Neurobiology of emotion

Question 1

Plutchick and emotions

Answer 1

Theorised 8 basic emotions that were each alternatives:

Joy/ Sadness

Trust/Digust

Fear/ Anger

Surprise/ Anticipation

Question 2

Ekman and emotions

Answer 2

Theorised that emotions expressed facially are innate

• Disgust
• Happy
• Sad
• Anger
• Fear
• Surprised

Question 3

James-Lange theory

Answer 3

Theorised that physiological arousal initiates an emotional experience

Question 4

Frijda and emotions

Answer 4

Theorised that our emotions predisposed specific actions

Question 5

Cannon-brad theory

Answer 5

Theorised that emotions proceeded the physiological changes that occur as a result.

Example

1. Perception of frightening situation
2. Feeling ‘fearful’
3. Action–> Heart speeds, sweating/ run away

Question 6

Schacter and singer

Answer 6

Students were given saline or adrenaline and told it was a drug

• One group were misinformed
• Another group informed
• Third group ignorant

Exposed to euphoria/ anger

Gave rise to the conclusion–> physiological response is governed by cognitive interpretation
- When informed, they were the least emotive.

Question 7

Panic disorder

- Mechanism

Answer 7

When bodily sensations are wrongly appraised as catastrophic
[e.g, my heart is racing= im having a heart attack]

People who suffer from it response to cues that suggest sudden, sever illness compared to normal people.

Question 8

Dorsal and ventral visual stream

Answer 8

Dorsal stream

• From primary visual cortex [V1] in occipital lobe –> Parietal lobe
• Interprets where the object is in space

Ventral stream

• From V1–> Medial temporal lobe
• Identifies the object

Question 9

Limbic system [8]

Answer 9

Composed of:

• Hippocampus
• Cingular gyrus
• Hypothalamus
• Orbitofrontal cortex {OFC]
• Mammillary bodies
• Fornix
• Amygdala
• Insula
• Anterior thalamic nucleus

Question 10

Hippocampus

Answer 10

Involved in memory

- Episodic, declarative

Question 11

Amygdala

• Location
• Two divisions

Answer 11

Located in medial temporal lobe

Division

• Corticomedial–> Nuclei project into the hypothalamus
• Basolateral–> Nuclei diffuse into PFC and other extensive projections

Question 12

Amygdala function

- Fear [conditioned and viewing fear]

Answer 12

Processes emotion

Also recognises emotion in others and is involved in emotional learning

Processing fear

• Seeing fear in another person activates feeling fear yourself [lateral amygdala activated]
• Conditioned fear–> dorsal

Question 13

Amygdala and emotional memory

Answer 13

Increased amygdala activity when encoding emotional image= affects if image is remembered

Question 14

Benzodiazepine and the amygdala

Answer 14

Binds to GABA-a sites in the amygdala

Reduces anxiety

Even after destruction of the amygdala, benzodiazepine still has anxiolytic effects

Question 15

Cingulate function

Answer 15

Contains sections that processes:

• Pain + contextualises arousal
• Rest + depression

Question 16

Subgenual cingulate and depression

Answer 16

This area is very involved in processing sadness

- Disruption in this area= depression

Question 17

Orbito-frontal cortex

• Anatomical connections
• Function

Answer 17

Anatomical connection–> Amygdala

Functional
- Impulsitivity–> Acquired sociopathy
- Impaired smell, taste, flavour, reward, satiety
-

Question 18

PFC damage consequences [6]

Answer 18

Severely impaired social behaviour

Insensitive to future consequences of actions

Impaired autonomic response to punishment

Deficit in normal basic cognitive function

Psychopathy [impaired social and moral reasoning]

Impaired decision making

Question 19

Insula function in emotion

Answer 19

• Awareness of the internal bodily state

- Involved in normal response to negative stimulus–> Especially disgust

Question 20

Role of VTA and NAcc in emotion

Answer 20

Reward system

- Release of dopamine in response to rewarding stimuli [mesolimbic]