Pain & Pleasure

Question 1

What is the definition of “psychological hedonism”?

Answer 1

People are motivated to act in ways that increase pleasure + decrease pain

Question 2

1. What is the definition of “reward”?
2. What are primary rewards?
3. What are secondary rewards?
4. What is the definition of “pleasure”?

Answer 2

1. Something we will work to achieve
2. Naturally rewarding + biologically essential
3. Learned rewards that gain importance through repeated associations w/ primary rewards
4. Subjective hedonic value of rewards

Question 3

1. What is the definition of “punishment”?
2. What are primary punishments?
3. What are secondary punishments (3)? What is an example?
4. What is the definition of “pain”?

Answer 3

1. Something that an animal will work to avoid
2. Naturally aversive (causes strong dislike) + threatens survival
3. Punishments that become aversive after we associate it repeatedly w/ primary punishments (real consequences that do feel bad). They don’t cause physical harm + learned from experience. Examples include financial loss + bad grades.
4. The subjective hedonic + motivational response to punishing stimuli

Question 4

What is the definition of “subjective utility”?

Answer 4

Personal value or satisfaction you assign to an outcome based on your preferences (how you deem the outcome is useful or valuable).

Question 5

What is the definition of “alliesthesia”?

Answer 5

The subjective experience of feeling pleasantness or unpleasantness of a stimulus change that affects the body’s internal state (homeostatic balance)

Question 6

What is the definition of “pain”?

Answer 6

Subjective, conscious experience of discomfort or distress

Question 7

What is the definition of “nociception”?

Answer 7

Neural detection + transmission of info about tissue damage that occurs w/o conscious awareness

Question 8

List 2 things that can have pain w/o nociception.

Answer 8

1. phantom limb
2. neuropathic pain

Question 9

List 2 things that can have nociception w/o pain.

Answer 9

1. Withdrawal reflex
2. High-adrenaline situations

Question 10

1. What are the 2 components of pain?
2. Where in the brain are they processed?

Answer 10

1. Sensory-discriminative component: provides info about intensity, quality, and location.

• Processed in the primary + secondary somatosensory cortices + posterior insula

2. Affective-motivational component: the emotional experience of pain + drives motivation to escap or stop the painful experience

• Proccessed in the dorsal cingulate cortex + anterior insula

Question 11

1. What is a “congenital insensitivity to pain”?
2. Consequently, what do these people experience (suffer from)?

Answer 11

1. Genetic disease where the person is unable to perceive pain
2. They experience repeated injuries and infections from untreated wounds, which reduces their life expectancy.

Question 12

What is the main function of pain?

Answer 12

Pain is our body’s way of telling us to pay attention to something that can cause injury or death, so we can take appropriate action -> motivate adaptive behaviour

Question 13

What is the “Social Pain Hypothesis”?

Answer 13

Belonging to a group was a matter of life + death because group cohesion increased one’s survival rate. Social pain (responses to rejection or exclusion) may have evolved from physical pain to promote group cohesion. Pain signals the need to stay with the group.

Question 14

1. What does the Cyberball exclusion experiment lead to?
2. Do other paradigms reveal the same thing?

Answer 14

1. Cyberball exclusion is related to increased activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and anterior insula (AI) where the affective-motivational component is processed.
2. Yes, they showed increased dACC + AI activation in response to social pain.

Question 15

1. How do people w/ a greater baseline sensitivity to physical pain experience social pain?
2. What is it due to?

Answer 15

1. Some people who naturally experience physical pain more strongly than others tend to feel more hurt when they are ignored, excluded, or rejected by others.
2. It’s due to the genetic variant related to greater physical pain sensitivity called OPRMI 118G

Question 16

1. Considering the relationship between social pain and physical pain, how do factors that decrease social pain affect physical pain?
2. Give an example.

Answer 16

1. Factors that decrease social pain also decrease physical pain.
2. Social support decreases physical pain during labour (decreased signalling in dACC and AI.

Question 17

Considering the relationship between social pain and physical pain, how do factors that increase social pain affect physical pain?

Answer 17

It’s complicated:

• Cyberball exclusion has been shown to lead to pain hypersensitivity
• Intentionally inflicted pain hurts more than incidental pain
• But social exclusion has been linked to hypoalgesia (reduction in pain)
• Analgesia (reduced physical pain) occurs alongside emotional numbing, which can be useful for survival (in specific cases)

Question 18

1. Considering the relationship between social pain and physical pain, how do factors that decrease physical pain affect social pain?
2. Give an example.

Answer 18

1. Factors that decrease social pain also decrease physical pain.
2. People who take Tylenol report lower levels of hurt feelings in daily life. They also exhibit less dACC + AI activation during Cyberball exclusion.

Question 19

1. Considering the relationship between social pain and physical pain, how do factors that increase physical pain affect social pain?
2. Give an example.

Answer 19

1. Factors that increase physical pain also increase social pain.
2. An injection of endotoxin increases inflammation in the body, making people more emotionally sensitive to social exclusion.

Question 20

What is the purpose of social pain?

Answer 20

Social pain makes people more likely to seek social connection + bond w/ others (affiliative behaviour)

Question 21

What is the definition of “social monitoring”?

Answer 21

To pay more attention to social info

Question 22

We are likely to engage in affiliative behaviour when…

Answer 22

We see a target as a viable source of social connection

Question 23

1. What type of people are less likely to affiliate after rejection?
2. After rejection, who do they tend to direct their affiliative efforts towards?

Answer 23

1. Those who are particularly fearful of negative social evaluation
2. Towards novel partners but not those responsible for the rejection

Question 24

Physical pain has been shown to lead to an aggressive “fight” response; is this the same for social pain? (T/F)

Answer 24

True

Question 25

What does pleasure motivate us to do?

Answer 25

To pursue rewarding experiences that promote well-being, survival, and reproduction

Question 26

When referring to the experience of reward can be divided into 2 items. What are they?

Answer 26

1. Something we want (we will work to achieve it) 2. Something we like (that gives us pleasure)

Question 27

What is the difference between wanting and liking?

Answer 27

1. Liking: receiving + enjoying something good -> pleasure we feel when receiving a reward 2. Wanting: anticipating + actively seeking something good (desire for reward) -> you usually work for it

Question 28

During what type of state can liking/pleasure be amplified?

Answer 28

During the state of deprivation

Question 29

Facial beauty is considered as a primary or secondary reward? Why?

Answer 29

Primary reward because the brain processes facial attractiveness similarly to other rewarding stimuli like food

Question 30

What is the definition of "dopamine"?

Answer 30

Pleasure molecule

Question 31

1. Describe the dopamine-based reward circuit and its 2 areas. (Where does it begin + end?) 2. What are the 2 areas that the circuit is extended to? What are their roles?

Answer 31

1. dopamine is synthesized in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) 2. dopamine is released in the brain's pleasure centre called nucleus accumbens (NA) 3. it extends to the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which is involved in decision-making + self-regualtion 4. it also extends to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), used to evaluate the reward value of stimuli

Question 32

How does the dopamine-based reward circuit work?

Answer 32

Dopamine is released when your prediction error is positive (difference between what you expect + what actually happens)

Question 33

What are the 3 conditions that allow dopamine to be released in the greatest amount?

Answer 33

1. When a reward is unexpected (surprise) 2. When a reward is under-predicted (better than expected) 3. During the anticipation of the reward -> just thinking about it

Question 34

What do opioids do in terms of pleasure? Give an example.

Answer 34

They mediate the pleasure stemming from various rewarding activities like eating yummy food, exercising, consuming alcohol, etc.

Question 35

1. What is the "Motivation-decision model of pain"? 2. List 3 factors that influence these unconscious decision processes.

Answer 35

1. Subjective interpretation of a sensory event is shaped by unconscious decision processes 2. Internal state, sensory input, threats and rewards.

Question 36

When is the brain capable of reducing pain signals?

Answer 36

When something is more important than pain, the brain can reduce pain signals to allow us to focus on that bigger priority

Question 37

How do the "Mechanisms of pain reduction" and the "Motivation-decision model of pain" align?

Answer 37

They both state that rewarding stimuli + the expectation of that reward can reduce pain in humans

Question 38

What is the definition of "placebo analgesia"?

Answer 38

Reduction in pain that occurs after a person is given a placebo because they are expecting the reward, the brain releases dopamine.

Question 39

1. Oftentimes, people with chronic pain also have depression. Why is this? 2. What is depression linked to?

Answer 39

1. Pain decreases the ability to experience pleasure 2. Depression is linked to anhedonia, where a person loses interest or enjoyment in daily activities

Question 40

What is the role of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)?

Answer 40

1. Represents the size + probability of rewards 2. Represents the effort to acquire the reward

Question 41

What is the role of the insula? Give an example.

Answer 41

1. It encodes interoceptive signals which communicate the internal body state. 2. It encodes taste + food cravings

Question 42

What is the role of the amygdala?

Answer 42

Fight or flight response + reward processing

Question 43

Why do we sometimes seek out painful experiences? Explain it (3).

Answer 43

- Pain may enhance pleasure because the relief of pain is a pleasurable experience in itself. - When the painful sensation stops, you feel a sense of relief + positive affect. - The more intense the pain, the more intense the relief.

Question 44

What is the definition of "relative relief"?

Answer 44

Experiencing moderate pain can be pleasurable when compared to experiencing intense pain

Question 45

What is State A? Give an example.

Answer 45

1. Emotionally powerful stimuli that elicit the initial reaction. 2. A scary scene that elicits fear and anxiety in you

Question 46

What comes after State A (describe it)?

Answer 46

The Adaptation phase is where State A declines, particularly the intensity of fear/anxiety. The brain begins to counteract the fear w/ an opposite emotional response.

Question 47

After the steady level of State A, what comes next?

Answer 47

The peak of State B is when the fear-inducing stimulus is gone, and the force of relief & excitement is felt

Question 48

After the Peak of State B, what happens?

Answer 48

State B slowly fades away until emotions return to a baseline of 0

Question 49

What are the differences between State A and State B's development? (2 for each State)

Answer 49

State A: - develops very quickly - ceases when triggering stimulus is removed State B: - develops slowly - ceases slower -> it continues for some time after State A is removed

Question 50

1. What occurs when you keep experiencing the same event (State A's stimulus)? 2. Give an example w/ roller coasters.

Answer 50

1. Your initial reaction (State A) will weaken, + the opposite reaction (State B) will get stronger. The feeling (of relief or pleasure) you feel after the stimulus becomes the main feeling you associate w/ that experience even though you had a different reaction at first (State A). 2. At first, riding a roller coaster might make you feel scared or fearful (State A). But after going on it several times, that fear (State A) weakens, and the excitement or enjoyment (State B) becomes stronger. Eventually, the fear fades, and you start looking forward to the roller coaster because you mainly feel excitement and enjoyment now

Question 51

What is the "Peak-end rule"?

Answer 51

The most intense positive or negative moments (the "peaks") + the final moments (the "end") are what we focus on when remembering an event.

Question 52

What are 2 other reasons why we may seek out pain?

Answer 52

1. Pain heightens sensory experience + awareness -> people enjoy acute pain like spicy food 2. Pain serves as a distraction from unwanted thoughts + feelings