Study questions Medical Psychology

Neuroanatomical bases of sensation

Sensation is the process of receiving stimuli via receptors and converting them into neural impulses. Internal sensations involve balance and organ sensations, while external sensations include touch, sight, and hearing. Sensory impulses are processed in the thalamus, occipital lobe (vision), temporal lobe (hearing), and parietal lobe (somatosensory areas). Primary cortical areas are responsible for sensing, while associative areas enable perception. Damage to primary areas leads to a lack of sensation, whereas damage to associative areas results in inability to recognize stimuli

Positive aspects of Bowlby’s attachment theory (with hospitalism/hospitalization)

Attachment is an evolutionary mechanism ensuring survival. Bowlby described phases of attachment:

1. Non-discriminatory social reactions (0–2 months)

2. Discriminatory reactions (2–7 months)

3. Specific attachment (8–24 months)

4. Goal-corrected partnership (after 24 months)

He also described separation phases: protest, despair, and detachment. Hospitalism, a syndrome from institutional deprivation, manifests as apathy, motor restlessness, developmental delays, and increased infections. Separation consequences include eating and sleep disorders, aggression, neurotic symptoms (nightmares, anxiety), and psychosomatic conditions (asthma, skin problems). Positive aspects of attachment theory highlight the crucial role of comfort, caregiver responsiveness, and emotional security in healthy psychological development

Theory of engrams

Engrams are physical traces of memory in the brain. Theories of memory include:

1. Engram Theory (Semon): Memory is stored as chemical traces.

2. Cell Change Theory: Memory depends on RNA changes in brain cells.

3. Association Theory: Memories form based on proximity, similarity, and contrast.

4. Structural Change (Hebb): Synaptic plasticity strengthens memory.

5. Genetic Theory: Memory potential may be genetically limited

Catatonic disorders

Catatonic syndrome (primarily in catatonic schizophrenia) includes:

1. Catatonic stupor – complete psychomotor immobility, patient frozen and unresponsive.

2. Catalepsy – maintaining abnormal postures for extended periods (e.g., pillow phenomenon).

3. Waxy flexibility – limbs remain in positions placed by others.

4. Catatonic restlessness – sudden outbursts of motor activity.

5. Negativism – passive (ignoring instructions) or active (opposing others).

6. Stereotypy – repetitive, purposeless movements or speech.

7. Bizarre mannerisms – unusual postures, gestures, facial expressions

Does only one emotional system exist?

No, there is not only one emotional system. Emotions are regulated by multiple brain systems, especially the limbic system (amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus). Different circuits govern different emotions, such as fear, reward, and attachment. Thus, emotions are multi-system processes, not based on a single unified system

Is there a simple model of emotions?

Yes, Cannon’s theory and other models provide simplified views. Cannon emphasized cortical and subcortical transmission of emotions. He highlighted the thalamus as central in emotional experiences, transmitting signals both to the cortex (subjective feeling) and to bodily responses (physiological arousal). Although simplified, this model shows the dual transmission of emotional signals

How does the circadian rhythm influence sleep, waking, and learning?

The circadian rhythm is controlled by the hypothalamus and brainstem systems. The Descending Reticular Deactivating System (DRDS) induces sleep, while the Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS) regulates wakefulness. Sleep stages (REM and NREM) are crucial: REM sleep consolidates memory and learning, while NREM (stage 2) restores the ability to learn. Disturbances in circadian rhythm impair memory consolidation, learning efficiency, and overall cognitive functioning

Theory of the triune brain (Paul MacLean)

Paul MacLean’s triune brain theory divides the brain into three evolutionary parts:

1. Reptilian brain – responsible for instinctual survival functions.

2. Limbic system – governs emotions, motivation, attachment.

3. Neocortex – controls higher cognitive functions, reasoning, and planning.
   This theory emphasizes the layered evolutionary development of the human brain

Brain self-stimulation (James Olds & Peter Milner)

Olds and Milner discovered that animals, when given the opportunity to electrically stimulate certain brain areas (especially the septal area and hypothalamus), would repeatedly do so, even preferring it to food. This experiment demonstrated that the brain contains reward systems linked to motivation and pleasure

Attention (including attention disorders)

Attention is the cognitive process of focusing on certain stimuli while ignoring others. It involves selectivity, concentration, and mental effort. Disorders include:

• Distractibility – inability to maintain focus.

• Attention deficits – common in ADHD, brain damage.

• Hyperprosexia – exaggerated attention, often linked to mania.

• Hypoprosexia – reduced attention span, seen in depression, dementia.

• Aprosexia – total inability to concentrate, as in severe psychosis

Pathological affect

Pathological affect refers to emotional responses that are disproportionate, inappropriate, or uncontrolled relative to the situation. It is often sudden, intense, and not in line with the individual’s personality or circumstances, and is observed in various psychiatric disorders

Executive functions

Executive functions are higher-order cognitive processes that regulate goal-directed behavior. They include:

1. Planning – setting goals, anticipating outcomes.

2. Decision-making – evaluating options and choosing actions.

3. Self-control – inhibiting impulses and regulating behavior.
   Disorders of executive functions are seen in frontal lobe damage, ADHD, schizophrenia, and dementia

Cannon’s theory – cortical and subcortical transmission (emotions)

Cannon proposed that the thalamus plays a central role in emotions. Emotional stimuli are transmitted both to the cortex (leading to conscious feelings) and to subcortical structures (producing physiological reactions). This “dual transmission” explains how emotions involve both bodily responses and subjective experience

Selye’s theory (including burnout)

Hans Selye developed the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), describing the body’s response to stress in three phases:

1. Alarm – initial mobilization of defenses.

2. Resistance – adaptation and sustained coping.

3. Exhaustion – depletion of resources, leading to illness.

Chronic stress leads to burnout, characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. This model connects prolonged stress exposure with both psychological and physical disorder

Selye’s theory (3× including burnout)

Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) describes three phases of stress response:

1. Alarm – mobilization and initial reaction.

2. Resistance – adaptation and sustained coping with continued arousal.

3. Exhaustion – depletion of resources, leading to illness.

Chronic stress causes burnout, marked by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. This shows how prolonged stress exposure contributes to both physical and psychological disorders

Emotional intelligence (2×, including models)

Definition: The ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions.

Models of Emotional Intelligence:

• Mayer & Salovey (Ability Model, 1997): EI as the ability to perceive, assimilate, understand, and regulate emotions for personal growth.

• Goleman’s Mixed Model (1995): EI includes self-control, persistence, motivation, empathy, and social skills.

• Bar-On Model (1997): Focuses on non-cognitive competencies that enable successful adaptation to environmental demands.

Mayer & Salovey’s 4-Branch Model:

1. Perception and expression of emotions.

2. Using emotions to facilitate thought.

3. Understanding emotions.

4. Regulating emotion

Perception and phantom pain (3×, including hypotheses)

Phantom limb pain: Pain perceived in an amputated limb, common after amputations.

Hypotheses:

1. Peripheral: Irritation of nerve endings at amputation site (doesn’t fully explain persistence).

2. Central: Reorganization of the somatosensory cortex and absence of inhibitory feedback keep the limb representation active.

3. Psychological: Role of suggestion, emotional arousal, denial, or hallucination-like experiences.

Pain perception is strongly influenced by emotional state, attention, and past experiences

Theories of memory and hospitalization in adults

• Engram Theory (Semon): Memories as chemical traces.

• Cell Change Theory: RNA changes in brain cells.

• Association Theory: Memories formed through similarity, contrast, and proximity.

• Structural Change Theory (Hebb): Synaptic plasticity strengthens connections.

• Genetic Theory: Memory potential may be biologically limited

Hospitalization in adults is associated with stress, disorientation, and psychological consequences similar to hospitalism in children, including depression, anxiety, and impaired coping.

Thinking (3× including characteristics and disorders)

Characteristics of Thinking:

• Operates with symbols and signs.

• Goal-directed and problem-solving.

• Combines new perceptions with old experiences.

Operations: comparison, analysis, synthesis, abstraction, concretization, induction, deduction.

Individual Characteristics: breadth, depth, critical thinking, flexibility, consistency, speed.

Disorders:

• Formal disorders: accelerated or slowed thinking, thought blocking, perseveration, incoherence, neologisms, magical thinking.

• Content disorders: delusions, overvalued ideas, obsessive thoughts

Stress inoculation

A psychological method preparing individuals to cope with stress by gradually exposing them to manageable levels of stressors. Through repeated practice, cognitive restructuring, and coping skill training, individuals develop resilience and improved stress tolerance

Psychodiagnostics (3×)

1. Clinical Interview & Observation – direct communication, behavioral analysis.

2. Psychometric Testing – intelligence, personality, and neuropsychological tests.

3. Projective Techniques – uncover unconscious processes (e.g., Rorschach test, TAT).

Psychodiagnostics integrates biological, psychological, and social perspectives to classify and understand mental health

Ecological theory

Focuses on the interaction between the individual and their environment. Human development and behavior are influenced by multiple layers of ecological systems: microsystem (family), mesosystem (school, peers), exosystem (community), macrosystem (culture, values). It emphasizes context and environment in shaping mental health.

Behavioral theories (2×)

• Classical Conditioning (Pavlov): Behavior learned through association.

• Operant Conditioning (Skinner): Behavior shaped by reinforcement (positive/negative) and punishment.

• Both emphasize observable behavior rather than internal processes

James–Lange theory

Emotion arises from physiological responses. Stimulus → bodily changes → emotion. For example, “we are afraid because we tremble.”

Cannon–Bard theory

Emotions and physiological responses occur simultaneously and independently. The thalamus sends signals to the cortex (feeling) and to the body (physiological response) at the same time.

Memory disorders

Include:

• Amnesia: loss of memory (anterograde, retrograde).

• Paramnesia: distorted memory, confabulation.

• Hypermnesia: excessive memory, often in mania.

• Hypomnesia: reduced memory, often in dementia, depression.

Hospitalism in children (part of Bowlby’s 7×)

Syndrome caused by institutional deprivation. Symptoms: apathy, developmental delays, infections, motor restlessness

Hospitalism in children & attachment–detachment (Bowlby 7×)

Children separated from caregivers show protest, despair, detachment phases. Leads to long-term emotional and behavioral problems

Hospitalization of patients (Bowlby 7×)

Adult hospitalization produces stress, anxiety, and psychological symptoms similar to separation syndromes in children.

Models of mental health

• Descriptive models: focus on external indicators.

• Explanatory models: focus on internal psychological processes.

• Kisker classification: integrates biopsychosocial perspectives

Piaget’s theory (2×)

Jean Piaget described four stages of cognitive development:

1. Sensorimotor (0–2 years): knowledge through senses and actions.

2. Preoperational (2–7 years): symbolic thinking, egocentrism.

3. Concrete Operational (7–11 years): logical reasoning about concrete events.

4. Formal Operational (12+ years): abstract reasoning and hypothetical thinking.

Piaget emphasized that thinking evolves through adaptation, assimilation, and accommodation.

Attention disorders (part of the 3× Attention)

Types of attention disorders include:

• Tenacity disorders:

  • Hypotenacity – inability to maintain attention (depression, anxiety, schizophrenia).

  • Hypertenacity – excessively focused attention (delusional fixation).

• Vigilance disorders:

  • Hypovigilance – difficulty detecting new stimuli (intoxications, tumors).

  • Hypervigilance – over-attentiveness and distractibility (mania, ADHD).

• Distractibility:

  • Caused by fatigue, stress, or overload.

  • Common in organic brain disorders and psychiatric conditions.

Assessment methods include letter cancellation tasks, serial subtraction, reverse repetition, and day/month reversal tasks. Attention deficits are seen in CNS damage, schizophrenia, melancholia, paranoia, and various neuropsychiatric disorders

Cognitive theories of stress (part of the 3× Cognitive theories)

• Lazarus’s Transactional Model: Stress results from a transaction between person and environment, emphasizing cognitive appraisal.

  • Primary appraisal: assessing whether a situation is a threat, challenge, or neutral.

  • Secondary appraisal: evaluating available coping resources.

• Life Events Theory (Holmes & Rahe): Stress correlates with significant life changes, measured with the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS).

• Psychoanalytic Theory (Alexander): Repressed emotions can manifest as physical symptoms, contributing to psychosomatic illness

Neuropsychology (2×)

Neuropsychology studies the relationship between brain structures and psychological functions. It investigates:

• Brain–behavior links using neuroimaging (MRI, EEG), neuropsychological tests, and lesion studies.

• Disorders studied: dementia, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, stroke, tumors.

• Functions assessed: memory, attention, executive functions, perception, and language.

It integrates neurology, psychology, and psychiatry to diagnose and rehabilitate patients with brain dysfunctions

Theories of emotions

• James–Lange theory: Emotions arise from bodily reactions (stimulus → physiological response → emotion).

• Cannon–Bard theory: Emotions and physiological responses occur simultaneously via thalamic signaling.

• Cognitive theories (Schachter & Singer): Emotions result from physiological arousal and cognitive labeling.

• Modern neurobiological theories: Limbic system, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex play key roles in generating and regulating emotions

How stress affects the cardiovascular system and which diseases it causes

Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system and HPA axis, releasing catecholamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline) and cortisol.

• Short-term effects: increased heart rate, blood pressure, redistribution of blood flow, rapid energy release.

• Long-term effects: sustained hypertension, metabolic dysfunction, psychological disorders.

Diseases linked to stress:

• Hypertension

• Arrhythmias

• Atherosclerosis

• Coronary heart disease (CHD)

Personality type A and type B

• Type A: Competitive, impatient, aggressive, high stress reactivity; strongly associated with cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and coronary heart disease.

• Type B: Relaxed, patient, less competitive, better stress resilience; lower risk of cardiovascular illness.

Cognitive theories of emotions (part of the 3× Cognitive theories)

• Schachter & Singer (Two-Factor Theory): Emotion arises from physiological arousal plus a cognitive label. For example, the same arousal can be interpreted as fear or excitement depending on context.

• Lazarus’s Cognitive-Mediational Theory: Cognitive appraisal comes first; emotions depend on how one interprets the stimulus.

• Ellis & Beck (Cognitive-Behavioral Theories): Distorted thoughts and appraisals contribute to emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression

What is consciousness, how do we define it

Consciousness is the most complex psychological function, not isolated but forming the basis of all mental functions, and dependent on CNS maturation.

• Jaspers: Self-awareness, separation of subject/object, awareness of one’s awareness.

• Reykowski: Integrative mental processes that maintain physical, social, and semantic orientation.

• Henri Ey: Consciousness integrates current perception and experience in space and time.

Features of normal consciousness:

1. Autopsychic orientation – self-awareness.

2. Allopsychic and spatial-temporal orientation – awareness of surroundings and time.

3. Persistence and flow – continuity of experience.

4. Integration – synthesis of thoughts, feelings, and perceptions

Which parts of the cerebral cortex are responsible for consciousness

Key cortical and subcortical structures include the reticular formation (ARAS), thalamus, pons, hippocampus, visual cortex, and amygdala. These areas collectively regulate arousal, awareness, and the integration of sensory information into conscious experience

Which parts of the brain are responsible for wakefulness and sleep

• Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS): Maintains wakefulness.

• Descending Reticular Deactivating System (DRDS): Located in the lower brainstem and hypothalamus, responsible for inducing sleep

Disorders of consciousness

Broader disturbances:

• Derealization (unreal feelings about the environment: déjà vu, jamais vu).

• Depersonalization (detachment from self).

• Transformation (belief in being another person/animal).

• Transitivism (shifting experiences to another person).

• Split personality (dissociative identity disorder).

• Autism (withdrawal from reality).

Narrower disturbances:

• Quantitative: Somnolence (drowsiness), sopor (deep sleep-like state), coma (no response), brief interruptions (epileptic/vascular).

• Qualitative:

  • Clouded consciousness (confusion, delirium, oneiric syndrome, amentia, automatism).

  • Altered/narrowed states (twilight state, hypnosis, fugue, somnambulism)

Thought disorders (general and detailed)

General definition: Disorders of thought refer to disruptions in the form, flow, or content of thinking.

Detailed classification:

• Formal thought disorders:

  • Pathological expansiveness, accelerated thinking (logorrhea), slowed thinking.

  • Thought blocking, alogia, perseveration, verbigeration, side-talking.

  • Dissociation (illogical links), incoherence (disorganized thoughts).

  • Neologisms (invented words), magical thinking (irrational cause-effect).

• Content thought disorders:

  • Delusions: false, fixed beliefs resistant to logic.

  • Overvalued ideas: strong emotionally linked beliefs, less rigid than delusions.

  • Obsessive thoughts: repetitive, anxiety-provoking (seen in OCD)

What is dissociation and incoherence

• Dissociation: Illogical linking of thoughts, breaking the normal flow of associations.

• Incoherence: Chaotic, disorganized thinking where speech and ideas lose logical structure

What is the difference between paranoid and paranoiac ideas

• Paranoid ideas: Delusional beliefs often structured, such as persecutory or jealous delusions.

• Paranoiac ideas: Overvalued or suspicious ideas that may not reach the level of fixed delusions but still dominate the person’s thinking

Lazarus’ theory

Lazarus’s Transactional Model defines stress as a result of a transaction between a person and their environment.

• Primary appraisal: The person evaluates whether the situation is a threat, challenge, or neutral.

• Secondary appraisal: The person evaluates coping resources.
  It emphasizes cognitive appraisal as central to whether a situation is perceived as stressful

Death from a developmental perspective

Death is not only a biological event but also a developmental and psychological process. From a developmental perspective, it is seen as:

• A stage in the life cycle, involving personal meaning-making.

• An event with psychological impact on the dying person and their environment.

• A process where grief, loss, and existential challenges affect both patients and families, requiring dignity and psychological support

Consequences of burnout and which hormones are secreted

Burnout consequences: Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduced personal accomplishment. It leads to psychological disorders (depression, anxiety), somatic illnesses, and reduced coping ability.

Hormones involved in stress and burnout:

• Catecholamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline): Increase heart rate, blood pressure, redistribute blood flow.

• Corticosteroids (cortisol, aldosterone): Affect glucose metabolism, immune suppression, inflammation control, and fluid balance

Drives

Drives are internal forces maintaining homeostasis and motivating behavior.

• Biological drives: hunger, thirst, rest, pain avoidance, sex, maternal instincts.

• Social drives: affiliation, achievement, aggression, property acquisition.

• Personal drives: self-affirmation, self-actualization.
  Drive theory (Woodworth, 1918) explains behavior through physiological needs but has limits in explaining long-term, abstract motivation

Will (cognitive, affective, or conative?)

Will belongs to the conative domain. It refers to volitional processes that initiate, direct, and sustain goal-oriented actions. It integrates motivation, decision-making, and persistence

Kübler-Ross stages of dying

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross described five stages of dying/grief:

1. Denial – “This isn’t happening.”

2. Anger – resentment, “Why me?”

3. Bargaining – attempts to negotiate for more time or change.

4. Depression – sadness, withdrawal, mourning losses.

5. Acceptance – readiness and peace with dying

Models of mental health

• Descriptive models: focus on external observable indicators.

• Explanatory models: analyze underlying psychological processes.

• Biopsychosocial (Kisker classification): integrates biological, psychological, and social perspectives for a holistic understanding of mental health

Neuroanatomy in the expression of emotions

• Facial expressions are mediated by facial muscles:

  • Superficial muscles (linked to skin) for expression.

  • Deep muscles (linked to bones) for chewing and speech.

• Control of emotion-driven facial activity:

  • Motor cortex & brainstem → voluntary expressions.

  • Ventral forebrain & hypothalamus → emotional expressions.

• Brain regions involved in emotion:

  • Amygdala: crucial for fear learning and expression.

  • Cingulate gyrus/insula: sadness.

  • Dorsomedial thalamus: joy.

  • Orbitofrontal cortex: anger.

  • Anterior cingulate/dorsal thalamus: panic.

  • Insula/putamen: disgust.

• Hemispheric specialization: right hemisphere = negative emotions; left hemisphere = positive emotions

Physiological theories of emotions

• James–Lange Theory: Emotion = perception of bodily changes.
  (Stimulus → physiological response → emotional feeling).

• Cannon–Bard Theory: Emotions and physiological reactions occur simultaneously via thalamic activation.

• Schachter–Singer Two-Factor Theory: Emotion = physiological arousal + cognitive label.

• Lazarus Cognitive-Appraisal Theory: Emotions depend on interpretation of events (primary/secondary appraisal).

• Papez–MacLean Circuit: Limbic system circuit (hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus) processes emotions

Memory theories and neuroanatomy

• Engram Theory (Semon): Memory stored as chemical traces.

• Cell Change Theory: Based on RNA changes in neurons.

• Association Theory: Formed through similarity, contrast, proximity.

• Structural Change (Hebb): Synaptic plasticity strengthens memory.

• Genetic Theory: Memory potential biologically limited.

• Neuroanatomy:

  • Hippocampus → consolidation of new memories.

  • Thalamus → sensory relay and memory regulation.

  • Prefrontal cortex → working memory, decision-making

Memory systems and processes

• Encoding: registering new information.

• Storage: retaining information (short-term vs. long-term).

• Retrieval: recalling stored information.

• Types of memory:

  • Short-term/working memory: seconds to minutes.

  • Long-term memory: declarative (episodic, semantic) and non-declarative (procedural, conditioning).

• Neuroanatomical systems:

  • Hippocampus for declarative memory.

  • Basal ganglia & cerebellum for procedural memory.

  • Amygdala for emotional memory

Explain catatonic group of disorders

Catatonic syndrome (seen in catatonic schizophrenia):

1. Catatonic stupor – complete immobility, unresponsiveness.

2. Catalepsy – maintaining abnormal postures (e.g., “pillow phenomenon”).

3. Waxy flexibility – limbs stay where placed, as if moldable.

4. Catatonic restlessness – sudden bursts of activity after stupor.

5. Negativism – passive (ignoring) or active (resisting).

6. Stereotypy – repetitive, purposeless actions or words.

7. Bizarre mannerisms – strange postures, gestures, facial expressions.

8. Ambitendency – hesitation between conflicting actions.

9. Echolalia/Echopraxia – repeating others’ words or movements.

10. Mutism – total absence of verbal response

Development

• Development is a lifelong process influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors.

• It includes physical growth, cognitive changes, emotional maturation, and social adaptation.

• Each stage of life brings specific developmental tasks and challenges:

  • Infancy: attachment formation, sensorimotor skills.

  • Childhood: language, socialization, basic learning.

  • Adolescence: identity formation, autonomy, emotional regulation.

  • Adulthood: career, relationships, self-actualization.

  • Old age: coping with loss, maintaining dignity, preparing for end of life.

• Development is shaped by learning, memory, and emotions, which interact dynamically:

  • Learning enables skill acquisition and adaptation.

  • Memory consolidates experiences to guide future behavior.

  • Emotions regulate motivation and influence both learning and memory.

Memory

• Definition: The process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information.

• Processes:

  1. Encoding – registering new information.

  2. Storage – retaining information over time.

  3. Retrieval – recalling stored information.

• Types of Memory:

  • Short-term/Working memory: Holds information briefly (seconds to minutes).

  • Long-term memory:

    • Declarative (explicit): Episodic (events), Semantic (facts).

    • Non-declarative (implicit): Procedural (skills), conditioning, priming.

• Neuroanatomy of Memory:

  • Hippocampus: consolidation of new declarative memories.

  • Prefrontal cortex: working memory, decision-making.

  • Amygdala: emotional memory.

  • Cerebellum & basal ganglia: procedural memory.

Components of Emotions

• Physiological: bodily changes (heart rate, breathing, pupil dilation, hormone release like adrenaline).

• Subjective: inner feelings (fear, pride, sadness, joy).

• Behavioral: facial expressions, posture, tone of voice, gestures.

Functions of Emotions

• Adaptive role: evolved to improve survival (fear → escape, anger → defense, joy → bonding).

• Motivational role: direct behavior toward goals.

• Communicative role: express internal states to others through nonverbal signals.

Neuroanatomy of Emotions

• Limbic system: amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus (central in emotional regulation).

• Amygdala: crucial for fear learning and expression; damage reduces fear response.

• Other brain areas:

  • Cingulate gyrus, insula → sadness.

  • Dorsomedial thalamus → joy.

  • Orbitofrontal cortex → anger.

  • Insula/putamen → disgust.

  • Anterior cingulate/dorsal thalamus → panic.

• Hemispheric differences: right hemisphere processes negative emotions, left hemisphere positive emotions.

Theories of Emotions (Physiological & Cognitive)

• James–Lange Theory: Emotion = awareness of bodily changes (we feel afraid because we tremble).

• Cannon–Bard Theory: Emotions and physiological responses occur simultaneously via thalamus.

• Schachter–Singer (Two-Factor Theory): Emotion = arousal + cognitive label.

• Lazarus Cognitive-Appraisal Theory: Emotions depend on how an event is appraised (threat vs challenge).

• Papez–MacLean Circuit: Emotional processing involves a limbic circuit (hippocampus, hypothalamus, amygdala).

Disorders of Emotions

• Quantitative:

  • Depressed mood, euphoria/mania, anxiety, panic, apathy, anhedonia, irritability, emotional lability, dysphoria.

• Qualitative:

  • Parathymia (inappropriate emotions, e.g. laughing at tragedy).

  • Paramimia (emotion ≠ facial expression).

  • Affective dullness (reduced depth of emotion).

  • Pathological affect (disproportionate, explosive, followed by amnesia).