Neuroscience of Emotions Flashcards
What is the definition of emotion?
A complex reaction pattern involving experiential, behavioural and physiology elements by which an individual attempts to deal with a personally significant matter or event
What are the components of emotions?
Emotional experiences (subjective feelings), emotional behaviour (e.g. facial expressing) and physiological changes
What is the cognitive component of emotion?
How emotional experiences can be influenced by the context or cognitive appraisal of the situation
What does physiological arousal reflect?
Activity in the autonomic nervous system that varies with emotional state and vigilance
What does physiological arousal correlate with?
Parameters such as respiratory rate, pupil dilation, blood pressure and heart rate
What does the James-Lange Theory of Emotion say?
We experience emotion in response to physiological changes in the body
What does the James-Lange Theory of Emotion say about reducing physical sensation?
It is associated with the ANS activity and diminishes the intensity of the emotion experiences
What is interoceptive awareness?
When we can be aware of our body’s autonomic function
What does Walter Cannon argue?
It challenges the James-Lange Theory that emotions originate from the hypothalamus
Where does emotional experience occur?
Cerebral cortex
Where does emotional expression occur?
Hypothalamus
What did Bard and Hess find?
That hypothalamic stimulation provokes intense emotional responses
What does the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion argue?
That emotional feelings and physiological accompaniments of an emotional response occurs at the same time but are separate and emotional experience can occur without emotional expression
What is brain area is involved in the Cannon-Bard Theory?
The thalamus
How are emotions produced in the Cannon-Bard Theory?
Emotions are produced when signals reach thalamus from sensory receptors of the descending cortical input
What does cognitive appraisal account for?
The observation that the same physiological state can either feel pleasant or unpleasant
What does the facial feedback hypothesis suggest?
Suggests that sensory feedback from facial expressions may influence how we feel
What does March, 2019 suggest about facial feedback?
Forcing a smile may make you feel happier
What is the motivational component of emotional state say?
That we have a drive to act
What are motivational responses accompany?
Subjective feelings and physiological changes
How can emotions be a behavioural response programme?
They have been shaped by evolution to optimise responses to a particular event
What is valence?
It describes positive and negative emotional states
What is the circumplex model?
Found by Russell, 1980 which categorises emotions based on dimensions of valence and arousal
What does Darwin say about emotions?
That emotional facial expressions are conserved across species
What did Ekman and Friesen find?
Analysed hundreds of films and photographs and identified 6 primary facial expressions
What are the 6 primary facial expressions?
Happy, fear, disgust, surprise, sad and anger.
What did Plutchik (1994) find?
There are 8 primary emotions arranges as opposites
What are the 8 primary emotions?
Joy, sadness, trust, disgust, anticipation, surprise, fear, anger
What is apart of the limbic lobe involved in emotion?
The cingulate, parahippocampal gyrus, septal area, amygdala
What does the cingulate gyrus involved in?
Emotion and motivation
What is the parahippocampal gyrus involved in?
Episodic memory
What does the Papez circuit (1937) say?
The hippocampus and related structures are concerned with episodic memory not emotion
What is the anterior cingulate cortex activity associated with?
Experiences of emotion and motivational drive states
What is activity in the anterior cingulate cortex strongly linked with?
Hypothalamus, amygdala and motor area
What does fMRIs show in the anterior cingulate cortex?
The dorsal areas of the cingulate gyrus in associated with experiences of emotion and positive valence
What does over-activity of subgenal area 25 show?
Reduced metabolism, blood flow and volume in severe depression
What does abnormalities in emotions relate to?
Abnormalities in the anterior cingulate cortex with patients with ASPD and psychopathy
What is Kluver-Bucy Syndrome?
When there is removal of both temporal lobes. Problems recognising objects, hypersexuality, become docile, marked loss of fear and aggression
What occurs when there is removal of amygdala?
Loss of natural fear
What are the parts of the amygdala?
Central, medial and lateral
How does emotions influence thoughts, perceptions and actions?
As the majority of cortical areas receive strong projections from amygdala
What are the functions of the amygdala?
Conditioned fear responses in temporal lobe amnesia patients fear conditioning.
Facilitates episodic memory.
Reading body language and facial expression
Danger detector (orchestrates somatic, attentional, autonomic and endocrine responses
Fight or flight by projecting to the hypothalamus
Evaluates the emotional significance of event
What do projections from the amygdala and the hippocampus do?
Responsible for emotionally driven memory and vivid recall in PTSD
What are disorders from amygdala pathology?
Generalised anxiety disorder
Social and other phobias
PTSD
Major depressive disorder
Anger and rage attacks
Autism spectrum disorder
What were the findings from the patient SM (1994)?
Little to no capacity to experience fear and no concept of personal space due to destruction of the amygdala
What occurs in Urback-Wiethe disease?
Subjects show diminished anxiety and fearlessness, particularly in response to external threats, cues and dangers. But panic can be elicited experimentally
What are the implications from Urbach-Wiethe disease?
Emphasises the role of the amygdala in emotional responses to external/environmental cues
What is the orbitofrontal regulation of the amygdala?
How the orbitofrontl cortex exerts an inhibitory or restraining influence over the amygdala and inhibits emotional reactions
What do survivors of head injuries show when there is damage to the orbitofrontal cortex?
Rash behaviours with increased impulsivity and aggression
What does one to one mapping of emotions to brain regions show?
How different emotional states are associated with particular patterns of brain activity
What is the ventral striatum involved in?
Emotional behaviours and reward based learning
What connections does the ventral striatum receive?
From the limbic lobe
What receptors is in the ventral striatum?
Dopamine, opiate, nicotine and cannabinoid
What is the optimisation of behaviour based on in the ventral striatum?
Anticipated reward or avoidance of loss and punishment
What is dopamine implicated with?
A training signal and additive behaviour
What does deep brain stimulation provide insight in?
The role of basal ganglia in emotional experience and aggression
What did Witt, 2006 find?
A change in artistic expression following deep brain stimulation
