Stress Cognitive Emotional regulation (notes)

Question 1

Hypothalamus function

Answer 1

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
4) “Higher brain areas” involved in cognition and emotion tell the hypothalamus what to do.

Question 2

“Gut” vs ‘‘Mental” feelings (which brain areas and appraisals)

Answer 2

Visceral or “Gut” feelings (aspects of emotions) - emotion regulation more associated with ventral PFC and ACC fronto-limbic connections - Primary appraisal.
“Mental” or cognitive aspects of emotions, emotional regulation (feelings) more associated with dorsal PFC and ACC fronto-limbic connections - Secondary Appraisal.
* Secondary appraisals may adjust the balance of “mental” vs “visceral” components

Question 3

Sensation and Perception interaction?

Answer 3

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 (frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital)

4) Sensory info converted into meaningful perceptions
* Color, shape, motion – “my grandmothers face” “the blue dress on the right”, 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

Question 4

Know your ABCs. What ABC stands for?

Answer 4

1) Affect

2) Behavior

3) Cognition

Question 5

Emotional appraisals (kinds, how they differ)

Answer 5

1) How we interpret a situation determines 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

Question 6

Physical stress? Requires what? Valence?

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Psychological Stress? Activation? Valence?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Categories of Emotional Appraisals

Answer 8

1) Threat (Distress)

2) Challenge (Eustress)

3) Benign or Irrelevant

Question 9

1) Threat (Distress) Emotional Appraisal?

Answer 9

• Stressor is dangerous or overwhelming
• Requires activation, negative valence (aversive)
• Sympathetic activation with large increase in cortisol (HPA axis)

Question 10

2) Challenge (Eustress) Emotional Appraisal?

Answer 10

positive stress response
* Stressor may be engaging or rewarding
* Requires activation, positive valence (appetitive)
* Sympathetic activation with minor increase in cortisol

Question 11

Benign or Irrelevant Emotional Appraisal?

Answer 11

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.

Question 12

Implicit Appraisals: Classical conditioning?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Conscious vs. Unconscious Memories? Which brain areas?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Primary (emotional) appraisal?

Types of primary appraisals?

Answer 14

• Immediate and first emotional appraisal (1-st reaction: is this a threat? - fear)
• Influenced by personal relevance, cognitive beliefs, and behavioral commitments (goals)
• Biased towards searching for threatening information.
• Types of primary appraisals: Threat, Challenge, Benign, or Irrelevant
• Fronto-limbic connections
• Can be conscious or unconscious

Question 15

Secondary (emotional) appraisal?

questions to ask?

Answer 15

• Follows the primary appraisal (reaction to another reaction) or Re-interpretation of emotion (Your reaction to your reaction)
• Involves cognitive evaluations of initial emotion and attempts to regulate emotional reactions
• 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?

Question 16

valence?

Appraisals and Re-appraisals

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What are the Coping Strategies? Define each.

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Example Appraisals (optional)

Answer 18

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”

Question 19

What’s LeDoux’s model? LeDoux’s Low vs. high road to fear (brain areas?)

Answer 19

1) LeDoux’s Model of Fear Processing
* Amygdala can generate fear response consciously and unconsciously.

2) Low road:
* Amygdala responds to sensory info without input from frontal lobes.
* Reaction to sensory information.
* Sensory info sent from thalamus directly to amygdala
* Fast, unconscious processing
* Quickly shifts attention to dangerous stimuli

3) High road:
* Amygdala responds to sensory info after it was processed by frontal lobes.
* Reactions to conscious perceptions.
* Sensory info first processed by cortex, then sent to amygdala
* Slower, conscious processing
* Allows for an emotional appraisal of the situation

Question 20

What are the main parts of the Limbic System?

Answer 20

The “Emotional brain”
Note: there is no consensus about all the parts of the limbic system
But… the main areas:
* Amygdala
* Hippocampus
* Hypothalamus (declarative and explicit memories)
* Thalamus
* Cingulate Cortex (cortex underneath outer cortex)

Question 21

Hippocampus? Which memory?

Answer 21

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 (ask ???)

Question 22

Amygdala? Which memory?

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

Extended amygdala? Processes? Function?

Answer 23

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)

Question 24

Amygdala Nucleii? Types and function?

Answer 24

1) Central nuclei of the amygdala (CeA):
* Critical for regulating the expression of fear
* Including facial expressions (in primates)
* Can initiate sympathetic activation
* The central nuclei of the amygdala plays a direct role in how our bodies respond to stress!!!

2) Basolateral nuclei of the amygdala (BLA):
* Critical for classical conditioning
* Associating neutral stimuli with emotional stimuli or context

Question 25

Amy’s got connections. Amygdala is connected to which brain areas?

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Cortical Areas involved in Appraisals (brain areas)

Answer 26

Prefrontal Cortex:
1) Dorsolateral (DLPFC)
* Conscious awareness. Control of working memory

2) Medial (MPFC)
* Associations between emotions and context
* In humans, self-relevant info

3) Ventromedial (VMPFC)
* Associated with “gut feelings”

4) Orbital (OPFC)
* Associated with emotional decision making.

Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC):
1) Detects conflicts
2) Involved in decision making

Question 27

dorsal vs ventral areas of PFC and ACC?

Answer 27

Meta-analysis found…
1) More dorsal areas of PFC and ACC associated with emotional appraisals and expression
* Evaluations of good vs. bad, challenge vs. threat
* Feelings of happy, sad, fear, etc…
* “Mental” affect

2) More ventral areas of PFC and ACC associated with emotion regulation
* Selecting behavioral responses
* Suppressing undesired behaviors
* “Gut” affect

Question 28

The stress “circuit” of the brain: CRF Feedback System

Answer 28

• Network of brain areas activated by stress
• Coordinated activity using CRF as a neurotransmitter
• Prefrontal cortex and “extended” amygdala regulate hypothalamus
• Hypothalamic outputs “monitored” by areas in the upper brainstem
• Brainstem areas feedback to the hypothalamus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex

Question 29

The stress “circuit” of the brain: Aminergic Nuclei

Answer 29

• Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) —> dopamine
• Raphe Nuclei —> serotonin
• Locus Ceruleus —-> norepinephrine
• Receives (or monitors) outputs from the hypothalamus
• Sends feedback back to the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex

Question 30

The Three Amigos?

Answer 30

1) Ventral Tegmental Area
2) Raphe Nuclei
3) Locus Ceruleus

Question 31

Ventral Tegmental Area

Answer 31

• Major source of dopamine
• Associated with attention, motivation, and reward
• Addictive behavior associated with this system

Question 32

Raphe Nuclei

Answer 32

• Major source of serotonin
• Functions as a mood regulation system
• Disruption of this system associated with mood disorders like anxiety and depression

Question 33

Locus Ceruleus

Answer 33

• Main source of norepinephrine in the CNS
• Functions as a “global arousal system”
• Most active when behaviorally active, awake, and alert
• Inactive while asleep

Question 34

CRF Feedback system

Answer 34

1) Feedback from aminergic nuclei in the brainstem
* Each area is a key source of specific neurotransmitters

2) Influences motivation, mood, and attention

3) Ventral tegmental area (dopamine)
* Influences motivation and reward

4) Raphe Nucleus (serotonin)
* Influences and stabilizes mood

5) Locus ceruleus (norepinephrine)
* Influences attention and awareness

Question 35

Affect?

Answer 35

• The “feeling”.
• Involves feelings of valence (appetitive vs. aversive) and arousal.
• Activation (High = sympathetic, Low = parasympathetic).
• Psychology – may be implicit, involuntary, non-conscious.
• “Feelings” are subjective. Can’t truly explain your feelings to others.
• Neuroanatomy – “Limbic” areas (extended amygdala).

Question 36

Behavior?

Answer 36

• The “doing”.
• Refers to the actual behavior that occurs.
• Behavior is observable. Behaviors can be measured.
  (Including physiological “behavior” like increased heart rates or cortisol levels).
• Interaction of affective and cognitive processes.
• Neuroanatomy – connections thru basal ganglia (involved in voluntary motor movements).

Question 37

Cognition?

Answer 37

• The “thinking”.
• Thoughts, beliefs, and interpretations.
• Requires attention, perception, and memory.
• Thoughts and beliefs can be explained to others.
• Psychology – explicit, voluntary, conscious.
• Neuroanatomy – Prefrontal cortex (PFC).