Stress Cognitive Emotional regulation Flashcards
Hypothalamus function
1) Regulates homeostasis and metabolism
2) Regulate stress responses
* Autonomic control –> sympathetic activation
* Endocrine control —> HPA axis
3) The hypothalamus tells the body what to do
Hierarchy of homeostatic controls
Hierarchy of homeostatic controls:
* Internal organs self-regulate
* Get higher control from hypothalamus
But… who tells the hypothalamus what to do?
* “Higher brain areas” involved in cognition and emotion
In order to effectively maintain and enhance our own lives through successful interaction with others, we rely on these three basic and interrelated human capacities:
What ABC stands for?
1) Affect
2) Behavior
3) Cognitive
Stages of Cognitive and Emotional Regulation (ask)
1) What’s happening?
* Sensation, Perception, Cognition
* Occipital, Parietal, Temporal, and Frontal lobes
2) Is it dangerous?
* Primary appraisal
* Amygdala (by itself = low road to fear)
* Fronto-limbic connections (amygdala with cortex = high road to fear)
* Connections between prefrontal lobes and the limbic system (experience of emotions)
* “Gut” feelings more associated with ventral fronto-limbic connections
3) How should I react?
* Secondary Appraisal
* Fronto-limbic connections
* “Mental” feelings more associated with dorsal fronto-limbic connections
4) Am I doing ok? What should I do/feel/think next?
* Coping Behaviors
* CRF Feedback System (dopamine, serotonin - neurotransmitters)
* Fronto-limbic connections with hypothalamus and brainstem feedback
Any “awareness” or “knowledge” requires… (descibe brain areas)
Sensation and Perception
1) Sensory info sent to thalamus
* Sight, sound, touch, taste (but not smell)
2) Thalamus relays info to primary receiving areas
* In Occipital, Temporal, and Parietal lobes
3) Primary receiving areas relay info to association areas
* Connections between and within the four lobes
4) Sensory info converted into meaningful perceptions
* Color, shape, motion – “my grandmothers face” “the blue dress on the right”, etc etc…
* Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, pressure, temperature = “chocolate ice cream” “chicken noodle soup with a soda on the side”, etc etc…
5) Perceptual info sent to frontal lobes and limbic areas
6) Cognitive perceptions can activate affective feelings
Danger is in the Eye of the Beholder
* Emotional Appraisals
1) How we interpret a situation will govern how we respond emotionally
* Appraisals of danger will lead to fear
* Appraisals of fun and safety will lead to happiness
2) But, appraisals differ between individuals
* What you find stressful, may not be stressful to others
* What you find enjoyable, may not be enjoyable to others
3) Appraisals are often described as the cognitive component of our emotions
* What we “think” about the situation, will influence how we “feel” about it
* Both, our thoughts and feelings will influence what we “do” about it
Psychological vs. Physical Stress
Physical Stress
1) Requires activation and physiological arousal to meet physical demands
* Cannot run or lift a heavy weight without increasing physiological arousal
2) Physical stressors involve psychological aspects
3) The valence of the stressor may be positive, negative, or neutral
* Whether you’re running for fun, or running for your life
* Either requires increased physiological arousal
Psychological Stress
1) Does not require activation to meet physical demands
* Taking an exam is stressful, but you can do it sitting on your butt
2) However, psychological stressors can still cause physiological arousal
3) More aversive (negative valence) stressors produce feelings of threat
4) More pleasant (positive valence) stressors produce feelings of challenge
Categories of Emotional Appraisals
1) Threat (Distress)
* Stressor is dangerous or overwhelming
* Requires activation, negative valence (aversive)
* Sympathetic activation with large increase in cortisol (HPA axis)
2) Challenge (Eustress) - positive stress response
* Stressor may be engaging or rewarding
* Requires activation, positive valence (appetitive)
* Sympathetic activation with minor increase in cortisol
3) Benign or Irrelevant (it can be stressful to you, but not others)
* Benign = “Stressor” is not stressful. May be harmless or even pleasant
* Irrelevant = “Stressor” does not apply to you, even if it’s aversive to others
* Does not require activation.
* Parasympathetic nervous system. Return to homeostasis.
Implicit Appraisals
1) Emotional appraisals do not have to be fully conscious
* Appraisals may be implicit
* Due to past experiences and conditioning
2) Classical conditioning
* A stimulus that was initially neutral, gets paired with a stimulus that evokes an emotional response
* Later the stimulus that was neutral, now evokes that some emotional response
3) Classical conditioning does not require conscious awareness
* Individuals with severe amnesia can still learn from classical conditioning
* Can be conditioned while asleep
* Damage to hippocampus does not interfere with classical conditioning
Implicit appraisal - negative (implicit attitude test)
Conscious vs. Unconscious Memories? Which brain areas?
Hippocampus:
* Involved in creating long-term memories
* Hippocampus required to create explicit memories
* Memories that can be consciously recalled
Amygdala:
* Best known for processing emotions
* But…can also create “emotional memories”
* Amygdala can create implicit memories (Which can remain unconscious).
* Classical conditioning is implicit memory - The Amygdala (not the hippocampus) is required for classical conditioning
Emotional Appraisals (Primary vs Secondary)
1) Primary Appraisals:
* Immediate and first appraisal (1-st reaction: is this a threat? - fear)
* Influenced by personal relevance, cognitive beliefs, and behavioral commitments
* Biased towards searching for threatening information
* Types of primary appraisals: Threat, Challenge, Benign, or Irrelevant
2) Secondary Appraisals:
* Follows the primary appraisal (reaction to another reaction)
* How to respond to or how to cope with the situation
* What will be required? What resources are available?
* Can the stressor be minimized or avoided?
Appraisals and Re-appraisals
1) Primary and Secondary appraisals vary between individuals
* How would you react to finding out your (or your partner) was pregnant? (Terrified? Joyful?)
* Depends on who you are, where you’re at in your life, and the resources you have available
2) Primary and Secondary appraisals can differ in valence
* The person initially terrified about a pregnancy may begin to see it positively, especially if they have family and friends who are supportive
* The person initially joyful may begin feeling anxious as they realize how much will be required
3) Emotion regulation involves altering appraisals of a situation
* Most forms of psychotherapy involve teaching methods of re-appraisal
What are the Coping Strategies?
1) Problem-Focused coping
* Coping based on trying to solve the problem causing stress
* Involves trying to understand the problem, devise a strategy to deal with it
* Pros: May ”solve” the problem. Lessen, minimize, or avoid future stress
* Cons: May be initially costly in time, energy, and resources
2) Emotion-Focused coping
* Coping based on dealing with the emotional feeling of stress
* Involves trying to limit the emotional reaction
* May involve avoidance, denial, acceptance, venting, or blame
* Pros: Initially less costly
* Cons: The problem isn’t solved. Drains coping resources over the long-term
Example Appraisals
An upcoming exam:
1) Beliefs and commitments
* “Grades are important. I want good grades”
2) Primary Appraisal
* Threat: “I’m not prepared. I don’t understand this stuff.”
* Challenge: “I feel prepared. I think I got it.”
* Benign or Irrelevant: “I’m auditing this class.” (access resources)
3) Secondary Appraisal
* How to respond. What’s required? What resources are available?
4) Coping behavior
* Problem-focused coping: “I’ll start studying early. All the notes and videos are online.”
* Emotion-focused coping: “Studying sucks. I’ll worry about it later. Check out this TikTok dance”
5) Psychological and Biological responses
* ”I’m coping well. I got this”. Sympathetic activation for Challenge
* “I’m not coping well. I feel overwhelmed”. Fight-or-flight response. HPA axis for long-term stress.
6) Cycle of appraisal repeats until stressor is removed
* “Exam is over. I guess it wasn’t that bad”
LeDoux’s Low vs. high road to fear
Low road:
* Amygdala responds to sensory info without input from frontal lobes
* Reaction to sensory information
High road:
* Amygdala responds to sensory info after it was processed by frontal lobes
* Reactions to conscious perceptions
LeDoux’s Low vs. high road to fear (conscious vs unconscious)
1) LeDoux’s Model of Fear Processing
* Amygdala can generate fear response consciously and
unconsciously
2) “Low Road”
* Sensory info sent from thalamus directly to amygdala
* Fast, unconscious processing
* Quickly shifts attention to dangerous stimuli
3) “High Road”
* Sensory info first processed by cortex, then sent to amygdala
* Slower, conscious processing
* Allows for an emotional appraisal of the situation
Important Limbic Areas?
Hippocampus:
1) Vital for Declarative Memory (Explicit Memory)
* Memories that can be consciously recalled
2) Connections to PVN of hypothalamus decrease HPA axis
* Negative feedback when detecting cortisol
Amygdala (can remember things separate from hippocampus):
1) Vital for processing emotions and emotional memories
2) Can create long-term implicit memories (Via classical conditioning)
3) ”Emotional memories’ may be learned at an unconscious level.
4) Connections to PVN of hypothalamus increase HPA axis.
“Extended Amygdala”:
1) Amygdala plus…
2) Nucleus accumbens – reward motivations
3) BNST (bed nucleus of stria terminalis) - involved in stress, fear, mood, sexual response (A junction point between amygdala,hippocampus,hypothalamus,and brainstem nuclei)
Amygdala connections to other brain areas
1) Frontal-limbic connections
* Amygdala has direct connections to the frontal lobe
* Amygdala connected to all parts of the “limbic system”
2) Thalamic and hypothalamic connections
* Amygdala directly connected to the thalamus and hypothalamus
3) Brainstem connections
* Amygdala directly connected to brainstem regions
The Three Amigos?
Ventral Tegmental Area:
* Major source of dopamine
* Associated with attention, motivation, and reward
* Addictive behavior associated with this system
Raphe Nuclei:
* Major source of serotonin
* Functions as a mood regulation system
* Disruption of this system associated with mood disorders like anxiety and depression
Locus Ceruleus:
* Main source of norepinephrine in the CNS
* Functions as a “global arousal system”
* Most active when behaviorally active, awake, and alert
* Inactive while asleep
