reticular formation and emotions

what is the reticular formation? what does it do

it was formerly the reticular activating system. it receives input from the spinal cord, sensory pathways, thalamus, the cerebellum and the cortex while also amplifying or filtering sensory input

would the reticular formation filtering out information be an example of pre or post synaptic inhibition

pre synaptic inhibition

what is the limbic system

a network of brain structures that are mainly responsible for regulating emotion, memory, motivation and behavior

what are the basic functions associated with the hippocampus

learning and memory formation, but NOT the cite of long term memory

what are the basic functions associated with the amygdala

emotion processing; mainly anger, fear, and aggression

what are the basic functions associated with the thalamus

relays sensory signals

what are the basic functions associated with the anterior cingulate gyrus

emotional regulation

• it communicates with the prefrontal cortex

• impulse control

• controls emotional responses to pain

  
  

what is the function of the hypothalamus?

maintains homeostasis, controls the endocrine and autonomic nervous system, and helps regulate emotional responses

where does the hypothalamus get input?

what are the hypothalamus’s major output pathways

what is the theory of “universal emotions

what were the key findings of the “universal emotions” theory

majority of participants identified the emotions. For the U.S.A and Japan, anger and sadness saw lower identification scores, anger was commonly confused for disgust/contempt.

for more isolated cultures, majority (85%) recognized happiness but had difficulty recognizing fear, disgust, and surprise.

researchers concluded that it was because those isolated cultures have less experience with those emotions or may not have words for them

how do facial EMGs, babies’ expressions and physical changes (such as heart rate and blood pressure) confirm or deny this theory

this theory is FALSE because its only true if the person is expressing exaggerated emotions. We can only detect reliably distinguish pleasant from unpleasant

there are two main reasons why we think we can recognize emotions in others. what are they?

• we are very familiar with how someone expresses emotion and or…

• we project our personal understanding of emotions onto others

valence

the pleasantness or unexpectedness of an emotional stimulus (x axis)

arousal

the level of activation (y axis)

what three things must be true before we can determine that a specific brain region is involved with a specific emotion

1) the brain region is activated during the emotion

2) no other brain region is activated during the same emotion

3) the brain region is not activated during any other emotion

are all three of these true? which ones are false?

1) “the brain region is activated during the emotion” is true. ex: the amygdala is activated during aggression

2) no other brain region is activated during the same emotion: not true. proven when patients with severe aggression maintained aggression even when the amygdala was removed

3) the brain region is not activated during any other emotion: not true: the amygdala is not only active during aggression/anger, its also activated during fear and anxiety. proven when participants played pac man and the amygdala became more active when the ghosts got closer to the player