Neurophysiology of Emotion (Karius)

Question 1

controls emotional behavior (motivational behavior) and motivational drives

Answer 1

limbic system

Question 2

• key regulator of emotion
• emotional experience
• physiological responses to emotion (connection to ANS)

Answer 2

hypothalamus

Question 3

• smell and emotion are strongly linked
• parts of limbic system that deal w/ smell (in addition to emotion)

Answer 3

olfactory areas (para-olfactory)

Question 4

• anterior nucleus is part of Papez circuit (learning/memory)
• relays sensory info into system
• other regions are involved in both input and output of limbic system

Answer 4

thalamus

Question 5

• nucleus accumbens of the ventral striatum
• putamen
• each play a different role in emotion
• tied to pleasure and disgust

Answer 5

basal ganglia

Question 6

• another part of the Papez circuit
• memory and emotion are strongly linked
• para-________ regions are linked to surprise

Answer 6

hippocampus

Question 7

• a/w emotion recognized very early
• particularly anger and fear
• plays a role in emotional conditioning and memory in response to fear

Answer 7

amygdala

Question 8

• mostly paleocortex (3 cell layers)
• some parts have full 6 layers (neocortex)
• higher level control of emotion
• many of these neurons show after-discharge: fire after event has passed (persistence of emotion), anger/sadness tend to persist longer than happiness

Answer 8

cingulate cortex

Question 9

What are the 7 emotions that are “hardwired” into our brain?

Answer 9

• fear
• anger
• pleasure
• avoidance
• sadness
• disgust
• surprise

Question 10

What is the importance of emotion we experience and identifying that emotion in others?

Answer 10

• the circuits that allow us to experience emotion are the same circuits that allow us to identify that emotion in others
• this is important in helping us understand social cues to prevent angering others and endangering ourselves

Question 11

• help us to identify emotion in others
• fire both when you do something (e.g. smile) and when you see someone else do the same action
• role in imitation and imitative learning, but also important in emotional processing

Answer 11

mirron neurons

Question 12

What are the 2 types of fear?

Answer 12

• innate (unconditioned): requires no experience, debated in humans, usually dervied from falling and loud noises
• learned (conditioned): learned from experience, can be indirect (watching someone) or direct

Question 13

Describe the process of learned fear:

Answer 13

two pathways:

• direct thalamo-amygaloid pathway to lateral nucleus of amygdala: mediates rapid responses
• indirect thalamo-cortico-amygdaloid pathway to lateral nucleus of amygdala: mediates later responses
• lateral nucleus of amygdala: integrates inputs (pairs info/stimuli) and sends to basal and intercalated nuclei for additional processing
• info from basal and intercalated nuclei > central nucleus of amygdala to determine what response should be
• hypothalamus: generates physiological response, decides what responses are required and relays info

(damage to amygdala, fear is not perceived)

Question 14

Describe the process of anger:

Answer 14

• mediated through amygdala
• requires dopamine acting at D2 receptor: if this is blocked individual will be unable to recognize/experience anger
• inhibiting anger: neocortex, ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei

Question 15

Describe the process of avoidance:

Answer 15

• designed to do the opposite of pleasure/reward pathways, prevents occurrence of a behavior that has short-term rewards but long-term negative consequences
• anatomical substrates: lateral posterior hypothalamus, dorsal midbrain, entorhinal cortex

Question 16

Describe the process of sadness:

Answer 16

• anatomical substrate: lower sector of anterior cingulate cortex (strongly activated when recalling sad events)

Question 17

Describe the process of disgust:

Answer 17

• insular cortex/putamen: processing/recognition of social cues related to disgust, damage (Huntington’s dz) abolishes ability to experience disgust, and even precedes motor sx

Question 18

Describe the process of surprise:

Answer 18

• strongly a/w parahippocampal gyrus: important in detecting novelty or unexpected events

Question 19

• plays a role in controlling emotion
• divided into 2 regions: ventral (affective) and dorsal (cognitive)
• controlling emotional display (poker face vs crying)
• conflict detection: what new info has power to change mood
• important in understanding we are experiencing a certain emotion
• integrates visceral, attentional, and emotional input
• regulates affect (top down control)
• monitors/detects conflict between “functional” state (current state) and new info that has potential/motivational consequences
• does not decide what to do, but relays info to prefrontal cortex on what to do

Answer 19

anterior cingulate cortex

Question 20

• plays a role in controlling emotion

two divisions:

• dorsolateral: receives input from motor areas (basal ganglia, pre-, and supplementary motor cortex), cingulate cortex (esp related to performance monitoring), and several cortical association areas
• ventromedial: receives input from amygdala, hippo, temporal visual association area, and dorsolat prefrontal cortex
• roles: reward processing, “gut feeling”, and delayed gratification

Answer 20

prefrontal cortex

Question 21

What are the 3 roles of the prefrontal cortex in controlling emotion?

Answer 21

• reward processing (orbitofrontal): w/ the amygdala, we link new stim to primary reward
• integration of bodily signals (ventromedial prefrontal): “gut feeling” decision when logical analysis is unable to help
• top down regulation: esp toward delayed gratification