Limbic System Flashcards
dopamine
(fxns)
- NT with excitatory or inhibitory fxns:
- Reward: Dopamine is released when you do something enjoyable or beneficial, and is associated with pleasure and motivation. (also, reinforcement)
- Movement: Dopamine is involved in controlling movement, and low levels of dopamine can cause Parkinson’s disease. (muscular rigidity)
- Mental health: Dopamine imbalance can be associated with mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia
* involved in reward, movement, therefoe depression, schizophrenia, PD
Dopamine
Levels
Too much: impulse-control issues, hyper-competitiveness, and aggressive behavior.
Too little: less motivation or excitement, and tiredness or lethargy
amygdala
structure in the limbic system involved in
-our experience of emotion and
-tying emotional meaning to our memories
-modulates attention, perception, and memory based on emotions
-social communication: interprets other people’s intentions based on how they act or speak
modulates emotional learning and memory, arousal, fear, and aggr
Amygdala
damage
a variety of psychological and behavioral changes, including loss of emotion, depression, hypersexuality, and compulsive behaviors
basal ganglia
STRUCTURES in the forebrain that help to control movement
hippocampus
part of the brain that plays a role in spatial memory
enables formation of new LT conscious memories, spatial navigation,
hypothalamus
forebrain structure that serves as an interface between the nervous system and the endocrine system; regulates
* sexual motivation and behavior
* homeostatic processes
oversees hormone release & autonomic NS; hunger, thirst, body temp
limbic system
a network of regions involved in
* processing emotions
* motivation
* learning
* memory
receptor site
specific location on a receptor protein that uniquely recognizes a neurotransmitter
reuptake
means of recycling neurotransmitters
(NT is pumped back into the neuron that released it)
thalamus
gateway from the sense organs to the somatosensory cortex
* sensory relay station: coveys sensory info to cortex, integrates senses
* regulation of consciousness, sleep and aleterness
“Hal & Amos are traffic cops”
Little Albert
experiment
- Watson and Rayner
- Goal: Albert would associate the rat with the noise and develop a fear of the rat alone
- Results: Albert’s fear generalized to other furry objects
- Significance: classical conditioning can be used to create a conditioned fear response in humans
Significant Behaviorism Experiments
- Pavlov’s Dogs: conditioned footsteps and bell with food
- Watson’s Little Albert: conditioning is generalized ; classical conditioning
- Skinner Box: electrical shocks and lever; operant conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Skinner
This technique modifies behavior by associating a voluntary action with its consequences.
1. The cause of human behavior is something in a person’s environment.
2. The consequences of a behavior determine the possibility of it being repeated.
Ex: Skinner Box
Classical Conditioning
This technique pairs a neutral stimulus with a naturally occurring stimulus that elicits an automatic response.
Ex: Little Albert
