Physiological Psychology: Chapter 12 Flashcards
1
Q
Insula
A
• Important for taste and disgust
2
Q
James-Lange Theory
A
- The autonomic arousal and skeletal actions come first.
- Frightening situation — Running away, increased heart rate — Fear
- Arousal and actions lead to emotions, what he meant was the feeling aspect of an emotion.
- Event — Appraisal (Cognitive) — Action (Behavioral aspect) — Emotional feeling
- People with weak autonomic or skeletal responses should feel less emotion, or causing/increasing someone’s responses should enhance an emotion.
3
Q
Pure Autonomic Failure
A
- Output from the autonomic nervous system to the body fails either completely or almost completely.
- Heart beat and other organ activities continue, but the nervous system no longer regulates them.
- Lacks reflexes to constrict veins in the head, must stand slowly
4
Q
Panic Attack
A
- Marked by extreme sympathetic nervous system arousal.
* Rapid breathing in particular makes people worry that they are suffocating.
5
Q
Möbius Syndrome
A
• Unable to move facial muscles to smile.
6
Q
Behavioral Activation System (BAS)
A
- Activity of the left hemisphere, especially its frontal and temporal lobes.
- Marked by low to moderate autonomic arousal and a tendency to approach.
7
Q
Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)
A
- Increased activity of the frontal and temporal lobes of the right hemisphere.
- Increases attention and arousal, inhibits action, and stimulates emotions such as fear and disgust.
8
Q
Hemispheres and Happiness
A
- On the average, people with greater activity in the frontal cortex of the left hemisphere tend to be happier, more outgoing, and more fun-loving.
- People with greater right hemisphere activity tend to be socially withdrawn, less satis- fied with life, and prone to unpleasant emotions.
- The right hemisphere appears to be more responsive to emotional stimuli than the left.
- Damage to the right temporal cortex have trouble identifying other people’s emotional expressions.
9
Q
Prefrontal Cortex Damage and Decision Making
A
- Damage to the prefrontal cortex affects decision making and blunts people’s emotions except for the occasional outburst of anger.
- Often make impulsive decisions without pausing to consider the consequences.
10
Q
Testosterone
A
- Male aggressive behavior depends on testosterone.
- Men fight more often than women, get arrested for violent crimes more often, shout insults at each other more often, and so forth.
- Young adult men have more instances of aggression and violent crimes because of the higher levels of testosterone.
- Affects different brain areas differently.
11
Q
Aggression
A
- Amygdala turns on aggression.
* Prefrontal cortex turns off aggression.
12
Q
Serotonin and Aggression
A
- Low levels of serotonin are related to aggression.
- MAOa: Enzyme breaks down serotonin
- More MAOa means less serotonin
- Interaction between childhood maltreatment, high MAOa, and higher antisocial behavior.
13
Q
Serotonin Turnover
A
- Rate at which 5HT is being made, released, and taken back in to be used again.
- Can be determined by measuring 5HIAA (5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid).
- Low turnover associated with violent and antisocial behavior.
14
Q
5HIAA
A
- Started out as serotonin and ends up in cerebrospinal fluid.
- A spinal tap could measure 5HIAA levels.
- High 5HIAA means high 5HT turnover.
15
Q
Serotonergic Pathways to Prefrontal Cortex
A
- Low 5HT impairs function of the prefrontal cortex – Aggression initiated in amygdala not suppressed.
- Prozac (5HT agonist) increases activity of prefrontal cortex and reduces aggression.
