unit 3: higher brain functions

6 pinwheel model

opposite emotions with 3 tiers of intensities

emotional behaviors

facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice

physiological changes

sweating, heart rate, blood flow

3 components of an emotion

subjective cognitive feeling, interpersonally conveyed behaviors, physiological changes

emotion

a subjective mental state that is usually accompanied by distinctive cognition, behaviors, physiological changes

folk psychology theory

subjective feeling causes physiological changes

James-Lange theory

physiological changes evokes emotional response

Cannon-Bard theory

physiological change and subjective feeling occur simultaneously

adrenaline study experience

shows social/cognitive effect on emotional interpretation of physiological changes

the Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals by Darwin significance

certain emotional expressions are universal, shared among humans and primates, evidence for emotional evolutionary origin from common ancestor

cultural/learned emotional contexts

people in isolated places recognize emotions differently

elicitors

actual and anticipated situations, recollections

facial affect program

pan-cultural motor programs

mediation by culture-specific rules

exaggerate, minimize, counteract, camouflage

fear evolutionary origin

response to danger

disgust evolutionary origin

avoid germs

displays of happiness evolutionary origin

promote social bonding

superficial facial expressions

control the small movements of the mouth, eyes, nose

deep facial muscles

attach to bone and control larger movements (chewing)

facial muscles innervated by

facial nerve, trigeminal nerve

sites that support self-stimulation response

subcortical areas, septum, medial forebrain bundle

medial forebrain bundle

large axon tract that extends from the midbrain through the hypothalamus to the nucleus accumbens

nucleus accumbens

important reward site populated by dopaminergic neurons

addiction pathway

ventral tegmental area (VTA) to nucleus accumbens

limbic system

interconnected areas that are associated with emotional processing

components of the limbic system

amygdala, cingulate gyrus, fornix, mammillary body of the hypothalamus, hippocampus

animals with removed cortex significance

display decorticate/sham rage and indicate cortex is necessary to filter the emotion gathered in subcortical limbic structures

decorticate/sham rage

rage without external cause

removal of the amygdala significance

causes absence of fear and anger

Kluver-Bucy syndrome

wild animals become tame and show no aggression/fear toward humans

Kluver-Bucy syndrome cause

removal of temporal lobe (which includes amygdala)

monkeys with removed amygdala significance

show no fear or aggression, eat non food substances, inappropriate sexual behaviors

fear conditioning

uses amygdala for associative learning

privileged fear processing

the amygdala can be active even when we are not consciously aware of a fear-inducing stimulus

fearful expression significance

viewing a fearful expression activates amygdala before the visual cortex

positive emotions

amygdala plays a role in processing positive feelings esp towards sexual stimuli

emotional recall

the amygdala helps with forming associations between emotional responses and specific memories that evoked them

low road emotional processing (privileged)

thalamus projects directly to the amygdala (rather than the cortex)

high road emotional processing

send info through thalamus to the cortex

high road function

info can be processed/integrated with other info, leads to decision making behaviors

fear processing pathway

stimuli sensed > sent to thalamus > projects info to amygdala or sensory cortex

amygdala role in fear processing

mediates emotional behavior and physiological response

sensory cortex/hypothalamus role in fear processing

sends processed info to the amygdala

Capgras delusion

people believe their loved ones have been replaced by imposters

Capgras delusion possible cause

may be the result of damage to the privileged low road that mediates emotional pathway

PTSD cause

result of strong fear conditioning based in the amygdala

loss/injury of the amygdala

damage can cause inability to feel fear

love - increased brain activity

insula, anterior cingulate cortex

love - decreased brain activity

posterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, medulla

anterior insular cortex

mediates nuanced differences between romantic love vs other positive social relationships

alexithymia

problems with emotional awareness associated with the insula

patterns of activation areas function

create different emotions

aggression

behavior that is intended to cause physical or emotional harm

symbolic/verbal violence

name calling, hate speech, gestures, body language

testosterone function

hormone that prepares males for reproduction and makes them more prone to aggressive behavior

testosterone levels in humans

do not increase aggression past baseline levels

vicarious losing significance

testosterone can decrease from fav team losing (behavior)

proactive aggression

offense

reactive aggression

defense

maternal aggression

most common form of aggression in females; attack threats to offspring

serotonin significance

low levels correlate with aggression

GABA system activation

can reduce aggression

benzodiazepines function

enhance GABA transmission pathway (increase inhibitory activity) to reduce aggression

alcohol significance

depressant that acts on GABA system, stimulant that can provoke aggression

medial amygdala

important in relaying info abt potential rivals and mates (info often results in aggression)

ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)

receives info from medial amygdala and exerts hormonal response to affect behavior

activation of VMH effect

causes mice to attack, both males and females

superchiasmatic nucleus (SCN) role

mediates daily fluctuations in aggression through direct input to the VMH

evidence for temporal lobe role in aggression

EEG evidence, epileptic seizures in temporal lobe can cause highly aggressive behavior

psychopathy traits associated with violent behavior

intelligence, charm, poor self control, lack feelings of remorse

psychopath brain differences

reduction in size and activity of the prefrontal cortex including left frontal lobe, bilateral and cingulate cortices

wide lens view of aggression

suggests biological, behavioral, social solutions should all be pursued to help humans overcome violent aggression

stress

state of mental tension and worry

stress response pathway

hypothalamus > adrenal gland > adrenal medulla releases epinephrine and norepinephrine > activate sympathetic nervous system

adrenal medulla

inner core

adrenal cortex

outer layer

epinephrine

adrenaline

norepinephrine

noradrenaline

sympathetic nervous system activation

raise heart rate, speed respiration

hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) role

hypothalamus tells the anterior pituitary gland to release hormone that stimulates the adrenal cortex

cortisol

steroid hormone released by adrenal cortex

glucocorticoid brain receptors in response to cortisol

memories associated with stress and fear, regulation of energy stores, negative feedback on continued cortisol release

increase in crowd significance

causes hormone spike

stress immunization

early experiences can help us cope later in life

rat pups stress significance

better adapted to stress because of quality maternal care afterwards - due to epigenetic changes in brain cortisol receptors

psychosomatic medicine

studies the distinctive psychological, behavioral, social factors that influence individual susceptibility or resistance to diverse illnesses

health psychology/behavioral medicine

emphasizes the role of social factors in the cause, progression, consequences of health and illness

heart disease research significance

heart disease is affected by behavioral/social factors such as hostility, depression, loneliness, stress and home and work

psychoneuroimmunology

studies how the immune system interacts with other organs

wound study significance

wounds healed 40% faster when less stressed

cold virus study significance

good social lives promote health and recovery

stressors

social stress, microbes, toxins, impaired nutrition

body defense system

genetic factors, immune system, endocrine factors, nervous system

immune suppression purpose

conserve energy to save threat but humans capable of experiencing long term unhealthy stress

relaxation training

focusing on consciously relaxing the body

mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR)

focusing the find on the here and now

MBSR effects

measurable reduction in amygdala activity, shown to prevent relapse of anxiety disorders and depression

DSM-5

provides a standardized system for diagnosing and classifying the major psychiatric illnesses according to current knowledge

antibiotics significance

cured syphilis and paralytic dementia essentially disappeared

paralytic dementia significance

proved psychiatric diseases have a physiological cause