Emotion Flashcards
What is an emotion?
A physiological response to certain types of stimuli
A subjective experience
A behavioral response
What is a subjective experience?
We often refer to these as feelings, that often, but not always accompany the bodily responses
How can emotions as physiological responses in the brain be represented?
In the brain, changes in arousal levels and cognitive functions including attention, memory processing, and decision making
How can emotions as physiological responses in the body be represented?
In the body, involves endocrine, autonomic, and musculoskeletal responses ( autonomic nervous system and hypothalamic - pituitary adrenal ( HPA ) axis ); a stress response
What are feelings?
The experience of these somatic and cognitive changes; perceptions of emotional responses
Explain the neural control of emotional responses, or really the emotional stimuli pathway.
An emotional stimuli is received by the sensory systems, which will then project to the emotion systems. The emotion systems project to the hypothalamus and brain stem. The hypothalamus and brain stem will project to the spinal cord and autonomic ganglia. The spinal cord and autonomic ganglia will project to effector cells ( Skeletal muscle, smooth/cardiac muscle, or the endocrine gland ). These effector cells will then become emotional responses.
What are the universal emotions?
Anger, fear, disgust, sadness, happiness, and surprise
What are some examples of complex emotions and what are some of their characteristics?
Jealously and romantic love; Goal oriented, involves circuits in the brain involving motivations, emotion, social cognition, reward, and cognitive control
What are Ekman’s criteria for basic emotions?
Distinctive universal signals
Presence in other primates
Distinctive physiology
Distinctive universals in antecedent events
Rapid onset
Brief duration
Explain the cognitive interpretation of arousal with Singer and Schachter when they see the bear?
Physiological response ( arousal ) - Their hearts race and they’re ready to run.
Behavioral response - They run
Cognition - What’s going on? They each think, “I see a bear and my heart is beating fast and my mouth is dry. I must be afraid!”
Emotional Feeling: “I’m scared!”
What are the drive states?
Hunger, thirst, sex, sleep, pain, and vigorous exercise
Because autonomic changes in response to emotion are similar to other drive states, what could this potentially lead to?
In the case of someone who is prone to panic attacks, partaking in any of these drive states, like sex, vigorous exercise and even sleep, can illicit that panic attack because they utilize the same pathways.
After a stimulus is presented, how is this stimulus processed differently in humans and non-human animals?
In humans: Stimulus -> cognitive response -> motivational response -> somatic response -> behavioral response all of which are categorized into a emotional experience -> subjective feelings -> verbal report
In non-human animals: stimulus -> central emotional state ( can be projected to any of the following ) -> observed behavior, subjective reports, psychophysiology cognitive changes, and somatic responses.
Why is the limbic system important?
Emotional and behavioral responses needed for survival
Which syndrome may occur with traumatic brain injury, although rare?
Kluver-Bucy Syndrome
What was see in the late 1930’s when Kluver and Bucy surgically removed the temporal lobes of monkeys bilaterally?
Alterations in feeding and sexual behaviors, lack of concern for previously feared objects.
What is Urbach-Wiethe disease?
The degeneration of the amygdala, it is a rare autosomal genetic disorder that saw patients did not express fear and could not recognize it in others but were able to describe fear and define it.
What is the amygdala made of?
A collection of 13 nuclei ( in primates ) grouped into complexes
What three complexes make up the amygdala?
The Basolateral Nuclear complex, the Centromedial Complex ( Ce ), and the Cortical Nucleus ( Co )
What does the Basolateral Nuclear Complex consist of?
Consists of the lateral nuclei (La), basal nuclei (B), and the accessory basal nuclei. ( Considered to be the largest in area )
What does the Centromedial Complex consist of?
Consists of medial and central nuclei ( responsible for visceral information )
What is the Cortical Nucleus?
Known as the olfactory part of the Amygdala. Also outputs directly to the hippocampus. May, in emotionally arousing situations involving olfaction, modulate memory formation.
What are the inputs to the Basolateral Nuclear Complex?
Sensory thalamus and cortex ( Auditory, visual, somatosensory, gustatory, and olfactory ) = La
Hippocampus and entorhinal cortex = La, B
Multimodal association cortex = B
Prefrontal cortex ( medial ) = La, B
What are the inputs to the Centromedial Complex?
Viscerosensory cortex, sensory brain stem ( pain, viscera ), and Prefrontal Cortex ( medial )
