The social and emotional brain

Question 1

james lange vs cannon bard theory

Answer 1

james lange: self perception of bodily changes produces emotional experience

cannon bard: bodily changes occur after the emotional experience

Question 2

2 key functions insula

Answer 2

1. disgust
2. interoception

Question 3

what is extinction learning?

Answer 3

learning that a previously rewarded stimulus is no longer rewarded

Question 4

role of orbitofrontal cortex

Answer 4

appraisal and control of social en emotional stimuli

Question 5

explain: simulation theory

Answer 5

we come to understand others through producing their current states on ourselves

Question 6

characteristic asperger’s syndrome

Answer 6

no initial delay in language acquisition or cognitive difficulties

Question 7

explain: sally anne task

Answer 7

checking for theory of mind

“mindblindness” in autistic children

Question 8

autism vs psychopathy

deficits in empathy

Answer 8

autism deficits in cognitive & affective empathy

psychopaths deficits in only affective empathy

Question 9

3 key characteristics of psychopathy

Answer 9

1. abnormal executive functioning
2. abnormal emotions - fear
3. abnormal social emotions - empathy

Question 10

2 levels of psychopathy

Answer 10

1. psychopathic personality: interpersonal/affective
2. generic antisociality: lifestyle/antisocial
   (2) is associated with worse functioning

Question 11

which brain region associated with executive functioning?

Answer 11

Prefrontale cortex

Question 12

role of ventromediale PFC

Answer 12

deficient in psychopathy

1. reduced activity in response to reward
2. increased activity in response to punishment

Question 13

fear vs. anxiety characteristics

Answer 13

fear:

1. clear situational threat
2. surge in physiological activity
3. freeze, flight, fight response

anxiety:

1. no clear threat
2. sustained arousal even when threat is gone
3. hypervigilange/risk assessement: scanning environment

Question 14

attention in psychopathy

Answer 14

failure to reallocate attention away from goal relevant task toward salient, but task irrelevant stimuli