6b. the social and emotional brain 2

what is capgras syndrome

someone who thinks their loved one has been replaced by an identical imposter

they consciously recognise them but lack emotional responses to them

define an emotion

a state associated with rewarding or punishing stimuli

the stimuli normally have an innate survival value

explain the visual cliff experiment with reference to social referencing

infants who look to see their mother worried about them crossing a visual cliff are less likely to cross than those whose mothers look encouraging

shows by 1 years old infants can read facial expressions and use them when meking decisions

where is the amygdala located and what is its main role

in the tip of the medial temporal lobes

main role is the fear centre - important for learning and storing emotional value attached to stimuli

explain what happens when the amygdala is lesioned before conditioning fear

animals will not learn the conditioned fear response

what happens when the amygdala is lesioned after conditioning a fear response

animals will forget the conditioned response - showing it loses its emotional value

explain what double dissociations between the amygdala and hippocampus are and what they show

patient with damage to amygdala have no conditioned fear responses and can verbally recall association

patients with damage to hippocampus have a conditioned fear response but can’t recall the association

shows:

amygdala stores conditioned fear associations

hippocampus involved in declarative memory

what activity is present when we are presented with happy and fearful facial expressions

fearful = left amygdala active

happy = general activity in other areas

does the amygdala need consciousness to respond

no

snakes and spiders presented subliminally to participants still caused emotional responses in participants

explain what intracranial encephalogram evidence shows for the role of the amygdala and conscious awareness

responses between happy and fearful face responses in low visibility conditions suggest a subcortical pathway designated for rapid fear detection in the amygdala

what role does the amygdala have with wider emotional processing

responds to happy and angry faces too

also involved in learning positive associations too

what is kluver-bucy syndrome

caused by bilateral lesions to amygdala

symptoms: tameness, emotional bluntness

objects lose their learned emotional values

what function is the insula related to

creation of bodily feelings associated with emotions

like disgust

explain the interoception and the insula

interoception = monitoring the internal state of the body/the perception of internal bodily states

insula connects bodily states with emotional experience

what main areas are involved in the reward circuit

anterior cingulate cortex, orbital prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum

how does the reward circuit work

dopamine neurons signal reward expectation

ventral striatum detects the reward signal and motivates behaviour

orbital prefrontal cortex evaluates the reward value and compares options

anterior cingulate cortex monitors the outcomes and adjusts the behaviour

explain the role of the ventral striatum in more detail

part of the basal ganglia

receives strong dopamine inputs

involved in habit formation, monitary and social rewards

activity is greater when the reward is better than anticipated

role of the ventral striatum in autistic social and monetary reward

there is heightened activity in the ventral striatum in people with autism when anticipating social and monetary rewards

explain social reward in people with ADHD

decreased activation in ventral striatum to cues predicting reward

increased activation to the actual reward delivery

whats the role of the orbital prefrontal cortex in the reward circuit

evaluates the value of the reward in comparison to others

what is the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in the reward circuit and pain

monitors the outcomes of the reward and modifies behaviour in response

determines the cost and benefits to our actions

regulates feelings of pain (physical and social)