Emotion and the brain Flashcards
which part of the nervous system do emotions stem from ?
the autonomic nervous system. This part of the nervous system is made up of the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system.
What is James Langes theory of emotion ? How does it differ to the common sense view of emotion ?
James lange theory is that we see a stimulus and the action the body takes stimulates the emotion. e.g. seeing a snake , the running away action gives the emotion of fear.
The common sense view of emotion is that the stimulus causes the emotion , which in turn causes the action.
What are the three components of emotion ?
cognition , Feelings and actions
What assumptions/predictions can be made from James Langes theory ? Are they correct ?
One could assume that people with paralysis , who therefore cannot undergo an action such as running away , will not be able to feel the same emotions as someone without paralysis because they cannot complete the same actions. This has not been proven correct: people with paralysis due to spinal injury have reported feeling the same emotions as before they were paralysed.
another assumption that can be made is that increasing someones actions can lead to enhancing their emotions , e.g. breathing heavily and rapidly can sometimes induce panic attacks
What are the alternative theories to James Langes theory?
Walter Canon asked the question , how does the body and brain differentiate between the situations and the emotions e.g. , how does the brain know the difference in emotions of running away from something and running towards it ?
canon-bard Asked why we don’t feel scared with something such as a temperature rise, even though this causes the same autonomic pattern in the brain.
Schacter and Singer suggest that the event simultaneously triggers the response of the autonomic nervous system response and the emotional experience in the brain.
What parts of the brain are linked to the disgust emotions ?§
The insular cortex and the Basal Ganglia
Damage to these areas revealed problems for patients with recognising disgust in facial expressions.
What role are hormones thought to play in emotion ?
An increase in Testosterone in women lead to a delay in them recognising anger in facial expressions.
Serotonin is released while a person is being aggressive
while it is not directly linked to aggressive behaviours an increase in serotonin can cause a person to be less inhibited /more impulsive
What part of the brain receives input from pain, vision and hearing receptors and is linked to the pons ?
The Amygdala
What parasite causes an effect on the Amygdala, and what effects does it have ?
Toxoplasma gondii - a parasite that is released in cat feaces, The parasite then reaches the animals that burrow in the ground such as rats and mice. the parasite effects the amygdala in the brain and causes them to be less fearful of the cats and not understand the threat they are. The cat will eat the mice and rats, the parasite re enters their body and the cycle restarts
What is Urbach- Weithe disease ?
This disease causes Calcium build up on the Amygdala, causing it to die. The patient recorded with this reported that after watching a scary film , they only felt excitement , not fear.
When she reported she hated snakes, she was still happy to hold one as she didn’t understand the threat.
The patient was able to draw all other facial expressions, but when asked to draw fear she didn’t draw a facial expression, she only drew a persons hair standing on end.
What are the types of memory ?
Long term memory and short term memory
What helps memories to consolidate more rapidly ?
emotional significance to the memory will make it consolidate faster . this is because they are often paired with adrenaline and with cortisol.
Why is Adrenaline and Cortisol important in memory consolidation ?
They will stimulate the Amygdala, enhancing the consolidation and storage of the memory
What is working memory ? Why is it worse in older people ?
working memory is the storage of information of a stimulus after paying attention to it then having a delay period. As age increases the number of neurons linked to the receptors will decrease. This means that the older people will need to use more parts of their brain and have more parts activated, which requires more effort.
what are the two types of amnesia?
Anterograde amnesia is when the person is unable to form memories of events after surgery
Retrograde amnesia is when the person cannot retrieve memories prior to surgery.
What is the difference in Somantic memory and Episodic memory ?
somatic memory is the retrieval of knowledge
episodic memory is emotional memories and the events they are linked to
Some amnesiacs cannot retrieve memories on demand , what part of their memory is impaired ?
explicit or declarative memories
Where are more recent memories retrieved from ?
The hippocampus
Where is the basal ganglia found ?
the base of the forebrain
why are children thought to be suggestible ?
Memories and the details can be changed and altered
