Emotions, Sensation, and Perception Lecture Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts about emotions, sensory processing, and perception.

Sympathetic nervous system

Part of the autonomic nervous system that triggers the fight or flight response.

Corticotrophin Releasing Factor (CRF)

Hormone released by the hypothalamus in response to stress.

AdrenoCorticoTropic Hormone (ACTH)

Hormone released by the anterior pituitary gland that stimulates cortisol release.

Cortisol

A hormone released by the adrenal cortex that elevates blood sugar and metabolic rate during stress.

James-Lange Theory

Theory suggesting that emotion is a result of physiological arousal followed by labeling.

Cannon-Bard Theory

Theory proposing that physiological arousal and emotional response occur simultaneously and independently.

Amygdala

A brain structure involved in processing emotions, particularly fear and aggression.

Facial emotional expression

Innate set of facial movements that convey emotions such as sadness, happiness, disgust, and anger.

Orbitofrontal Cortex

Part of the frontal lobe associated with decision-making and emotional regulation; damage results in inappropriate behavior.

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter whose low levels are associated with increased aggression.

Testosterone

Hormone whose high levels are linked to increased aggressiveness.

Sensation

The process of converting external stimuli into neural signals.

Perception

The mental interpretation of sensory input.

Transduction

The conversion of energy from a stimulus into neuronal activity.

Place theory

Theory that describes how high-pitched sounds are detected in specific locations on the basilar membrane.

Frequency theory

Theory that states the frequency of sound wave vibrations correlates to the frequency of action potentials sent to the brain.

Broca's Aphasia

Speech production deficits due to damage in Broca's area, resulting in slow, non-fluent speech but good comprehension.

Wernicke's Aphasia

Language comprehension deficits from damage to Wernicke's area, leading to fluent but meaningless speech.

Pure Alexia

Inability to read due to damage in the visual cortex affecting the language areas.

Trichromatic theory

Theory which states that color perception arises from the stimulation of three types of cone photoreceptors.

Opponent Process Theory

Theory that explains color vision as a result of opposing color pairs, such as red-green and blue-yellow.

Retinal ganglion cells

Neurons in the retina that convey visual information to the brain.

Dorsal stream

Visual processing pathway responsible for perceiving location and movement.

Ventral stream

Visual processing pathway responsible for object recognition.

Dorsal column pathway

Pathway through which touch and pressure sensations are transmitted to the brain.