategies. These are designed to immediately improve your quality of life. CBT can be an effective way to treat depression and anxiety.

Question 29

what part of the brain is necessary for the learning and retrieval of extinction

Answer 29

The ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC)

Question 30

amygdala

Answer 30

plays a role in the acquisition of extinction

Question 31

flashbulb memory

Answer 31

A flashbulb memory is an accurate and exceptionally vivid long-lasting memory for the circumstances surrounding learning about a dramatic event. Flashbulb Memories are memories that are affected by our emotional state

Question 32

The Amygdala Fear/Threat Circuit

Answer 32

The Prefrontal Cortex inhibits the expression of the threat memory to allow the expression of the safe (extinction) memory and the cognitive regulation of threat memories

Question 33

explain relapse following extinction

Answer 33

Following extinction and emotion regulation threat/fear reactions are susceptible to relapse under stress, passage of time, context shifts and other reexposure to the US This is reflected clinically in the relapse rate following exposure and/or cognitive therapy * Can we enhance the persistent control of threat using novel techniques? – Reconsolidation

Question 34

explain a study of reconsolidation

Answer 34

Memory consolidation is a category of processes that stabilize a memory trace after its initial acquisition Studies in rats block the reconsolidation of memory (and erase the fear) by injecting protein synthesis inhibitors into the amygdala during the reconsolidation window not safe in humans targeting reconsolidation May prevent the relapse of threat responses by reducing dependence on prefrontal inhibitory mechanisms, but successful clinical translation may be difficult

Question 35

How do scientists think about emotion?

Answer 35

1. Basic emotions (as seen through facial expression) 2. Dimensions of emotion (as reactions to events)

Question 36

Basic emotions

Answer 36

People all of the world show pretty much the same facial expressions for 6 basic emotions: High agreement for anger, happiness, disgust, surprise, sadness, and fear

Question 37

Basic emotions: Ekman’s “Universal Facial Expressions”

Answer 37

Anger, happiness, disgust, surprise, sadness, fear

Question 38

1. Basic emotions

Answer 38

(as seen through facial expression)

Question 39

2. Dimensions of emotion

Answer 39

(as reactions to events) Emotions tap into a “core affect” system and are CONSTRUCTED as reactions to events along continuous dimensions * Example: VALENCE (negative – positive) vs. AROUSAL (low – high)

Question 40

VALENCE

Answer 40

(negative – positive)

Question 41

AROUSAL

Answer 41

(low – high)

Question 42

* Emotions involve a core affect system with two primary dimensions:

Answer 42

pleasantness and activation l* Emotions are constructed by combining this core affect system with thought, language, and theory of mind * pleasantness = valence * activation = arousal

Question 43

* Basic core emotions (according to Ekman) as revealed by facial expressions:

Answer 43

anger, happiness, disgust, surprise, sadness, and fear * Appears that there are a basic set of emotions that have universal expression (across culture, infants, blind) * But does not deny that at least some emotions are constructed (e.g., combinations of 2 or more basic emotions)

Question 44

alternative dimensional approach

Answer 44

  focuses on emotion as constructions that vary along continuous dimensions in response to events * ALL emotions are constructed in reaction to some stimulus in your environment * Example: The experience and expression of anger can be very different depending on who/what elicits it (i.e., “constructed” in response to a friend betraying you, your dog chewing your shoes, your younger sibling messing with you, etc                          

Question 45

  Fear conditioning:

Answer 45

A form of classical conditioning in which a neutral stimulus (e.g., light) acquires aversive properties by virtue of being paired with an aversive event (e.g., shock)

Question 46

conditioned stimulus

Answer 46

A conditioned stimulus is a stimulus that can eventually trigger a conditioned response. In the described experiment, the conditioned stimulus was the ringing of the bell, and the conditioned response was salivation

Question 47

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 47

causes a response without any prior learning on the part of the subject. The response is automatic and occurs without thought For example, if the smell of food (the unconditioned stimulus) had been paired with the sound of a whistle (the conditioned stimulus), the sound of the whistle would eventually come to evoke the conditioned response of hunger

Question 48

conditioned response

Answer 48

an automatic response established by training to an ordinarily neutral stimulus.

Question 49

unconditioned response

Answer 49

An unconditioned response is an automatic response to a stimulus. The dogs salivating for food is the unconditioned response in Pavlov's experiment. A conditioned stimulus is a stimulus that can eventually trigger a conditioned response

Question 50

Extinction

Answer 50

After repeated presentation of conditioned stimulus (light) without the unconditioned stimulus (shock), the rat will no longer show startle to the light alone

Question 51

Amygdala Lesions in Emotional Learning

Answer 51

Lesions to rat amygdala do not affect natural response to fear-inducing stimuli (will still startle in response to shock, loud noise) * Fear expression is intact

Answer 52

However, lesions to amygdala do prevent learning of the conditioned startle response (e.g., won’t startle from light alone) * Impaired conditioned fear

Question 53

Amygdala

Answer 53

Your amygdala is a small part of your brain, but it has a big job. It's a major processing center for emotions. It also links your emotions to many other brain abilities, especially memories, learning and your senses. When it doesn't work as it should, it can cause or contribute to disruptive feelings and symptoms Amygdala is connected to many other parts of cortex (sensory cortex, MTL, etc.) Inputs from multiple brain regions converge on the lateral nucleus (LN) of the amygdala

Question 54

what part of the amygdala is critical binding the association between pain (from shock) and unconditioned stimulus (light)

Answer 54

lateral nucleus of the amgydala LN projects to central nucleus (CN), which is connected to parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems (to activate an emotional response)

Question 55

damage to what part of the amygdala severely disrupts fear conditioning

Answer 55

Damage to lateral nucleus or central nucleus

Question 56

amygdala

Answer 56

* Inputs from multiple brain regions (e.g., sensory areas, MTL, etc.) converge on lateral nucleus (LN) of amygdala, the main input center of the amygdala * This pattern of convergence allows for the formation of associations that underlie fear conditioning (e.g., pairing pain from the shock with seeing the light) * LN projects to central nucleus (CN) of amygdala, which is well connected to parasympathetic/sympathetic nervous system * Projections from LN to CN initiate will initiate an emotional response (e.g., fight/flight) if a stimulus is determined to represent something threatening or dangerous Thus, damage to LN or CN severely disrupts fear conditioning.

Question 57

Conditioned Fear in Humans

Answer 57

Conditioned with a blue square (conditioned stimulus) and a mild electric shock (unconditioned stimulus) * Dependent measure: Skin conductance response (SCR)

Question 58

Skin conductance response (SCR)

Answer 58

* Place electrodes on fingers * Hook up to measuring device * Measures autonomic arousal the conductance is measured by placing two electrodes next to the skin and passing a tiny electric charge between the two points. When the subject increases in arousal, his/her skin immediately becomes a slightly better conductor of electricity because they sweat Unlike the epidermis and dermis layers of our skin — which are poor conductors of electricity — our sweat is rich with electrolytes such as sodium and chloride, which makes our sweat a surprisingly decent conductor of electricity (though not quite as good as metal) Healthy subjects show an increase in SCR when they experience something emotionally arousing (can be pleasant or unpleasant)

Question 59

Case Study: Patient S.P.

Answer 59

* Bilateral amygdala damage * Although normal subjects show increased SCR after conditioned fear, Patient S.P. does NOT show increased SCR to conditioned stimulus (i.e., no emotional learning) – impaired implicit learning Patient S.P.’s explicit learning is intact à she explicitly learns that blue square = shock, even though no SCR response

Question 60

double dissociation with amygdala

Answer 60

* Although normal subjects show increased SCR after conditioned fear, Patient S.P. does NOT show increased SCR to conditioned stimulus (i.e., no emotional learning) – impaired implicit learning * Patient S.P.’s explicit learning is intact à she explicitly learns that blue square = shock, even though no SCR response * What pattern of results would you expect for someone with damage to the hippocampus but intact amygdala? * No explicit memory of the pairing (e.g., don’t remember seeing blue square) * Intact implicit memory, showing a normal conditioned fear response (increased SCR) to the blue square * Thus, double dissociation!

Question 60

What pattern of results would you expect for someone with damage to the hippocampus but intact amygdala?

Answer 60

No explicit memory of the pairing (e.g., don’t remember seeing blue square) * Intact implicit memory, showing a normal conditioned fear response (increased SCR) to the blue square

Question 61

2 Pathways to the Amygdala

Answer 61

1. Low road 2. High road

Question 62

low road pathway to amygdala

Answer 62

Sensory information goes from thalamus to cortex (e.g., VMPFC) for more elaborate processing, then routed to amygdala à slow but more accurate analysis

Question 63

high road pathway to amygdala

Answer 63

Sensory information goes directly from thalamus to amygdala à fast and crude analysis – Good for quick action upon detecting threat

Question 64

name 2 things that support Schachter-Singer two-factor theory

Answer 64

* Misattribution of arousal supports this framework * Excitation transfer supports this framework

Question 65

Misattribution of arousal

Answer 65

* Participants injected with epinephrine without their knowledge * Drug alone did not cause participants to report emotion * James Lange Theory would predict that the drug alone should cause emotion * The presence of a grumpy or happy person did * Drug made the reported emotions more intense (in either direction!)

Question 66

Excitation transfer

Answer 66

* Emotional responses can be intensified by arousal from previous stimuli not directly related to the stimulus that originally provoked the response * When a person becomes aroused physiologically, there is a subsequent period of time when the person will experience a state of residual arousal yet be unaware of it * If additional stimuli are encountered during this time, the individual may say their emotional response is more intense to the additional stimuli

Question 67

Encoding

Answer 67

the is the interface between STM and LTM à How we perceive and interpret our experiences

Question 68

How does emotion affect encoding, or how we perceive our experiences?

Answer 68

* Captures attention * Improves perception and memory for central event * Decreases memory for non-emotional items that occur at the same time

Question 69

Evidence that Emotion affects encoding by capturing our attention and improving perception

Answer 69

* The Emotional Attentional Blink * Visual perception enhancement experiment

Question 70

Attention selection over time: The attentional blink paradigm

Answer 70

If a second item is right after the first, it is often missed. If it is presented later, participants catch it. Demonstrates attention selection over time The increase in detection for ‘early’ words is evidence for improved attention during emotional processing * Emotional arousal improves perception * The amygdala influences perception to ease/improve processing

Question 71

Which brain regions are responsible for increasing attention for emotional information

Answer 71

amygdala

Question 72

Emotion and encoding: visual perception enhancement

Answer 72

Cue attention with a face in one location. The face is either fearful or neutral * Task: detect specific gabor patches in that location * If the face is fearful, participants are able to detect fainter patches. * If fearful faces all over (no relationship to where the gabor appears), there is no benefit to attention. * Take home point: emotion enhances perception * Emotion enhances perception and perceptual benefit of attention

Question 73

Emotions distracts from non-central information

Answer 73

* Fearful faces direct attention away from the the location where a dot will appear. * Participants are slower at finding the dot when this happens Why? * The parietal lobe is involved in voluntarily shifting attention * If a fearful face is presented on the right side of the visual field, the left parietal lobe (which is responsible for shifting attention in that visual field) does not activate as much -> lower ability to attend to other information

Question 74

Flashbulb memories

Answer 74

Kennedy's assassination, the Challenger space shuttle explosion and, more recently, the 9/11 attacks. Known as "flashbulb memories," these detailed recollections can be as clear as something that happened yesterday, right down to the dialogue, the weather and even what people were wearing when they heard the news

Question 75

amygdala and hippocampus

Answer 75

* Based on neuroimaging and patient data, a number of researchers have proposed that during emotional arousal, the amygdala modulates activity in hippocampus, resulting in improved memory for positive and negative stimuli, most likely as a result of stronger encoding and less forgetting of the positive and negative items

Question 76

Emotion and storage (or consolidation)

Answer 76

* Emotion prevents memories from being forgotten because of interactions between the amygdala and the hippocampus * Evidence: * Emotional and non-emotional stimulus forgetting

Question 77

Emotion and retention: patient evidence

Answer 77

* Study a series of taboo and neutral words * Asked to recall the words after a delay * Controls did not forget as many taboo words as neutral words * Amygdala patients show no such benefit of emotional words on consolidation

Question 78

Remember/Know

Answer 78

in the remember–know–new paradigm (Tulving, 1985), participants are first given a study list, and they are subsequently presented with a test list consisting of previously studied (old) and new items. Participants judge whether each test item is new or old. If they judge the item as old, then they further judge whether they remembered the item or knew it. According to proponents, the endorsement of a remember response indicates a conscious, recollective recall, and the endorsement of a know response indicates automatic activation based on familiarity.

Question 79

Emotion and Retrieval

Answer 79

Independent neural systems underlie the subjective sense of remembering for emotional and neutral scenes The amygdala is involved in ‘remembering’ emotional words. The parahippocampus is involved in both, but more for neutral Parahippocampus and amygdala show opposite patterns: * Amygdala responds more to remembered emotional scenes than just known emotional scenes * Parahippocampus responses more to remembered neutral scenes than just known neutral scenes

Question 80

Parahippocampal cortex: Emotion and Retrieval

Answer 80

* Effect of remembering vs knowing depended on whether the stimulus was emotional. * For neutral images, greater response to scenes that were remembered in detail versus scenes that the participant just had a familiarity with * For emotional images, there was no difference between remember vs know

Question 81

Amygdala: Emotion and Retrieval

Answer 81

* Effect of remembering vs knowing depended on whether the stimulus was emotional. * For emotional images, greater response to scenes that were remembered in detail versus scenes that the participant just had a familiarity with * For neutral images, there was no difference between remember vs know

Question 82

Emotional memories are no more accurate in details later, despite a high confidence

Answer 82

* Task: study negative and neutral pictures, sometimes surrounded by a red frame. Later, ask participants whether they remember having seen the frame. * Participants subjectively ’remember’ more, but actually are worse for the peripheral frame detail

Question 83

Summary: Emotion and Memory * Encoding * Storage (consolidation) * Retrieval

Answer 83

Emotion affects encoding by capturing our attention and improving perception * Evidence: * The Emotional Attentional Blink * Visual perception enhancement experiment * Emotion prevents memories from being forgotten because of interactions between the amygdala and the hippocampus * Evidence: * Emotional and non-emotional stimulus forgetting Independent neural systems underlie the subjective sense of remembering for emotional and neutral scenes * Amygdala responds more to remembered emotional scenes than just known emotional scenes * Parahippocampus responses more to remembered neutral scenes than just known neutral scenes.

Question 84

Fear conditioning

Answer 84

* A form of classical conditioning in which a neutral stimulus (e.g., light) acquires aversive properties by virtue of being paired with an aversive event (e.g., shock)

Question 85

Effect of amygdala lesions on fear conditioning

Answer 85

* After a lesion to the amygdala, fear can still be experienced in relation to harmful stimuli, but fear conditioning is impaired * Lesions to rat amygdala do not affect natural response to fearinducing stimuli (will still startle in response to shock or loud noise) * Fear expression is intact * Lesions to rat amygdala prevent learning of the conditioned startle response (e.g., won’t startle from light alone) * Impaired fear conditioning

Question 86

Fear conditioning: Amygdala circuit

Answer 86

ln to cn to brainstem/hypothalamus

Question 87

Fear Conditioning via Social Learning

Answer 87

Humans don’t always need to directly experience negative events themselves to associate certain aspects of the environment with danger * e.g., We learn about germs and fear them without direct perception of them * You can tell a person that a stimulus will be associated with pain, and that stimulus with activate the amygdala on its own * Same thing happens when you see someone else get shocked after they see a specific cue

Question 88

Extinction of Fear Conditioning

Answer 88

Extinction: After repeated presentation of CS (light) without US (shock), CS alone no longer causes a fear response * Spontaneous recovery: Fear response can return the next day though – tells us that memory hasn’t been “erased” * During extinction, the vmPFC communicates with the lateral nucleus to inhibit the fear memory

Question 89

Spontaneous recovery

Answer 89

Fear response can return the next day though – tells us that memory hasn’t been “erased”

Question 90

* There are multiple sensory pathways to the amygdala:

Answer 90

* 1. “Slow road” or “High road”: sensory stimuli are relayed through the thalamus to the cortex where they are processed before information is relayed to the amygdala * 2. “Fast road” or “Low road”: sensory stimuli are directly relayed from thalamus to the amygdala

Question 91

evidence of slow/fast pathways of amygdala

Answer 91

Amygdala is activated by fearful expressions in a blindsight patient with damage to primary visual cortex who is not consciously aware of the stimulus * Amygdala is activated by fearful expressions in healthy participants when images are masked so the participants is not consciously aware of seeing them

Question 92

What are the key distinctions between the basic (core) emotions approach versus the dimensional emotions approach?

Answer 92

People all of the world show pretty much the same facial expressions for 6 basic emotions: Anger, happiness, disgust, surprise, sadness, fear Ekman’s “Universal Facial Expressions”

Question 93

* What the basic emotions approach propose?

Answer 93

* Alternative framework to discrete, “basic emotions” approach

Question 94

* How do people study the basic emotions approach? Name evidence that seems to support the basic emotions approach.

Answer 94

* People in Papua New Guinea, don’t watch TV or read magazines

Question 95

What does the dimensions of emotion approach propose? What are the two dimensions?

Answer 95

* Emotions tap into a “core affect” system and are CONSTRUCTED as reactions to events along continuous dimensions * Example: VALENCE (negative – positive) vs. AROUSAL (low – high)

Question 96

* Briefly describe circuitry of the amygdala, and why lesions to the amygdala obliterate fear conditioning

Answer 96

LN projects to central nucleus (CN), which is connected to parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems (to activate an emotional response) in hypothalamus and brainstem

Question 97

Describe the 2 pathways to the amygdala and what each pathway is good for.

Answer 97

* There are multiple sensory pathways to the amygdala: * 1. “Slow road” or “High road”: sensory stimuli are relayed through the thalamus to the cortex where they are processed before information is relayed to the amygdala * 2. “Fast road” or “Low road”: sensory stimuli are directly relayed from thalamus to the amygdala

Question 98

patient SM

Answer 98

Although clinical observations suggest that humans with amygdala damage have abnormal fear reactions and a reduced experience of fear [1–3], these impressions have not been systematically investigated. To address this gap, we conducted a new study in a rare human patient, SM, who has focal bilateral amygdala lesions [4]. To provoke fear in SM, we exposed her to live snakes and spiders, took her on a tour of a haunted house, and showed her emotionally evocative films. On no occasion did SM exhibit fear, and she never endorsed feeling more than minimal levels of fear. Likewise, across a large battery of self-report questionnaires, 3 months of real-life experience sampling, and a life history replete with traumatic events, SM repeatedly demonstrated an absence of overt fear manifestations and an overall impoverished experience of fear. Despite her lack of fear, SM is able to exhibit other basic emotions and experience the respective feelings. The findings support the conclusion that the human amygdala plays a pivotal role in triggering a state of fear and that the absence of such a state precludes the experience of fear itself. The disconnection between SM’s verbally stated aversion to snakes and spiders and her actual real-life behavior was striking. She did not display any signs of avoidance, but instead exhibited an excessive degree of approach (a pattern highly reminiscent of the behavior in monkeys with Kluver-Bucy syndrome [12]).