Neuropsychology of Emotion

Question 1

Limbic System

Answer 1

Part of brain involved in our behavioural and emotional responses.

Facilitate memory storage and retrieval

Establish emotional states

Link conscious and intellectual functions of cerebral cortex with the unconscious, autonomic functions of the brains stem.

Question 2

Orbitofrontal cortex: appraisal

Answer 2

Input: Ventral cortical streams (identity)

Medial = reward

Lateral = punishment / non-reward (expectation of punishment)

Output = anterior cingulate

Question 3

Main theories of emotion

Answer 3

Basic - biologically coded, driven by automatic responses, hard-wired, variability due to cultural ‘display rules’

Appraisal - meaningful interpretation of an object/situation by individual, may be automatic

Psychological constructionist -

Bayesian model - hierarchical, assumptions on other people’s mind depending upon knowledge of our own

Question 4

The 6 basic emotions vs Colour wheel of emotion

Answer 4

Anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, surprise all other emotions are combo of above.

Mixture of two primary emotions may be called a dyad. Like a colour wheel.

Question 5

What does the limbic system consist of?

Answer 5

Network of connections between brain regions.

Includes cingulate gyrus, thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala and hippocampus.

Question 6

What is appraisal?

Answer 6

Determines whether a stimulus is rewarding or not.
Orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala

Question 7

Orbitofrontal cortex’s role in appraisal

Answer 7

Orbitofrontal cortex (medial part and lateral part) receive input from ventral streams to determine what stimulus is. Main output is cingulate cortex.

Is this stimulating rewarding (medial part) or not rewarding (lateral part)?

Defines it and passes information on to different parts of brain eg cingulate gyrus.

Regulated by top-down bias, shaped by autonomic responses.

Question 8

Amygdala’s role in appraisal

Answer 8

Amygdala is mostly overshadowed by orbitofrontal cortex.

Key role in conditioned responses to harmful stimuli.
Recognising facial expressions.

Much slower response

Question 9

Cingulate cortex

Question 10

Ventromedial prefrontal cortex

Answer 10

Reward-related decision making.

Synaptic activity fluctuates depending on how rewarding stimuli is.

Question 11

What modulates autonomic responses?

Answer 11

OFC via anteroventral insula and subgenual cingulate cortex.

Amygdala
Hypothalamus
Periaqueductal grey