Lecture 21 Flashcards
What is the study of emotion?
- Emotions: AKA Affective states
- Until recently, the study of mind was largely neglected due to scientific bias against studying ’what cannot be observed’
- Positivist/behaviourist movements of 1900’s
- Brain research has largely ignored centres of emotion (e.g. hippocampus, amygdala)
- Focused on frontel lobes (logic, decision-making, ‘higher level functions’)
What is the brain?
- Seat of consciousness
- Sense of self
- Memories - short and long term
- Thoughts - ideas, logic, knowledge, information
- Feelings - moods, emotions
- Highly conserved: same basic systems and networks in humans and animals
What is emotions/affective states?
- Emotions evolved asadaptive neurological functions
- But remain poorly understood…intellect vs emotions
- Evolutionary perspective - emotions have a function
- Emotions are protective: (fear, anger, jealousy)
- Central to social bonding: (love, maternal care, sexual attraction)
Where do emotions come from?
Probably will be a question on ROM and RAM
- Mid and hind brain (sub-cortical regions)
- Brain research has focused more on cognition and intelligence (frontal lobes/cortex)
- Evolutionary layering: new layers build onto older regions
- hind-brain -> mid-brain -> fore-brain
- Similar emotions, brain regions andpathways are found across all mammalian species = homology
What is the triune brain model?
- Reptilian, limbic and neocortical regions
- Emotions are based in limbic and reptilian regions
- Layers added over time
- Reptilian brain: exploration, aggression, sex
- Limbic system: social bonding, play
- Neocortex: thought, language
Thought that regions work independantly but they do not!
What did Charles Darwin determine about the expression of the emotions in man and animals?
- Darwin’s biological approach linked emotions to their origins in animal behaviour
- Cultural factors: play only an auxiliary role in the shaping of emotions
- All human cultures share similar emotions
- Homology: the same systems are present in man and animals
- Six emotional states: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust
What is the history of the study of emotion?
- 19th century - mentalism: unscientific approaches, metaphysics were popular in the Victorian era
- 20th century - Positivism, Behaviourism: a more scientific approach; focused only on observable and measurable events, so deliberately ignored the inner workings of the brain (‘Black Box’)
because subjective phenomena cannot be observed objectively in animals it is idle to either claim or deny their existance -Tinbergen
What is affective neuroscience and who is the father of it?
The study of the neural correlates of emotions
Jaak Panksepp
How do emotions work?
- Emotions are a primary response
- Physiological changes result from the emotion, not from higher thought/cognitive process
- Event -> Emotion -> Arousal-> Understanding
What are the emotional networks?
- Emotions arise from medial brain regions
- cognitive responses are secondary to the emotional response
- Emotional networks are genetically determined
- Specific pathways and neurotransmitters
- Functions of emotions:
- Positive emotions - comfort/seeking
- Negative emotions - discomfort/protective
What are the positive and negative emotional networks?
- Affective states evolved to deal with goalsand threats in the environment
- Positive networks: associated with goals
- evoke electrical self stimulation (SS) when brain region stimulated
- Negative networks: associated with threats
- evoke avoidance response when brain region stimulated
there are 7 emotions
What is the networks and functions of the positive emotional networks?
- Seeking - motivation, appetitive behaviours
- Lust - sexual attraction
- Care - maternal behaviour, bonding
- Play - experience, learning, ‘fun’
What are the neurotransmitters for the positive emotional networks?
- Dopamine
- Endorphins
- Estrogen
- Testosterone
- Oxytocin
- Serotonin
- GABA
What is the networks and functions of the negative emotional networks?
- Panic (Grief) - reunite with mother, social group
- Fear - avoid danger
- Rage - protect self, offspring
What are the neurotransmitters for negative emotional networks?
- Adrenaline
- CRH
- Substance P
- Glutamate
