Test 3 (Emotion)

Question 1

emotional vs cognitive processes

Answer 1

limbic vs neocortical processes

Question 2

what does the amygdala do?

Answer 2

1. detect stimuli
2. generate emotional response
3. lay down memories
4. trigger cognitive changes

Question 3

the fast and dirty amygdala route

Answer 3

“low road”
Structure: pulvinar nucleus of thalamus to the amygdala, subcortical
Impact: “fight or flight” analysis of environments and threat

Question 4

slow amygdala route

Answer 4

“high road”
Structure: thalamus to the visual cortex to the amygdala, cortical
Impact: more detailed perception and analysis of environment

Question 5

amygdala connections

Answer 5

bidirectional:
hippocampus (memory)
hypothalamus (physiological response)
M OFC (reward circuits)
visual pathways (threat detection)

Question 6

how do we test emotional stimuli impact on attention?

Answer 6

subliminally so know voluntary mechanisms of attention aren’t affecting our results (subcortical)

Question 7

STUDY: fearful eyes

Answer 7

brief cue of enlarged white eyes vs small eyes (happy vs angry)
RESULTS: greater amygdala response to fearful white eyes

Question 8

trait anxiety association with amygdala activation

Answer 8

greater trait anxiety associated with higher amygdala response

Question 9

STUDY: amygdala and HC lesions in viewing fearful faces vs. houses

Answer 9

RESULTS: in people with amygdala lesions, no deferential attention, but without amygdala lesions, had great response when viewing fearful faces and attention

Question 10

how does the amygdala induce activity?

Answer 10

1. release of acetylcholine activates the cingulate cortex and nucleus basalis
2. DA and ACH release increases arousal via the hypothalamus activation
3. directly enhances responses of sensory cortices

Question 11

STUDY: RSVP (rapid series visual presentation) with emotional stimulus

Answer 11

when a word is presented at T1 and an emotionally salient word is presented at T2 (ex. “Rape”) there is more amygdala activation and attention to emotionally significant stimuli in a way that overcomes the attentional blink

Question 12

how does the amygdala activated stress response?

Answer 12

via ACh and DA activation of the hypothalamus, cortisol and epinephrine is released via the HPA axis activation, influencing the HC and neocortex

Question 13

how do stress hormones effect memory?

Answer 13

they play a role in memory consolidation (as opposed to processing or WM) bc slow acting

Question 14

STUDY: propanolol and its impact on memory of emotional material

Answer 14

propanolol is a stress response blocker, and this study finds that patients with amygdala damange and propanolol exhibit less heightened modulation to emotional memory compared to normal

Question 15

STUDY: subsequent memory paradigm with emotional memory

Answer 15

(to see if memory is later remembered)
when recalling emotional memories that are later remembered, find activation in amygdala, HC, entorhinal cortex

Question 16

STUDY: active emotional regulation

Answer 16

when asked to implicitly decrease negative associations with stimuli, found decrease amygdala activation to just looking at negative stimulus compared to people without instruction

Question 17

STUDY: comparing dACC (fear acquisition) and vmPFC (fear extinction) circuitry

Answer 17

found that vmPFC activity greater when reducing fear response, similar to fear extinction to conditioned stimuli