Week 11: Emotions Flashcards
emotion
a subjective mental state that is usually accompanied by distinctive behaviours, feelings, and involuntary physiological changes.
sympathetic nervous system
a component of the autonomic nervous system that arises from the thoracic and lumbar spinal chord
parasympathetic nervous system
A component of the autonomic nervous system that arises from both the cranial nerves and the sacral spinal chord
James-Lange theory
The theory that our experience of emotion is a response to the physiological changes that accompany it
What are the components to an emotional response?
- Cognition
- Feelings
- Behavioral
- Physiological
Fight or Flight Response
Physiological response to a threat in the environment.
Activation of the sympathetic nervous system.
James-Lange Theory Evidence
- Hohman 1966: Spinal cord injured patients
- Critchley et al 2001: Pure autonomic failure(dysfunction of ganglia in ANS) patients
experience blunted feelings
Theories of emotion
- James-Lange Theory
- Cannon-Bard Theory
- Schachter-Singer Theory
Facial Feedback hypothesis
- Strack 1988
- One’s facial expression directly affects their emotional experience
Mobius syndrome
Underdeveloped VI and VII cranial nerves; needed for facial movement
Lack of facial expression, crossed eyes, inability to smile and move head.
▪ Cannot move facial muscles to make a smile but still express “feeling” happy
Contradicts James-Lange theory
Cannon-bard theory (aka. Thalamic theory)
the theory that our experience of emotion is independent of the simultaneous physiological changes that accompany it
cognitive attribution model/ Schachter-Singer )Two factor theory
The theory that our emotional experience results from cognitive analysis of the context around us, such that physiological changes may accentuate emotions but not specify which emotion we experience.
behavioral Activation System (BAS)
- Low to moderate autonomic arousal
- Tendency to approach
- Left hemisphere activation of frontal and temporal lobe
Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)
- Increased attention and arousal
- Social withdraw, fear and disgust
- Right hemisphere activation of frontal and temporal lobe.
Wada Test
(Intracarotid sodium amobarbitol procedure) Study
* Inhibit Right Hemisphere
* Ask patient to recall a distressing memory
* Result:Verbally describe event but unable to recall the emotional experience
Alexithymia
Inability to express “feelings” of emotion
* Personality trait (Toronto Alexithymia Scale; TAS-20)
* Problems identifying, describing, and working with feelings
* Difficulty distinguishing between feelings and bodily sensations of emotional arousal
* May “express” the emotion (e.g., crying), but can’t explain it in terms of feelings
* Interpersonal relationships may suffer
* Right hemisphere disturbance
Fear physiological response
Increased HR
E and NE
Freezing
Brain regions involved in fear
amygdala
hypothalamus
PAG
Urbach-Wiethe disease
- rare genetic condition that causes calcium to build up in the amygdala until it wastes away
- Case study of SM
- Experiences fearlessness that is dangerous to her:
robberies at gunpoint, physical assaults, no
inhibition when strangers approach - Reports feeling angry but not afraid in response to
these incidents - Inability to recognize fear or disgust, or report
reduced intensity - Willingness to undergo stress challenge (CO2
challenge) again without a second thought
Brain region associated with disgust
insular cortex
2 reasons for aggressive behavior
- reproduction behaviors
- defensive behaviors
Important players in aggression
- Amygdala
- vmPFC
- Serotonergic system
serotonergic system
- Enabling synaptic connections inhibit aggressive behavior
- Destruction of synaptic connection increases aggressive behavior
- Lower serotonin turnover (release and re-synthesis of 5HT)
importance of vmPFC
Emotion regulation
Moral decision making
mirror neuron
a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another
