SET 8- Negative emotion

amygdala function

processes emotional salience and assigns importance to stimuli for attention and memory

amygdala and fear

amygdala is involved in threat processing but is not exclusively a fear center

salience

degree of importance or relevance of a stimulus that captures attention

fear

response to an immediate and present threat

anxiety

anticipation or expectation of a future threat

emotion definition

interpretation of internal and external states used to guide behavior and predictions

emotion vs arousal

emotion refers to valence while arousal refers to intensity of activation

arousal

level of physiological and neural activation independent of valence

valence

positive or negative quality of an emotional experience

stress

physiological response involving activation of systems like the HPA axis and increased arousal

stress vs emotion

stress is a physiological state that often accompanies but is distinct from emotion

approach behavior

behavior directed toward stimuli with positive valence

avoidance behavior

behavior directed away from stimuli with negative valence

emotion function

helps organisms decide whether to approach or avoid stimuli

hippocampus role

important for forming and consolidating memories

amygdala role in memory

enhances encoding of emotionally significant events

hippocampus and amygdala interaction

amygdala modulates strength of memory formation for emotional events

arousal and memory

higher arousal tends to strengthen memory encoding and retention

priming

prior exposure to a stimulus increases sensitivity or responsiveness to similar stimuli

amygdala priming

repeated exposure to emotionally relevant stimuli increases amygdala responsiveness

interoception

awareness of internal bodily states such as heartbeat hunger or discomfort

interoception and emotion

internal bodily signals contribute to subjective emotional experience

amygdala high road

slower cortical pathway where sensory information is processed through the cortex before reaching the amygdala

amygdala low road

fast subcortical pathway that allows rapid amygdala response to potential threats

high road advantage

more accurate and detailed processing but slower response

low road advantage

fast detection of potential threats but less accurate

fear conditioning

learning process where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an aversive outcome

conditioned stimulus

previously neutral stimulus that elicits a learned response after association

unconditioned stimulus

stimulus that naturally elicits a response without prior learning

conditioned response

learned response to a conditioned stimulus

associative learning

formation of associations between stimuli based on experience and pairing

HPA axis

hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis that regulates stress responses and hormone release

cortisol

hormone released during stress that increases energy availability and supports survival responses

hypothalamus role in stress

initiates hormonal and autonomic responses to maintain homeostasis

sympathetic nervous system

part of autonomic nervous system responsible for fight or flight responses

parasympathetic nervous system

part of autonomic nervous system responsible for rest and digest functions

autonomic nervous system

controls involuntary physiological processes such as heart rate and digestion

prefrontal cortex regulation

provides top down control over emotional and behavioral responses including amygdala activity

vmPFC function

involved in emotion regulation and inhibition of excessive emotional responses

dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

function involved in executive control reasoning and decision making

orbitofrontal cortex

function integrates sensory information with reward and decision making

intercalated cells

GABAergic neurons that inhibit amygdala output and help regulate fear responses

basolateral amygdala

receives sensory input and integrates information related to emotional significance

central amygdala

main output region that coordinates behavioral and physiological fear responses

medial amygdala

involved in processing social and hormonal information

network perspective of brain

brain functions arise from interactions between multiple regions rather than isolated centers

amygdala and social behavior

plays a role in processing socially relevant stimuli and dominance interactions

amygdala and reward

interacts with reward circuits such as nucleus accumbens in motivation and reinforcement

amygdala dysfunction

can lead to altered emotional processing including anxiety fear or social behavior changes

top down control

regulation of lower level emotional systems by higher cortical areas like the prefrontal cortex

bottom up processing

sensory driven processing that can influence emotional responses before higher reasoning

emotion as prediction

emotions reflect learned predictions based on past experiences and current context