Somatosensory cortex

Question 1

what is the main role of the somatosensory cortex

Answer 1

processing information about the body sensations

Question 2

what is proprioception

Answer 2

sensation of muscle movement and position

Question 3

what is somatotopy

Answer 3

different body areas are localised in specific parts of the somato cortex - mapping called somatotopy

Question 4

what did penfield do

Answer 4

inserted electrodes in the somatosensory cortex of epileptic patients before operating on them and stimulated different parts of the somato cortex and recorded sensations reported by the patient

Question 5

what does the homunculus show

Answer 5

neurological “map” of areas/proportions of human brain dedicated to processing motor functions, or sensory functions, for different parts of the body.

Question 6

list the input in order (to the somato cortex

Answer 6

spinal cord - thalamus - somato cortex

Question 7

what are the 2 outputs for the somato cortex

Answer 7

motor cortex (frontal lobe)
posterior parietal areas (higher level sensory processing and integration)

Question 8

what is a phantom limb

Answer 8

patient with arm amputation feels the sensation of the missing arm when touched on the face

Question 9

why does phantom limb happen

Answer 9

due to somatosensory cortex reorganisation - cells in the arm region don’t receive any input - neighbouring ‘face’ cells expand their territory so when touching the face - activation spreads to the arm region of the somatosensory cortex

Question 10

what are emotions for

Answer 10

fight/flight
reproduction - attraction/attachement
quick decisions to complex problems
learning - avoidance/approach

Question 11

what are the two components of emotions

Answer 11

emotional response - changes in body sensations

subjective emotional feeling

Question 12

what is responsible for the emotional response

Answer 12

the autonomic nervous system

Question 13

what is the ANS controlled by

Answer 13

the hypothalamus - no voluntary control

Question 14

what is the name for the ‘rest and digest’ nervous system

Answer 14

parasynthetic

Question 15

some examples of body changes in the fight or flight response

Answer 15

acceleration of heart rate, slowing of digestive function, sweat

Question 16

what is the stress hormone and where is it secreted from

Answer 16

cortisol, from adrenal gland

Question 17

What else does the adrenal gland secrete

Answer 17

adrenaline, noradrenaline

Question 18

what signals the adrenal glands to secrete these hormones

Answer 18

hypothalamus - the pituitary gland - adrenal glands

Question 19

what are the two neural circuits to produce facial expressions

Answer 19

voluntary - on command

involuntary - spontaneous

Question 20

where are the circuits that produce voluntary facial expressions

Answer 20

corticospinal system - pyramidal tract - motor cortex

Question 21

where are the circuits that produce involuntary facial expressions

Answer 21

subcortical system - extrapyramidal tract - insula, basal ganglia

Question 22

what are subjective feelings

Answer 22

awareness of emotions, conscious experience of emotions

Question 23

who is your favourite person?

Answer 23

sam

Question 24

what was the james lange theory of emotion

Answer 24

body sensation then subjective feeling

Question 25

criticism of the james lange theory

Answer 25

people with spinal cord injury can still feel emotions - info cant go from body to brain

Question 26

cannon-bard theory of emotion

Answer 26

seeing stimulus first creates feeling of fear, then physiological changes occur

Question 27

criticisms for cannon-bard theory of emotion

Answer 27

forcing yourself to smile makes you more happy
drugs influencing heart rate reduce the subjective feeling of anxiety
autonomic responses to angry faces have been found when p’s not aware of seeing the faces

Question 28

what are the main structures in the papez circuit and where is it found/other name

Answer 28

cingulate cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, anterior nuclei of thalamus - limbic system

Question 29

name 4 structures nowadays recognised for being important in emotion

Answer 29

hypothalamus, amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, insula

Question 30

what does the hypothalamus do

Answer 30

important for generating the emotional response - hormonal changes in the autonomic nervous system
associated with aggressive behaviour

Question 31

what does the amygdala do

Answer 31

important for fear and aggression
stimulus - amygdala - emotional response/feeling
involved in unconditioned/conditioned stimuli

Question 32

where does the amygdala signal to for emotional response/feeling

Answer 32

hypothalamus - autonomic response
grey matter in brain stem - behavioural reaction
cerebral cortex - emotional experience

Question 33

what is the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (orbitofrontal cortex) important for

Answer 33

emotional feeling
social interactions
decision making
first seen in phineas gage

Question 34

evidence for orbifrontal cortex involvement in decision making

Answer 34

lowa gambling game - patients with ventro-medial lesions kept choosing cards on the bad deck - immediate win but long term loss compared to normal healthy adults

Question 35

where is the insula and what does it do

Answer 35

centre of each hemipshere of the brain, part of cerebral cortex - important for the experience of pain and some basic emotions