Chapter 10 BB

7 universal facial expressions

Fear, happiness, anger, contempt, surprise, disgust, and sadness

facial microexpressions

barely perceptible brief facial expression fragments, associated with deception and lying

papez's circuit

Sensory info from the environment was processed through the thalamus and subsequently directed towards the sensory areas of the cortex as well as the cingulate cortex

cingulate cortex

plays a pivotal role in papez circuit, directs info upward and downward to ultimately result in relevant emotional thoughts and feelings

attention blink

Human participants are asked to focus on two target stimuli that are distinguished by specific color and appear against a background stream of stimuli presented at a rapid pace
Participants typically see the first target but miss the second target

insular cortex

strongly activated during exposure to stimuli perceived as “disgusting”
Different parts react to different types of disgusting scenes
Also, the primary taste cortex
Also reacts to frightening stimuli and angry faces, so not completely dedicated to disgust

agression

A behavior that appears to have the intention to harm another individual

reactive impulse agression

high arousal, lack of control
limbic structures involved

controlled-instrumental agression

purposeful form of aggression
controlled by higher cortical systems

bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), medial amygdala, anterior hypothalamus

Lesions to the following regions in rodents leads to a reduction of aggressive displays between males

ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) and periaquaductal gray area (PAG)

aggression related info travels here

orbitofrontal cortex

lesions leads to increased aggression, suggesting that this area inhibits aggressive displays

testosterone

positively correlated with agression

seratonin

high levels are associated with reduced aggressive behavior, low levels are associated with increased aggressive behavior

cortisol

"triple imbalance hypothesis" violence depends on other chemicals besides testosterone and serotonin, notably this chemical
aggression levels are highest when this is low and testosterone is high

conditioned fear

To facilitate the fastest possible response to a threatening stimulus such the as a snake, the thalamus takes on a security/ protection function and directs associated neural images right to the amygdala, bypassing the slower route including the visual cortex
Lateral amygdala receives the visual information and transfers it to the central amygdala
The central amygdala stimulates relevant brain areas that initiate freezing response, blood pressure modifications, stress hormone release, and the startle reflex

courage

increased activation of the AAC accompanied by diminished activity in the amygdala and insula

SM

had no amygdala and showed no signs of fear

williams syndrome

genetic condition that causes specific facial features and diminished amygdala activity in response to social situations or images of fearful faces and natural disasters

DHEA

provides a buffer against the effect of stress hormones in the brain
released from the adrenal cortex
related to reduced anxiety and enhance emotional resilience

Coping styles

external vs internal locus of control
freeze, run, or attack
proactive vs reactive

cognitive reappraisal

changing ones understanding of an event in a way that also changes ones emotional response to the event

increased activation of the orbitofrontal cortex, prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortical areas

somatic market hyptohesis

Physiological emotional responses serve an important role in guiding the brains decision to carry out a particular behavior, especially risky decisions

Individuals with frontal lobe damage experience diminished emotional responses to situations