Lecture 14: Emotions Flashcards
emotions
our capacity to conceptualize, categorize, label, interpret, and introspect about our outer and inner worlds
Stimulating GABA neurons in the medial amygdala at low frequencies
produce sexual behaviour
Stimulating GABA neurons in the medial amygdala at high frequencies
creates aggressive behaviour
Stimulating glutamate neurons in the medial amygdala at low frequencies
results in reduced social interaction and self-grooming
Stimulating glutamate neurons in the medial amygdala at high frequencies
results in reduced social interaction and self-grooming
emotions are broadcasted via
postural changes, facial expressions, and nonverbal sounds
facial expressions when people are alone
are minimal
6 classes of facial expressions
fear, anger, surprise, disgust, sadness, hapiness
recognition of emotions through facial expressions
is fairly automatic, rapid, and accurate
what happens when people are given more time to think about the emotion conveyed by an expression?
they show very little improvement
function of emotional expressions
social
t or f: The ability to detect emotions transcends cultural and linguistic barriers
true
how many emotional blends are there
~25
blind vs. non-blind peoples’ facial expressions
they’re the same
two streams of processing emotion
thought & feeling
Stream of thought
cognitive understanding of the idea of an emotion. processed in the neocortex
Stream of feeling
reflexive, natural response to stimuli. processed in the limbic system
t or f: Genuine smiles involve different facial muscles than artificial smiles
true
volitional facial paresis
A condition where people are unable to voluntarily control their facial muscles, but they can express genuine emotion with the same muscles
volitional facial paresis cause
damage to the face region of the primary motor cortex or its subcortical connections
Emotional Facial Paresis
A condition where people can voluntarily control their facial muscles, but can’t express genuine emotion with the same muscles
Emotional Facial Paresis cause
damage around the insular cortex or parts of the thalamus
behavioural responses
consist of muscular movements (facial expressions, body language, choreographed movements)
autonomic responses
facilitates fight or flight behaviours and provides quick mobilization of energy for vigorous movement
how are autonomic responses signalled
through the PNS
hormonal responses
reinforce the autonomic response
how are hormonal responses signalled?
throuhg the blood
common sense theory of emotion
- Perception of the emotion-eliciting event
- Emotion occurs
- Behavioural and physiological responses
james-lange theory of emotion
- Perception of emotion-eliciting event
- Behavioural and physiological responses are triggered
- Emotion occurs
how was the james-lange theory of emotion developed?
Was based on studies of people with spinal cord injuries in the late 1800s
People with spinal cord damage reported less intense emotional feelings
The reduction in emotional experiences correlated with how much sensation the people had lost (how paralyzed people were)
result of interfering with muscular movement associated with a particular emotion
slightly decreases people’s ability to experience that emotion (ex. injecting beta-2 blockers)
the cingulate cortex
the large area that overlies the corpus callosum
hippocampus
critical for explicit memory formation
amygdala
critical for feeling and recognizing emotions
central nucleus of the amygdala
regulates emotional responses, particularly fear responses by sending information to various brain structures. It is also important for recognizing emotions in others
lesions of the central nucleus of the amygdala
eliminate innate and conditioned fear responses
what fear is heightened in people with bilateral amygdala damage?
fear of suffocation
stimulation of the central nucleus results in
fear, anxiety, and irritation
emotion perception for people with damage to the primary visual cortex or visual association cortex
may have no conscious awareness of looking a someone’s face, but they still show amygdala activity in response to viewing faces and often mimic the facial expression
emotional perception for people with a bilateral amygdalectomy
don’t experience fear & can’t identify it but can generate artificial expressions of it
what is the main way that people detect emotional states
examining people’s eyes and mouths
what other brain areas are involved in detecting emotions
the somatosensory cortex, insular cortex, premotor cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex are also activated when perceiving emotions
right cerebral hemisphere is responsible for what part of emotional perception?
recognizing emotions in others
mirror neurons
Neurons that are activated similarly when an animal performs a particular behaviour or when it sees another animal performing that behaviour
where are mirror neurons found
Found in many brain areas: somatosensory cortex, insular cortex, premotor cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex
how are most human fears acquired?
socially
what processes are mirror neurons involved in?
mimicry and empathy
what part of emotional perception is the somatosensory cortex involved in?
encodes representations of what emotions feel like
where is word comprehension processed?
left cerebral hemisphere
what brain area is responsible for inferring emotions based on the tone of someone’s voice?
right cerebral hemisphere
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC) function
inhibition of emotional expression
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC) location
region of the prefrontal cortex at the base of the anterior frontal lobes, adjacent to the midline
what happens when conditioned fear responses are extinguished?
vmPFC connections to the amygdala are strengthened
lesioning the vmPFCF
selectively disrupts extinction learning
damage to the vmPFC is associated with
impulsive violence
what happens to people with damage to the PFC?
become childish, irresponsible, and thoughtless
seotonergic neurons
play an inhibitory role in human aggression
result of drugs that increase serotonin on aggression
decrease aggression
t or f: the amygdala is involved in word comprehension and inferring emotions
false; it’s the left cerebral cortex and right cerebral cortex respectively
can people with bilateral amygdala damage perceive emotions?
not usually because they don’t look at people’s eyes. but if they are reminded to look at eyes every time, then they can
effect of vmPFC damage on cognitive abilities
no effect
impulse control and serotonin
there is a small correlation between risky behaviour, impulsive aggression and low serotonin levels
rhesus monkeys experiment
The serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA was measured in the cerebrospinal fluid of rhesus monkeys which was tracked over 4 years. Those with the lowest levels were risk takers
why doesn’t perceiving emotions come naturally to some people?
because they aren’t drawn to look at people in the eyes
what theory of emotion is favoured?
the common sense theory
the limbic system
Group of brain structures involved in feeling, perceiving, and regulating emotions
