Wk3 - Fear Recognition Flashcards
What part of the brain is very important in emotion?
Amygdala
What is the amygdala important for?
Emotional face recognition
Emotional memory
Aspects of social-signalling
What changes does amygdala damage cause?
Changes in emotional and social behaviour
What is an example of social-signalling?
Watching people’s gaze
Does amygdala damage cause cognitive deficits? What does this suggest?
No
The amygdala is specialised to emotion
What process is the amygdala necessary for?
Fear recognition
What case study provides evidence for the amygdala’s role in fear recognition?
S.M
Also D.R and S.E
What condition did S.M have?
Bilateral destruction of the amygdala
What was not affected by S.M’s amygdala damage?
IQ. S.M had normal IQ.
Preserved ability to recognise and identify faces
What was affected by S.M’s amygdala damage?
S.M had a severe impairment specific for recognising fearful faces
Does amygdala damage affect facial recognition and facial identity?
No. Amygdala damage just affects fear recognition.
What did patients D.R and S.E contribute to our understanding of the amygdala’s role in fear recognition?
Patients can still understand the concept of fear, but they cannot recognise the fear emotion.
Is fear recognition a conscious or unconscious experience?
Can be either conscious or unconscious
What is the unconscious route of fear recognition?
Visual stimulus –> Superior colliculus –> Thalamus –> Amygdala
What is the conscious route of fear recognition?
Visual stimulus –> Thalamus –> Visual cortex –> Visual system/processing areas –> Amygdala
What is another name for the unconscious route of fear recognition?
The quick and dirty route
Can we respond to a fearful stimulus before we are consciously aware of it?
Yes - this is a clear evolutionary advantage
Which route of fear recognition is faster?
The unconscious route from a visual stimulus to the amygdala
Which route is the visual cortex involved in?
The conscious route of fear recognition from a visual stimulus to the amygdala
Why is the unconscious route faster than the conscious route of fear recognition?
The unconscious route bypasses the visual cortex loop. The information will go straight from the visual thalamus to the amygdala.
How does the amygdala activate fight/flight response mode?
Sends messages to increase heart rate, blood pressure, and activate muscles
In which route is the visual stimulus blurry?
Unconscious route
What is another word for blurry?
Low-frequency
How does the visual image differ between the conscious and unconscious routes?
Conscious route = clear, detailed image because it is processed through the visual cortex
Unconscious route = blurry, low-frequency image
What are the 2 distinct processing streams?
Conscious - goes to the amygdala via the visual cortex
Unconscious - goes to the amygdala straight from the visual thalamus