Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Psychology 2250-004 > Module 12 What Causes Emotional and Motivated Behavior? > Flashcards

Module 12 What Causes Emotional and Motivated Behavior? Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
AP® Psychology flashcards Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

Emotion

A

-Cognitive interpretation of subjective experience that can influence thought and behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Androgen

A

-hormones related to masculine characteristics and that play a role in levels of sexual interest

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Innate releasing Mechanism (IRM)

A

-Hypothetical mechanism that detects specific sensory stimuli and directs an organism to take a particular action

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Evolution Psychology

A

-Discipline that seek to apply principles of natural selection to understand the causes of human behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Reinforcer

A

-In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens that behavior it follows

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Learned Taste aversion

A

-Acquired association between a specific taste or odor and illness; leads to an aversion to food that have the taste or odor

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Preparedness

A

-Predisposition to respond to certain stimuli differently from other stimuli

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC (Orbital frontal cortex))

A

-Prefrontal cortex behind the eye socket (the orbits); receives projections from the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus; central to a variety of emotional and social behaviors, including eating

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Pheromone

A

-Odorant biochemical released by one animal that acts as a chemosignal and can affect the physiology or behavior of another animal

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Regulatory Behavior

A

-Behavior motivated to meet an animal’s sutvival needs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Homeostatic Machanism

A

-Process that maintains critical body functions within a narrow, fixed range

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Nonregulatory Behavior

A

-Behavior unnecessary to animal’s basic survival needs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Pitutary Glands

A

-Endocrine gland attached to the bottom of the hypothalamus; its secretions control that activities of many other endocrine glands; associated with biological rhythms

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Medial Forebrain Bundle (MFB)

A

-Tract that connects brainstem structures with various parts of the limbic system forms the activating projections that run from the brainstem to the basal ganglia and frontal cortex

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Releasing Hormone

A

-Peptide released by the hypothalamus that increases or decreases hormone release from the anterior pituitary

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Anorexia Nervosa

A

-Exaggerated concern with being over weight that leads to inadequate food intake and often exercising; can lead to severe weight loss and even starvation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Aphagia

A

-Failure to eat; may be due to an unwillingness to eat of to motor difficulties, especially with swallowing

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Hyperphagia

A

-Overeating that leads to significant weight gain

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Osmotic Thirst

A

-Thirst that results from a high concentration of dissolved chemicals, or solutes in body fluids

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Hypovolemic Thirst

A

-Thirst produced by a loss overall fluid volume from the body

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Activating Effects

A

-Hormonal actions that influence in the adult brain

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Organizing Effects

A

-Hormonal actions that influence the organizational development of the fetal brain

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Sexual Dimorphism

A

-Differential development of brain areas in the two sexes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Sexual Orientation

A

-A person’s pattern of sexual attraction-to the opposite sex or to the same sex or to both sexes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Gender Identity

A

-The degree to which a person feels male or female

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Transgender

A

-Possessing personal characteristics that transcend traditional gender boundaries and corresponding sexual norms; a person’s belief that he or she was born the worng sex

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Hippocampus

A

-Distinctive allocortices structure lying in the medial temporal lobe; participates in species-typical behaviors, memory, and spatial navigation and is vulnerable to the effects of stress

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Amygdala (Greek word for Almond)

A

-The part of the brain that participates in species-typical behaviors, emotion, and emotional memory, reflecting the general shape in the medical temporal lobe

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Kluver-Bucy Syndrome

A

-Behavioral syndrome, characterized especially by hypersexuality, that result from bilateral injury to the temporal lobe

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

Psychosurgery

A

-Any neurosurgical technique intended to alter behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

A

-Persistently high levels of anxiety often accompanied by maladaptive behavior to reduce anxiety; thought to be caused by chronic stress

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

Phobia

A

-Fear of a clearly defined object or situation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

Panic Disorder

A

-Recurrent attacks of intense terror that come on without warning and without any apparent relationship to external circumstances

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

What Causes Emotional and Motivated Behavior?

A
  • Identifying the Causes of Behavior
  • Chemical Senses
  • Evolution, Environment and Behavior
  • Neuroanatomy of Motivated and Emotional Behavior
  • Control of Regulatory and Nonregulatory Behavior
  • Reward
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

Identifying the Causes of Behavior

A 
-Emotion
~Cognitive interpretation of subjective feelings
-Motivation
~Behavior that seems purposeful and goal- directed
-Neuroanatomy of Emotion and Motivation
~Hypothalamus
~Limbic System
~Frontal Lobe
36
Q

Behavior for Brain Maintenance

A

-Sensory Deprivation
~Experimental setup in which a subject is allowed only restricted sensory input; subjects generally have a low tolerance for deprivation and may even display hallucinations
~Hebb and Heron (1950s)
*After about 4 to 8 hours, subjects became quite distressed; few subjects lasted more than 24 hours
*Brain has an inherent need for stimulation; one reason that we engage in behavior is to stimulate the brain

37
Q

Neural Circuits and Behavior

A

-Researchers have identified brain circuits for reward and discovered that these circuits can be modulated to increase or decrease activity
~Hormones
~Chemical senses (smell and taste)
-The main reason why a particular thought, feeling, or action occurs lies in what is going on in brain circuits
-Researchers have not been able to link drives and brain activity
-What researchers have found, however, is that behavioral change correlates with changes in hormones and cellular activity
~Example: A man’s frequency of copulation is correlated with his levels of male hormones, called androgens (male hormones related to level of sexual interest)

38
Q

Chemical Senses

A

-Chemosignals (chemical signals) play a central role in motivated and emotional behavior
~Identify group members
~Mark territories
~Identify favorite and forbidden foods
~Form associations among odors, tastes, and emotional events
-Odor and taste play a fundamental role in the biology of emotional and motivated behavior

39
Q

Olfaction

A

-We can discriminate thousands of odors, yet we have great difficulty finding words to describe what we smell
-Designed to discriminate whether information is safe or familiar
~Is the smell from an edible food?
~From a friend or from a stranger?

40
Q

Receptors for Smell

A
  • Chemicals in the air we breathe dissolve in mucosa to interact with cilia
  • Metabotropic activation of a specific G protein leads to an opening of sodium channels and a change in membrane potential
41
Q

Olfactory Pathways

A

-Olfactory receptor cells project to the olfactory bulb
-Many olfactory targets (amygdala and pyriform cortex) have no connection through the thalamus
-Thalamic connection does project to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)
~Emotional, social, and eating behaviors

42
Q

Accessory Olfactory System

A
  • Pheromones: biochemicals released by one animal that act as chemosignals and can affect the physiology or behavior of another animal
  • Detected by a special olfactory receptor system known as the vomeronasal organ (connected to the amygdala and hypothalamus)
43
Q

Human Olfactory Processing

A

-Humans have a surprisingly acute sensitivity to smells that are behaviorally relevant
~Can identify their own odor, the odor of kin versus non-kin, and the odor of friends versus strangers with accuracy well above chance
*Body odors activate brain regions involved in emotional processing
-Processing body odors is mostly unconscious and represents an automatic process

44
Q

Gustation

A

-Within the human species, clear differences in taste thresholds and preferences are obvious
~Supertasters versus nontasters
-Children are much more responsive than adults to taste
~By age 20, humans have lost at least an estimated 50 percent of their taste receptors

45
Q

Receptors for Taste

A

-Each of the five different taste-receptor types responds to a different chemical component of food
~Sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.
-Fifth is called the umami receptor
~Especially sensitive to glutamate

46
Q

Gustatory Pathways

A

-Cranial nerves 7, 9, and 10 form the main gustatory nerve, the solitary tract.
~Gustatory region in the insula is dedicated to taste
~Primary somatosensory region is responsive to tactile information (localizing tastes and textures on tongue)
-Gustatory to orbital cortex: mixture of olfactory and gustatory input gives rise to our perception of flavor
-Areas in the right orbital cortex mediate the pleasantness of tastes, whereas the same region in the left hemisphere mediates the unpleasantness of tastes
-Gustatory projections to amygdala play a role in pleasantness and salience of food

47
Q

Evolution, Environment, and Behavior

A

-Investigating the evolutionary and environmental influences on brain-circuit activity that contribute to behavior.
~Why does the sight or smell of a bird or a mouse trigger stalking and killing in a cat?
~Why does the human body stimulate sexual interest?

48
Q

Evolutionary Influences on Behavior

-Innate Releasing Mechanism (IRM)

A
  • Hypothetical mechanism that detects specific sensory stimuli and directs an organism to take a particular action
  • The brain must have a set of norms against which it can match stimuli so as to trigger an appropriate response
  • Although IRMs are prewired into the brain, they can be modified with experience
49
Q

Innate Releasing Mechanisms

A
  • “Halloween” cat innately stimulates cats to respond defensively –raised fur, arched backs, and bared teeth
  • The “Picasso” cat evokes no response at all
50
Q

Innate Releasing Mechanisms in Humans

A
  • Adult displays various exaggerated facial expressions
  • Babies responded with very much the same expressions
  • Newborns were too young to be imitating the adult faces intentionally
  • Babies innately match these facial expressions to internal templates
51
Q

Evolutionary Influences on Behavior

A

-Evolutionary Psychology
~Discipline that seeks to apply principles of natural selection to understand the causes of human behavior
~Behaviors exist because the neural circuits producing them have been favored through natural selection
-B. F. Skinner (1904–1990)
~Suggested a strong role of learning in behavior
~Reinforcer
*In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior that it follows
~Experience shapes behavior by pairing stimuli and reinforcers
-Many complex behaviors are learned, and learning takes place in a brain that has been selected for evolutionary adaptations
-Learned Taste Aversion
~Acquired association between a specific taste or odor and illness
~Leads to an aversion to foods having that taste or odor
*Example: Garcia (1966)
**Coyotes were killing sheep
**Poisoned a sheep carcass, made coyotes ill
**Most coyotes learned never to eat sheep again
-Preparedness
~Predisposition to respond to certain stimuli differently than to other stimuli
~Brain is prewired to make certain types of associations but not others

52
Q

Inferring Purpose in Behavior: To Know a Fly

A

-When studying the causes of behavior, one must be careful not to infer purpose from an organism’s actions
~Do not assume that behavior is intentional
~Example
*Although a fly may look as if it is behaving with “purpose in mind,” its behaviors are controlled by a series of very simple mechanisms that are not even remotely related to our concept of thought

53
Q

Neuroanatomy of Motivated Behavior

A

-Critical Structures
~Hypothalamus and associated pituitary gland
*Sends information to other brainstem circuits to produce behavior
~Limbic system
~Frontal lobes
-Homeostatic Mechanism
~Process that maintains critical body functions within a narrow, fixed range

54
Q

Regulatory and Nonregulatory Behavior

A 
-Regulatory Behavior
~Behavior motivated to meet the survival needs of the animal
~Controlled by homeostatic mechanisms, which involve the hypothalamus
~Examples: 
*Internal body temperature
*Eating and drinking
*Salt consumption
*Waste elimination
55
Q

Regulatory and Nonregulatory Behavior

-Nonregulatory Behavior

A

-Behavior unnecessary to meet the basic survival needs of the animal
-Not controlled by homeostatic mechanisms
-Most involve the frontal lobes more than the hypothalamus
-Strongly influenced by external stimuli
~Examples:
*Sexual behavior, parental behavior, aggression, food preference, curiosity, and reading

56
Q

Regulatory Function of the Hypothalamic Circuit

A

-Involvement in Hormone Secretions
~A principal function is to control the pituitary gland
-Pituitary Gland
~Endocrine gland attached to the bottom of the hypothalamus
~Its secretions control the activities of many other endocrine glands
~Known to be associated with biological rhythms

57
Q

Anatomy of the Hypothalamus

A

-Acts on both the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system
-Controls variety of motivated behaviors (e.g., heart rate, feeding, sexual activity)
-Three regions of the hypothalamus
~Lateral Region
~Medial Region
~Paraventricular Region

58
Q

Hypothalamic Involvement in Hormone Secretions

A

-Lateral Region
~Contains nuclei and nerve tracts that connect the lower brainstem to the forebrain
~Medial Forebrain Bundle (MFB)
*Tract that connects structures in the brainstem with various parts of the limbic system
*Forms the activating projections from the brainstem to the basal ganglia and frontal cortex
*Dopamine-containing fibers are involved in reward and therefore contribute to many motivated behaviors
-Posterior Pituitary
~Neural tissue; continuation of the hypothalamus
-Anterior Pituitary
~Glandular tissue; synthesizes various hormones
-Releasing Hormones
~Peptides that are released by the hypothalamus and act to increase or decrease the release of hormones from the anterior pituitary
-Factors involved in controlling hypothalamic hormone-related activity
~Feedback Loops
*Control the amount of hormone that is released
~Neural Regulation
*Other brain regions (e.g., limbic system and frontal lobes) influence hormone release
~Experiential Responses
*Experience can alter the structure and function of hypothalamic neurons

59
Q

Hypothalamic Involvement in Generating Behavior

A

-Electrical stimulation of different nuclei in the hypothalamus will produce goal-directed behaviors, such as:
~Eating and drinking
~Digging
~Displaying fear
~Predatory or attack behavior
~Reproductive behavior
*Indistinguishable from normally occurring behaviors

60
Q

The Organizing Function of the Limbic Circuit

A 
-The primitive limbic cortex comprises: 
~Cingulate gyrus
~Hippocampal formation
*Hippocampus
**Distinctive three-layered subcortical structure of the limbic system lying in the medial temporal region of the temporal lobe
**Plays a role in species-specific behaviors, memory, and spatial navigation
**Vulnerable to the effects of stress 
*Parahippocampal cortex
61
Q

Amygdala

A
  • Almond-shaped collection of nuclei located within the limbic system
  • Plays a role in emotional and species-specific behaviors
  • Receives input from all sensory systems
  • Many neurons respond to more than one sensory modality (multimodal)
  • Sends projections primarily to the hypothalamus and brainstem
62
Q

Prefrontal Anatomy and Connections

A

-Plays a key role in controlling executive functions such as planning movements
-Plays a role in specifying the goals toward which movement should be directed
-Controls the processes by which we select movements that are appropriate for the particular time and context
~May be cued by internal information (such as memory and emotion) or it may be made in response to context (environmental information)

63
Q

Prefrontal Cortex

A

-Receives connections from the amygdala, the dorsomedial thalamus, the posterior parietal (sensory association) cortex, and the dopaminergic cells of the ventral tegmental area
~Dopaminergic input influences how prefrontal neurons react to stimuli, especially emotionally arousing stimuli
-Inferior region projects to the amygdala and the hypothalamus: Influences autonomic nervous system
-Dorsolateral region projects to the posterior parietal cortex, the cingulate cortex, the basal ganglia, and the premotor cortex: Influences movement and memory

64
Q

Prefrontal Functions

A
  • Selecting behaviors appropriate to the particular time and place
  • Adapting behavior appropriately to the environmental context
  • Act much like a composer, selecting our actions
  • Frontal lobes are sometimes described as housing the brain’s executive functions
65
Q

Stimulating and Expressing Emotion

A

-Three Components of Emotion
~Autonomic Response (e.g., increased heart rate)
*Hypothalamus and associated structures
~Subjective Feelings (e.g., fear)
*Amygdala and parts of frontal lobes
~Cognitions (e.g., thoughts about the experience)
*Cerebral cortex

66
Q

Stimulating Emotion

-Explanations for Emotion

A

-James-Lange View of Emotion
~Physiological changes produced by the autonomic nervous system come first, and the brain interprets these changes as an emotion
~Evidence: Intensity of emotions in individuals with spinal cord damage depends upon the level at which the spinal cord is severed
-Somatic Marker Hypothesis (Damasio, 1999)
~Posits that “marker” signals arising from emotions and feelings act to guide behavior and decision making, usually an unconscious process

67
Q

Amygdala and Emotional Behavior

A
  • Involved in species-specific behaviors and emotion
  • Influences autonomic and hormonal responses via connections with the hypothalamus
  • Influences conscious awareness of the consequences of events and objects via connections with the prefrontal cortex
68
Q

Amygdala and Emotional Behavior

-Klüver-Bucy Syndrome

A

-Symptoms in monkeys
~Tameness and loss of fear
~Indiscriminate dietary behavior
~Greatly increased autoerotic, homosexual, and heterosexual activity with inappropriate object choice
~Tendency to attend to and react to every visual stimulus
~Tendency to examine all objects by mouth
~Visual agnosia (inability to recognize objects)

69
Q

Prefrontal Cortex and Emotional Behavior

A

-Damage to the prefrontal cortex has severe effects on social and emotional behavior
~Inability to experience and express their own emotions and to recognize the emotional expression of others
~Apathy and loss of initiative or drive
~Inability to plan and organize, leading to poor decision-making

70
Q

Emotional Disorders

A

-Major Depression
~Characterized by prolonged feelings of worthlessness and guilt, the disruption of normal eating habits, sleep disturbances, a general slowing of behavior, and frequent thoughts of suicide
~There is a genetic component
~Biological abnormality
*Early life stress may produce epigenetic changes in the prefrontal cortex
-Generalized Anxiety Disorder
~Persistently high levels of anxiety often accompanied by maladaptive behaviors to reduce anxiety; thought to be caused by chronic stress
-Phobia
~Clearly defined dreaded object or greatly feared situation
-Panic Disorder
~Recurrent attacks of intense terror that come on without warning and without apparent relation to external circumstances
-Most common treatment are the benzodiazepines, which augment GABA’s inhibitory effect

71
Q

Control of Regulatory and Nonregulatory Behavior

A
  • Regulatory behaviors maintain vital body-system balance, or homeostasis,
  • Nonregulatory behaviors are not controlled by a homeostatic mechanism
72
Q

Controlling Feeding

A

-Eating disorders entail being either overweight or underweight
-Obesity
~Excessive accumulation of body fat
-Anorexia Nervosa
~Exaggerated concern with being overweight that leads to inadequate food intake and often excessive exercising; can lead to severe weight loss and even starvation

73
Q

Digestive System and Control of Eating

A

-Mouth, stomach, intestine, gall bladder, pancreas, and anus
-Three types of nutrients are extracted, each of which is a specialized form of energy reserve:
~Lipids (fats)
~Amino acids (building blocks of proteins)
~Glucose (sugar)

74
Q

Digestive System and Control of Eating

A

-Body needs to be apprised of how well breakdown of food is proceeding
-Feedback mechanisms provide such information.
-When food reaches the intestines, it interacts with receptors there to trigger the release of at least 10 different peptide hormones
~Cholecystokinin (CCK)

75
Q

Hypothalamus and Control of Eating

A

-Aphagia
~Failure to eat; may be due to an unwillingness to eat or to motor difficulties, especially with swallowing; observed following lesions to the lateral hypothalamus
-Hyperphagia
~Disorder in which an animal overeats, leading to significant weight gain; observed following lesions to the ventromedial hypothalamus or the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus
-Damage to the lateral and ventromedial hypothalamus and to the paraventricular nucleus has multiple effects
~Changes in hormone levels (especially insulin)
~Sensory reactivity (the taste and attractiveness of food is altered)
~Glucose and lipid levels in the blood
~Metabolic rate

76
Q

Cognitive Factors and Control of Eating

A

-Amygdala
~Projects to the hypothalamus; damage alters food preferences and abolishes taste-aversion learning
-Orbital prefrontal cortex
~Receives input from the olfactory bulb; damage may result in decreased eating because of diminished sensory responses to food odor and perhaps taste

77
Q

Controlling Drinking

A

-Two Kinds of Thirst
~Osmotic Thirst
*Results from an increased concentration of chemicals, known as solutes, in body fluids
*Drink water to restore ideal solute concentrations
~Hypovolumic Thirst
*Produced by a loss of overall fluid volume from the body
*Drink fluids, other than water, to restore nutrient

78
Q

Controlling Sexual Behavior

A

-Notwithstanding procreation, which is essential to the survival of the species, sexual behavior is nonregulatory
-Effects of Sex Hormones on the Brain
~A major organizing effect that gonadal hormones have on the brain is in the hypothalamus, especially the preoptic area of the medial hypothalamus
~Also operate in other nervous system regions
*Amygdala, the prefrontal cortex, and the spinal cord

79
Q

Organizing Effects of Sex Hormones

A

-Sexual Dimorphism
~Differential development of brain areas in the two sexes influenced by gonadal hormones (testosterone, estradiol)
~Estradiol masculinizes the male brain
*Aromatase converts testosterone to estradiol
*Alpha fetoprotein prevents estrogen from entering neurons
~Preoptic area of the hypothalamus is 5x as large in males as in females

80
Q

Activating Effects of Sex Hormones

A

-Adult female sexual behavior varies across the estrous cycle
~High estrogen levels are associated with sexual receptivity
~Rats: high estrogen is also associated with more dendritic spines on neurons in the hippocampus
-In adult males, testosterone levels influence the motivation to seek sexual behavior and the production of copulatory behavior

81
Q

Hypothalamus, Amygdala, and Sexual Behavior

A

-Ventromedial Hypothalamus
~Controls female mating posture (lordosis)
-Preoptic Area of the Medial Hypothalamus
~Controls copulatory behavior in males, but not sexual motivation
-Amygdala:
~Controls sexual motivation in males and possibly in females, as well (outside of their estrous cycle)

82
Q

Sexual Orientation, Sexual Identity, and Brain Organization

A

-Sexual Orientation
~A person’s sexual attraction either to the opposite sex or to the same sex or to both sexes
-Sexual Identity
~A person’s feeling either male or female

83
Q

Sex-Related Differences in Hypothalamus

A
  • Emerging evidence suggests that sex differences in the hypothalamus result from differences in gene methylation (epigenetics)
  • The hypothalamus of homosexual males differs from those in both males and females, suggesting a “third sex” with respect to hypothalamic structure
  • Differences in sexual orientation and gender identity appear to result from prenatal events that influence the organization and function of the brain, not from postnatal social or environmental experiences
84
Q

Cognitive Influences on Sexual Behavior

A
  • In addition to the amygdala and hypothalamus, the cortex must also have a role in controlling sexual behavior
  • However, the role of the cortex in sexual behavior is poorly understood
  • Damage to the frontal lobes can result in a loss of inhibition about sexual behavior or a loss of libido (sexual interest)
85
Q

Reward

A

-Reward may be a mechanism that evolved to help increase the adaptive fitness both of the entire species and of individual members of a species
~Maintain contact with some stimuli but not others
-Olds and Milner (1954)
~Rats will press a bar to self-administer electrical stimulation to specific sites in the brain (intracranial self-stimulation)
*Lateral hypothalamus and medial forebrain bundle are especially effective (part of mesolimbic dopamine system)

86
Q

Reward and Dopamine

A
  • Dopamine release shows a marked increase when animals are engaged in intracranial self-stimulation.
  • Drugs that enhance dopamine release increase self-stimulation; drugs that decrease dopamine release decrease self-stimulation; amount of dopamine released somehow determines how rewarding an event is
  • When animals engage in behaviors such as feeding or sexual activity, dopamine release rapidly increases in locations such as the nucleus accumbens
  • Highly addictive drugs such as nicotine and cocaine increase the level of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.
87
Q

Reward

A

-Reward has two independent processes: wanting (incentive) and liking (evaluation of pleasure)
-Usually, wanting and liking occur together but this is not always the case
-Robinson and Berridge (2008)
~Wanting and liking have separable neural systems
*Wanting: Involves dopamine
*Liking: Involves opioid and benzodiazepine-GABA systems
-Reward pathways are diffuse and the size and activity of these pathways are related to the intensity of reward (noted in both smokers and gamblers)

Psychology 2250-004 (12 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions