Week 6 Lecture 6 - the social and emotional brain pt 1

Question 1

What is emotion?

Answer 1

• a state associated with stimuli that are rewarding (i.e. that one works to obtain) or punishing (i.e. that one works to avoid)
• These stimuli often have inherent survival value, but they can also be learned (= conditioning)

Question 2

What does emotion play a crucial role in?

Answer 2

• guiding social behaviour
• Emotional brain required in social situations (social decision making)

Question 3

Name 6 theories of emotion

Answer 3

• Darwin
• Basic emotions theory (Ekman)
• James-Lange theory
• Cannon-Bard theory
• Somatic Marker Hypothesis (Damasio)
• Theory of constructed emotions (Barret)

Question 4

Which theories of emotion emphasise expression/behaviour?

Answer 4

• Darwin
• Basic emotions theory (Ekman)

Question 5

Which theories of emotion emphasise the role of bodily changes?

Answer 5

• James-Lange theory
• Cannon-Bard theory
• Somatic Marker Hypothesis (Damasio)
• Theory of constructed emotions (Barret)

Question 6

Which theories of emotion emphasise subjective nature?

Answer 6

• Theory of constructed emotions (Barret)

Question 7

What is Darwin’s theory of emotion?

Answer 7

• Many species of animals communicate emotions through changes in posture, facial expression and nonverbal sounds (e.g. sighs, laughs, moans, growls etc.)

Emotional expressions are innate and
biologically determined:

• Observation of his own children
• Corresponding with people in isolated cultures around the world

Question 8

What is the Basic emotions theory (Ekman)?

Answer 8

Basic emotions are associated with:
- distinctive facial expressions
- voice intonation
- body movement (e.g., gestures)
- distinct neural substrates

• Each emotion has evolved to deal with different survival problems & occurs automatically
• UNIVERSAL -they are mostly culture-independent

Question 9

What are the 6 basic emotions outlined by Ekman?

Answer 9

• Sadness
• Happiness
• Disgust
• Surprise
• Anger
• Fear

Question 10

What study provides support for the basic emotions theory?

Answer 10

Question 1: Do members of isolated tribe in New Guinea recognise facial expressions of emotion produced by
Westerners?
- Results: people in the New Guinea tribe could recognise western emotional expressions

Question 2: Can Western people recognize emotion expressions of different cultures?
- Results: Westerners could recognise these expressions

Conclusions: the expression of emotions are unlearned as they are the same in cultures that have not been exposed to each other

Question 11

What is the James-Lange theory of emotion?

Answer 11

Emotion producing situations elicit:

1. physiological responses - Trembling, sweating, heart pounding
2. certain behaviours - Run away, feel queasy
3. Feedback from the organs and muscles involved in these responses constitutes how we feel emotion

= our own emotional feelings are based on what we find ourselves doing

Question 12

What is the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion?

Answer 12

Thalamus sends simultaneous signals to:

• the cortex (conscious experience) - I’m afraid
• autonomic nervous system (arousal) - I begin to tremble

Question 13

What is the Somatic Marker Hypothesis?

Answer 13

• Bodily states are the basis of emotions and decisions as physical reactions can
  cause emotional reactions
• A threatening stimulus –> the brain will instinctively generate a physiological
  response, e.g., accelerated heartbeat
• Physiological changes in the body trigger interoceptive signals to be sent to the
  brain
• This representation of interoceptive signals is termed a somatic marker, which
  describes body signals that mark the emotional value of stimuli and events
• Somatic markers are experienced as emotions and ‘gut feelings’, a non-conscious biasing signal that facilitates decision-making, particularly in ambiguous situations

Question 14

What is the theory of constructed emotions?

Answer 14

• Distinct bodily states are not associated
  with distinct emotions

Bodily changes influence core affect:
* Pleasant – unpleasant
* High arousal (activation) – low arousal (deactivation)

• There aren’t distinct emotional categories –-> the emotions we feel are
  constructed based on the current situation and on our previous experiences
• Current emotions we feel depends on:
• Core affect
• Memory of previous similar situations
• Theory of mind
• Language
• Assumed control over the situation and emotions

Question 15

How does BET and TCE differ in terms of innate facial expressions?

Answer 15

• BET: facial expressions are innate for basic emotion categories
• TCE: all emotions are constructed, thus facial expressions can’t be innate either

Question 16

How does BET and TCE differ in terms of constructed emotions?

Answer 16

• BET– some emotions might be constructed
  E.g. some emotions might be composed of two or more emotions: guilt = joy + fear
• TCE – all emotions are constructed

Question 17

What is the amygdala?

Answer 17

• A small mass of grey matter in the tip of left and right temporal lobes
• Receives a great deal of sensory input
• Fear centre?
• Important for learning and storing the emotional value of stimuli

Question 18

How did a study involving animals suggest that the amygdala is involved in fear?

Answer 18

Amygdala lesion before learning:
- Animal do not learn the conditioned response

Amygdala lesion after learning:
- Animal forgets the conditioned response = objects lose their learned emotional value

• Role in memory: learning and storing conditioned fear response
• But normal fear evoking stimuli still elicit fear response: role in learned fear response

Question 19

What did a study involving humans learning to associate visual cue with an electric shock do and find?

Answer 19

• Measures: fMRI + skin conductance response
• Amygdala activation (fMRI) during the learning process
• Amygdala activation correlated with skin conductance response

Question 20

What evidence is there for a double dissociation between amygdala and hippocampus?

Answer 20

Patients with amygdala damage:
- No conditioned skin conductance response
- Can recall association

Patients with hippocampal damage (amnesia):
- Skin conductance response present
- Cannot recall association

Association is stored in:
- amygdala (conditioned fear response)
- hippocampus (declarative memory)

Question 21

Give 2 examples of studies that implicate the amygdala in the recognition of fear

Answer 21

• Bilateral amygdala damage impairs fear
  expression recognition in faces (Adolphs et al., 1994)

fMRI study (Morris et al., 1996):
- Presented with faces – male-female classification
- Fearful faces – left amygdala activity
- Happy faces – different brain areas activated

Question 22

What studies suggest that the amygdala can activate without conscious awareness?

Answer 22

• Fast and slow routes to the amygdala (Le Doux, 1996)

Ohman & Soares, 1994:
- Images of spiders and snakes are presented to participants with spider or
snake phobias subliminally
- Participants did not report seeing the
images
- But SCR was measured – emotional response to images

Tamietto et al., 2012:
- fMRI – amygdala activated by fearful facial expression in patients with visual
cortex damage

Question 23

What evidence suggests that the amygdala is a part of a wider fear network?

Answer 23

Amygdala activity leads to enhanced activity (Morris et al., 1998) in other brain areas:
- In the visual cortex activity
- in regions such as hypothalamus and anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex
- Affects autonomic system to generate fight or flight response

= Fear circuit with amygdala as a hub, not as a fear centre

Question 24

Apart from fear, what is the amygdala’s wider role in emotion?

Answer 24

• Amygdala is involved in learning
  positive associations (e.g. certain food
  is hidden under a certain shape)
• Amygdala activation to pleasant and
  unpleasant, but not to neutral smells

Question 25

What is the insula?

Answer 25

- An island of cortex lying bilaterally underneath the temporal lobes It is implicated in the creation of bodily feelings associated with emotions: - Disgust - Interoception

Question 26

How is the insula related to disgust?

Answer 26

- Insula lesions affects disgust perception (Calder et al., 2000) Insula activation if (Wicker et al. 2003): - Feeling disgusted - Seeing someone else disgusted - Moral disgust also activates insula (Moll et al., 2005)

Question 27

How is the insula related to interoception?

Answer 27

Interoception: - monitoring the internal state of the body - interoceptive signals from receptors in skin, muscles, organs are sent to the brain (insula) along the spinal cord - This bodily monitoring process can be conscious (e.g. pain) and unconscious Bodily changes play an important role in emotions according to several theories: - James-Lange theory, Somatic Marker Hypothesis, Theory of Constructed Emotion

Question 28

What is the orbitofrontal cortex?

Answer 28

Computing the current value of a stimulus: - How rewarding the stimulus is within the current context - Important for social interactions, new learning and regulation of emotions

Question 29

What evidence suggests that the orbitofrontal cortex is linked to reward and punishment?

Answer 29

PET study (Small et al, 2001): - Initially chocolate was rewarding, and participants wanted to have it --> activity in the medial regions of the OFC = pleasant, reward - Then chocolate became less pleasant, and participants were less motivated to eat it --> activity in the lateral regions of the OFC = unpleasant, punishment Social stimuli: - Lateral orbitofrontal cortex activity when instead of an expected smile participants are presented with an angry face (Kringelbach & Rolls, 2003)

Question 30

What is the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)?

Answer 30

- The anterior cingulate cortex lies above the corpus callosum on the medial surface of each hemisphere - Dorsal region implicated in executive functions - Ventral region implicated in emotional processing

Question 31

How is the ACC related to response evaluation?

Answer 31

- motivation - determining the cost and benefit of actions - Value of a response – whether an action will result in reward and punishment

Question 32

How is the ACC related to bodily response?

Answer 32

Processing bodily signals that characterize emotions: - Output of bodily responses (insula-input) - Lesion interrupts skin conductance response, changes in blood pressure and hearth rate Regulating feelings of pain: - fMRI activity in ACC for physically painful stimuli - Activity in ACC for watching somebody else in pain = responds to perception of pain in others

Question 33

How is the ACC related to pain?

Answer 33

Regulating feelings of pain (Singer et al., 2004): - Physical pain --> Experiencing a mild electric shock - Social pain --> Seeing a loved one in pain also activates ACC (and ) = ACC responds to perception of pain in others - ACC responds to perception of pain in others - But the response can be affected by cognitive processes - Pain sensitive activity is modulated if the other person is perceived to “deserve” the pain

Question 34

How is the ACC related to social pain?

Answer 34

Social pain – being excluded socially (Eisenberger et al., 2003) - fMRI study: Virtual tossing ball game - 3 conditions: inclusion, exclusion and justified exclusion - ACC activity correlates with subjective distress

Question 35

What is the ventral striatum?

Answer 35

Part of the basal ganglia: - Dorsal striatum - sensorimotor properties --> involved in habit formation - Ventral striatum - specialised in emotions Reward-based learning loop: ‘the limbic circuit’: - Dopaminergic system - Linked to compulsive behaviours, such as substance abuse

Question 36

What evidence suggests that the ventral striatum is linked to reward?

Answer 36

Monetary reward: - fMRI --> Task with great monetary reward = greater activity in VS (Knutson et al., 2001) Social reward: - Activity is greater when monetary reward is obtained via cooperation with another human compared to non-cooperation or computer (Rilling et al., 2002) Predicted vs actual reward: - It is not simple reward coding - Activity is greater when reward is better than expected

Question 37

What is the social motivation hypothesis?

Answer 37

- deficits in representing the reward value of social stimuli - children with ASD do not actively attend to the social environment because they do not find it intrinsically rewarding, leading to reduced cortical specialization Deficits in social reward processing --> Reduced seeking and liking of social interactions --> ultimately manifesting as global deficits in social functioning BUT: mixed evidence (meta-analysis: Bottini, 2018)