Emotion

Question 1

What is the action of emotion?

Answer 1

Autonomic nervous system

• converts sensory information to rest of brain
• stimulates reflex actions
• unconscious

Question 2

The sympathetic branch:

Answer 2

Intense, quick responses.
Increase in heart rate.
Fight or flight.

Question 3

Parasympathetic branch:

Answer 3

Non-emergency prep.
Increasing digestion, saving energy.
Calms body.

Question 4

What is emotion assorted with?

Answer 4

Physiological responce that causes action

Question 5

Evidence for feedback between physiology and ‘felt’ emotion …

Answer 5

• ppl with paralysis still report emotion BUT ppl Roth autonomic failure report less intense emotion
• indicted smiling, frowning etc, increases reported emotion

Question 6

Brain areas crucial to emotion:

Answer 6

Limbic system - sensory input, emotional responces to pain, regulates behaviour

Question 7

There is a huge variability in cortical action, but one emotions seemed to have a clearer cortical bases, what is it?

Answer 7

Disgust.

• insula cortex = primary taste cortex
• if you feel disgusted, see someone else disgusted, or feel moral disgust

Question 8

Is brain lateralised for emotion?
What does the left hemisphere relate to?

Answer 8

Behavioural activation system (BAS)
- low/moderate autonomical arousal
- approach (happiness, anger)
- left frontal + temporal lobes

Question 9

Is brain lateralised for emotion?
What does the right hemisphere relate to?

Answer 9

Behavioural inhibition system
- increase attention + arousal
- inhibited action (disgust, fear)
- right frontal + temporal lobes

Question 10

Which hemisphere is more responsive to emotional stimuli?

Answer 10

Right hemisphere

Eg.
- patients underfund procedure
- right hemisphere activated
-could remember significant events
- denied feeling any emotion

Question 11

What is the function of emotion?

Answer 11

Survival responce
- fear= run away
- anger= attack thing/ person that angered you

Question 12

Automatic activity and emotion:

Answer 12

Autonomic activity (ie increased heart rate) alert you of problem before it’s consciously registered

This doesn’t happen if there’s damage to prefrontal cortex/ amygdala

Question 13

Long-term benefit o positive expressions:

Answer 13

• psychological development
• social bonding
• health

Question 14

Immediate benefits of positive emotions:

Answer 14

• regulating interactions (ie continue speaking)
• also beyond positive interactions (submissive smile, mocking)

Question 15

Function of positive expressions:

Answer 15

Evolution conserves hard-worked traits.
Laughter = most likely emerged from pre-existing traits.

Question 16

Function of positive expressions: Emancipation hypothesis

Answer 16

Human smiles emerged from submissive ape expressions that crossed contexts and converged with laughter.

Question 17

Function of positive expressions: Complxity and Continuity hypothesis

Answer 17

Human smiles emerged from plosive ancestral ape expressions within context of play.

Question 18

Fear and anger, why are they studies together?

Answer 18

Often studies together as seem to be polar opposite

• fear associated with escape (flight)
  -anger associated with aggression (fight)

Question 19

What makes people aggressive? (Hereditary and environment)

Answer 19

• may be genetic contribution to violence
• monozygotic twins resemble each ther mare than dizygotic twins in violent/ criminal behaviour
• smocking during pregnancy associated with criminal activity in adulthood
  -higher levels of testosterone: criminals convicted of murder/rape = higher testosterone than other criminals

Question 20

Which brain areas associated with aggression?

Answer 20

No specific brain area
By hypothalamus stimulation can induce aggressive attacks

Widespread stimulation (ie epilepsy) can induce aggressive attacks

Question 21

Serotonin and aggression

Answer 21

• aggressive behaviour may be linked to serotonin release
• serotonin = NT associated with regulation
• increased aggressive behaviour - decreased serotonin release
• monkeys with lowest serotonin= most aggressive
• low serotonin in aggressive people
• but depression= low serotonin, but not always violent

Question 22

Fear: the startle reflex

Answer 22

The responce to sudden, loud noise

• cochlea nucleus > pons > muscle tension in neck (protective)

Question 23

Which brain areas affect startle reflex?

Answer 23

AMYGDALA damage disrupts startle reflex
- Impairs animals ability to learn with stimuli are scary.
- amygdala enhances startle reflex by helping conditioned responses form

Question 24

Fear: toxoplasma

Answer 24

• parasite that reproduces in cats
• infects rats, migrates to brain and damages amygdala
• rat does not condition to fear properly
• rat approaches cat and gets eaten

Question 25

FEAR: Kluver-Bucy syndrome

Answer 25

- amygdala damage produces tame, placid monkeys - approach snakes -approach dominant monkeys - increeed motivation to approach and explore - amygdala controls inhibition more than fear

Question 26

Fear and amygdala responce

Answer 26

Amygdala seems to respond most when fear is direct and anger averted. - important to work out whetehr someone is directed emotion at you

Question 27

What happens when amygdala is damaged?

Answer 27

- ppl still feel emotion - struggle with interpreting emotional info when subtle - regard all faces as same, don’t form judgements about people - cant draw a fearful emotion face

Question 28

Can emotions be examined by biological perspective?

Answer 28

Yes. - evidnece for basic emotions to be hard-worked and linked to psychological changes - damaged brain areas cause modifications Disgust= insula cortex Postbox emotions = function, evolution Aggression= serotonin Fear= amygdala/ startle reflex