Lecture 24: Fear Flashcards
What are examples of instinctive behaviour?
flight, repulsion, curiosity, pugnacity, self-abasement, self assertion and protection
What are examples of emotion?
fear, disgust, wonder, anger, subjection, elation and tenderness
What is instinctive behaviour?
not just facial expression but behavioural dispositions and actions
What are affective experiences accompanied by?
particular changes in autonomic and somatic motor activity
What is volitional movement controlled by?
descending “pyramidal” and “extrapyramidal” projections from motor cortex and brainstem
What is emotional expression controlled by?
descending “extrapyramidal” projections from medial forebrain and hypothalamus
Why do we fear what we fear?
emotional systems develop, and exhibit different contingencies during development e.g. at six years, fears of bodily injury, death and failure develop
What do we need to know when we look for the neural basis of fear?
we need to know not just the neural substrates but how its most characteristic functional feature is implemented -> fear is, to some extent innate, but also plastic
What do auditory pathways in the rat brain lead to (in terms of fear)?
auditory pathways -> medial geniculate nucleus which branches off into the amygdala and auditory cortex
amygdala -> output to circuits that influence somatomotor and autonomic activity
What do other projections in the rat brain lead to (in terms of fear associated with foot shock)?
other projections (including somatic sensory pathways) -> amygdala -> output to circuits that influence somatomotor and autonomic activity
What is fear learning?
linking coincident predictors of threatening situations to the fear responses (and experience)
What if you have too much activation of fear circuits?
generalised anxiety disorder, panic attack, panic disorder, phobias, OCD, PTSD
What are panic attack symptoms?
pounding heart, chest pains, lightheadedness or dizziness, nausea or stomach problems, flushes or chills, sweating, etc.
What are some approaches used to normalise fear responses?
re-learning the (mis)associations
pharmacological intervention
What do anxious people seem to have?
diminished binding to inhibitory neurotransmitter receptor related to panic attack
