Emotions

Question 1

What are emotions? (2 types)

Answer 1

1. As a Concept:

• Cognitive understanding of the idea of an emotion
• Stream of thought
• Neocortex

2. As a Feeling:

As a Feeling
Reflexive, natural response to stimuli
Stream of feeling Limbic system

Question 2

Do we innately identify emotions?

Answer 2

• We can quickly and innately identify some emotions.

• BUT early work overstated the universality and reliability of facial expressions.

Question 3

Does expressing emotion require just the face?

Answer 3

Expressing emotions requires more than just the face.

Question 4

What are the three types of emotions and the response they produce?

Answer 4

Behavioural:

• Movements

• Facial expression

• Body language

Autonomic

• Signaling through PNS

• Fight or flight response

Hormonal

• Signaling through bloodstream

• e.g, endorphins linked with relaxation and lower stress

Question 5

Describe the two types of Facial Paresis, Volitional and Emotional

Answer 5

Volitional
• Difficulty moving facial muscles on command
• Able to move muscles in response to emotion
• Damage to primary motor cortex

Emotional
• Able to move facial muscles on command
• Difficulty moving muscles in response to emotion
• Damage to thalamus / insular cortex

Question 6

How do we Recognize Emotion? (Three ways)

Answer 6

1. Mimicking:

• Making same faces
• Copying vocal tone

2. Looking at Eyes and Mouth

• Looking at Eyes and Mouth
• Naturally gazing towards eyes and mouth
• People with amygdala damage don’t do this automatically

3. Mirror Neurons

• Found across brain
• Mimicking / identifying emotions in others

Question 7

What is the Common Sense Theory?

Answer 7

Perceive emotional event / stimulus ➡️ Emotion occurs ➡️ Physiological response

Question 8

What is the James-Lange Theory?

Answer 8

Perceive emotional event / stimulus ➡️ Physiological response ➡️ Emotion occurs

Question 9

How does the Limbic System contribute to emotion?

Answer 9

Group of brain structures involved in feeling, perceiving, and regulating emotion

• Central nucleus of the amygdala

• Important for inducing fear

• Important for recognizing emotions in others

• People with bilateral amygdala damage can still feel fear, it’s just much harder to find things that will induce this

Question 10

How does the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC) contribute to emotion? (hint: pipe)

Answer 10

Important for regulation of emotion
• Inhibition of emotion expression
• Fear extinction learning depends on vmPFC
Damage to vmPFC
• > impulsive (sometimes violently)
• > outwardly emotional
• > childlike
Serotonin (esp. in vmPFC) inhibits emotional outbursts
• Riskier behaviour in rhesus monkeys with low serotonin