Lecture 16

Question 1

James-Lange theory of emotion

Answer 1

physiological activity precedes emotional experience

Question 2

Darwin proposed that

Answer 2

autonomic responses are an intricate part of emotional experience

Question 3

Walter Cannon theory of emotion

Answer 3

Disagreed with James-Lange, thought we feel emotion simultaneously with autonomic response

Question 4

sympathetic NS

Answer 4

fight or flight

Question 5

parasympathetic NS

Answer 5

rest and digest

Question 6

Walter Cannon - Sham rage

Answer 6

w/ cats, cut off/damage cortex + slight stimulation
- not directed towards provoking stimulus

Question 7

Cannon-Bard lesion experiments

Answer 7

Disconnect cerebral cortex from outflow pathways in cats
- when just forebrain, sham rage behaviours observed
- hissing, arching of back, extension of claws, etc.
- when posterior hypothalamus was disconnect, no sham rage seen

Question 8

Papez + emotion theory

Answer 8

Added the limbic system into the mix
- cingulate gyrus, hippocampal gyrus, hippocampal formatiom, mammillary glands and hypothalamus
- argued that medial surface of brain is evolutionarily conserved

Question 9

Kluver-Bucy Syndrome

Answer 9

links amygdala and temporal lobes to emotion
- removed temporal lobes (w/ amygdala and hippocampus) from monkeys
- hyper sexual, hyper oral, change in diets, “psychic blindness” (tame, fearless, blunted emotions)
- amygdala is key structure w/ emotional effects

Question 10

John Downer Study

Answer 10

cut optic chiasm, lesioned one amygdala
- open eye -> intact amygdala = normal fear response
- shut eye -> intact amygdala = blunted response
- main finding is that the amygdala is required for fear responses (anterior temporal lobe)

Question 11

Amygdala

Answer 11

looks like almond
- sits infront of anterior part of hippocampus
- key coordinator of emotional behaviour
- essential for fear response

Question 12

Most commonly studied emotion in neuroscience

Answer 12

Fear

Question 13

Low road fear pathway

Answer 13

sensory thalamus -> amygdala
- quick + dirty

Question 14

High road fear pathway

Answer 14

sensory thalamus -> sensory cortex -> amygdala
- slow but accurate (more consolidation, more appropriate response)

Question 15

lateral nucleus of amygdala

Answer 15

major sensory input structure

Question 16

central nucleus of anygdala

Answer 16

output structure to hypothalamus

Question 17

Neural circuit of fear conditioning

Answer 17

CS and US converge on lateral amygdala, LA communicates to central amygdala, CE connects w/ brainstem and hypothalamic regions

Question 18

Associative learning fear conditioning happens on what neurons

Answer 18

Lateral amygdala pyramidal neurons

Question 19

LTP in amygdala w/ fear conditioning

Answer 19

insertion of more AMPA receptors
spine growth, more synapses btwn neurons

Question 20

Patient SM

Answer 20

the woman who was never afraid
- rare, autosomal recessive condition - Urbache-Wiethe disease
- bilateral atrophy of anterior medial temporal lobes
- extensive amygdala damage, little hippocampus damage
- cannot recognize fear, didn’t look at eye region on faces, could be trained tho

Question 21

Stress is

Answer 21

physical or psychological reaction to a threatening or demanding stimulus
- when our perceived abilities are less than the perceived demands

Question 22

HPA is an _______ response to stress

Answer 22

adaptive

Question 23

Effects of HPA axis

Answer 23

increased heart rate, increased energy substrates in blood, alertness, increased blood pressure, increased breathing, decreased growth and reproduction

Question 24

chronic stress causes

Answer 24

increased glucocorticoids, cellular changes in hippocampus, decreased regulation of cortisol

Question 25

NGF1-A in unstable environments

Answer 25

promoter region methylated, NGF1-A cannot bind, Nr3c1 not expressed, decreased GR expression (higher stress)