Brain and Behavior CH. 11

emotion components

• [cognition]: an expression

• [readiness for action]: fight-or-flight esque

• [feeling]: private and subjective

• [physiological changes]: examine emotion in nonhuman animals and in humans

THESE ELEMENTS DO NOT ALWAYS STICK TOGETHER

emotional situations arouse the __________

rouses the autonomic nervous system

most situations evoke a combination of ___________ and _______ arousal

sympathetic and parasympathetic arousal

James-Lange theory

autonomic arousal and skeletal actions occur before an emotion

• an emotion is the label we give to our physiological responses

Cannon-Bard theory

emotional experience and physical arousal occur simultaneously, but are independent of each other

Schachter-Singer theory

physiological changes tell how intense an emotion is, but cognitive appraisal is necessary to identify which emotion it is

Locked-In syndrome

caused by damage to the ventral part of the brainstem and leaves a person unable to make any voluntary movement other than moving the eyes up and down

• report the same emotion as before

Is physiological arousal necessary for emotion?: pure autonomic failure

1. people report feeling same emotions but less intensely

2. people with damage to the right somatosensory cortex have typical autonomic responses to emotional music, but report little subjective experience

autonomic responses and __________ are not always closely connected

subjective experience

Facial-feedback hypothesis

people with botox injections report weaker than usual emotional responses

• implies body change is important part of feeling an emotion

F-FH example panic attacks

extreme sympathetic nervous system arousal

• only perceived as occurring spontaneously

Mobius syndrome

body’s actions are not required

absence seizure

no emotional expressions

from a biological standpoint, evidence favors _______

favors dimensions

heart rate and breathing rate increases with the intensity of an emotion

1. no distinguish fear from anger, or any other pair of emotions

2. could not identify emotion by measuring ANS activity

the limbic system includes the ______ areas surrounding the thalamus

includes forebrain areas

1. critical for emotion

much of the _____ also reacts to emotion situations

cerebral cortex

1. PET and fMRI studies suggest particular cortical areas are activated during an emotional experience

2. ONLY disgust depends mostly on one area

researchers found strong responses in the ______ hemisphere junction between the temporal and parietal cortices while people watched emotional movie

right hemisphere junction

1. gradients of emotional response

2. pleasure vs. displeasure, intensity, and complexity

inactivation of this area impairs the ability to recognize angry expression

medial frontal cortex inactivation

where is the disgust emotion activated?

in the insular cortex

what area reacts to frightening stimuli and angry faces?

primary taste cortex area

true or false: brain responses are well described as dimensions of emotion rather than as discrete categories

true

(BAS) Behavioral Activation System

left hemisphere

(BIS) Behavioral Inhibition System

right hemisphere

• more active in perceiving emotion

  • especially negative emotions like fear!

people with greater activity in which hemisphere (left/right) tend to be happier and extroverted?

the left hemisphere makes you happier

people with greater activity in which hemisphere tend to be more socially withdrawn and cautious and prone to negative emotions?

the right hemisphere starts tweaking out lowkey

what area of the brain activates when making moral decisions

the prefrontal cortex, cingulate gyrus, and amygdala

people with strongest autonomic arousal are ____ likely to make the decision to kill one person to save five others

least likely to kill

moral decisions are ______ made rationally

seldom made rationally

what part of the prefrontal cortex becomes active when a person compares the utilitarian aspect and emotional aspects of a decision?

the ventromedial part of the prefrontal cortex

what happens when a person has damage to the prefrontal cortex?

they make decisions without much emotional consideration

• more likely to choose the more utilitarian choice

when were lobotomies invented? and by who?

jan. 17 1946 by Walter Freeman

where does impulsive decision making stem from

stems from the failure to anticipate unpleasantness of an outcome

those with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex show:

• inconsistent preferences

• decreased guilt and trust

affective attack

signs of emotional arousal during an attack

• behaviors can be primed by stimulating the corticomedial area of the amygdala in hamsters

MAOA gene low activity shows a link to? (twin studies)

link to aggression

amygdala

collection of nuclei in the temporal lobe

• emotion and memory

• common focus of abnormal electrical activity manifesting as complex/partial epilepsy

Triple-Imbalance hypothesis

violence depends on other chemicals besides:

• increased testosterone

• low cortisol

• low serotonin

Dual Hormone hypothesis

aggression levels are the highest when cortisol levels are low and testosterone levels are high

serotonin tends to ________ violent impulses

inhibit violent impulses

what does an increase in testosterone in women do?

• increased importance of social status

• decreased ability to recognize angry faces

testosterone may ______ the response of the amygdala to angry expressions

increase response of the amygdala

testosterone may also ________ the ability of the cerebral cortex to identify and regulate emotion

decrease ability of cerebral cortex

increased activity in the _________________ improves the likelihood of an attack

increased activity in the ventromedial hypothalamus

rabies

viral infection targeting the temporal lobes including the amygdala

Kluver-Bucy syndrome

tameness and placidity of monkeys following damage or removal of the amygdala

• impaired emotional response and difficulty interpreting visual information

temporal lobe epilepsy can provoke violent outbursts in humans, what can anti-epileptic drugs do for them?

it can control episodic violent behaviors

serotonin turnover

the amount of serotonin that neurons released, absorbed, and replaced

• measured by concentration of 5-HLAA in the cerebrospinal fluid

mice and serotonin

decrease of social isolation => greatest serotonin turnover => greatest amount of fighting after isolation

• decreased 5-HT_1B receptors

serotonin activity is ______ in juvenile rodents than in adults and fighting is more ______ in the juveniles

lower / frequent

in a study of 2-year old male monkeys, the ______ serotonin turnover had the highest amount of aggressive behaviors

lowest serotonin turnover

• these monkeys died before the age of 6 while monkeys with high serotonin turnover were alive at 6

relationship between serotonin and aggression is ______

small!

• cannot be used to make predictions about an individual

neurons synthesize serotonin from _______

tryptophan

a diet low in tryptophan impairs the brains ability to synthesize _______

synthesize serotonin

what enzyme converts tryptophan into serotonin?

tryptophan hydroxylase

moro reflex

a sudden loud noise causes newborns to arch their backs, briefly extend their arms and legs, and cry

startle reflex

extremely fast response to unexpected loud noises

auditory info stimulates an area of the ____ that commands tensing of neck and other muscles

area of the pons

• info reaches the pons within 3-8 milliseconds

• startle response occurs within 1/5 of a second (200ms)

startle reflex can be used as a behavioral measure of

measure of anxiety

output from the _____ is important for modifying the startle reflex and for learned fears in general

output from the amygdala (startle reflex)

rat with damage to amygdala shows ______ startle reflex

normal startle reflex

• signals BEFORE the noise do not modify reflex

toxoplasma gondii lifecycle

1. cat excrete eggs

2. infect rat, damages amygdala, rat approach cat

3. cat eats rat, gondii reproduces in cat

Cells in the amygdala, especially the _________ and _______, get input from pain fibers, vision, and hearing

basal lateral / central nuclei

• responsible for fear of pain, predators, and aggressive members

amygdala role in fear (controls what)

• controls breathing changes

• helps identify safe places

• inhibits appetite during intense fear

bed nucleus of stria terminalis

set of axons connecting its bed nucleus to the amygdala

1. controls long-term, generalized emotional arousal and adjustments of anxiety

2. efficacy of the stria terminalis (ST) largely influences people’s attention to possible threats

efficacy of the ST largely influences what?

people’s attention to possible threats

axons extending from the _______ to the _______ regulate approach and avoidance responses

amygdala to the prefrontal cortex

Urbach-Wiethe disease

gradual atrophy of the amygdala due to calcium accumulation

• affected experience fear and related emotions very weakly

• also have trouble recognizing fear in others

contrary to what we might guess, the amygdala responds most strongly when a facial expression is _______ to interpret

difficult

human amygdala damage _______ result in loss of emotion

does not

case study of a person with Urbach Wiethe disease

correctly drew faces with many emotions

• had trouble drawing a fearful face

amygdala damage affects the ability to recognize what emotions?

fear and disgust

what is an alternative function of the amygdala?

responsible for detecting emotional info, evaluating its relevance, and directing attention to it

people with genes for reduced serotonin uptake have ______ responses to threat

increased

soldiers with initial increase levels of amygdala response showed _______ combat stress

increased

panic disorder

1. frequent periods of anxiety, hyperventilation attacks

2. more frequent in women

3. possible genetic component

4. linked to hypothalamus abnormalities

5. decreased GABA, increased orexin

a __________ hippocampus may predispose people to PTSD

smaller

study of vietnam war veterans

1. damage to amygdala => no PTSD

2. damage somewhere else in brain => 40% had PTSD

benzodiazepines

common anti anxiety drugs

• Valium, Xanax, bind to the GABAA receptor and facilitate the effects of GABA

• exerts effect in the amygdala, hypothalamus, midbrain, etc

• MDMA demonstrated that it decreases the amygdala response to unpleasant images

what does the experimental drug Ro-15-4513 do?

blocks effect of alcohol on the GABA_A receptors complex

what has similar effects to benzodiazepines

ethyl alcohol has similar effects

• alcohol as an anxiety reducer!

propanolol

drug that interferes with protein synthesis at synapses in the amygdala causing a decrease in fear intensity

behavioral medicine

emphasizes effect of diet, smoking, exercise, etc on health, emotions and other experiences effect illness and pattern of recovery

Hans Selye 1979

defined stress as the non-specific response of the body to any demand made upon it

stress activates which two systems in the body?

• sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight)

• HPA axis (hypothalamus, pituitary gland, adrenal cortex)

alarm stage

increased sympathetic nervous system activity

resistance stage

sympathetic response declines, the adrenal cortex releases cortisol to enable body to maintain prolonged alertness

exhaustion stage

occurs after prolonged stress and is characterized by inactivity, vulnerability, and decreased energy to sustain heightened responses

psychosomatic illness

illness whose onset is influenced by someone’s personality, emotions, or experience

stomach ulcers

can be caused by stressful experiences in both animals and humans

voodoo death

death due to the belief that a curse has destined death

• most likely due to massive parasympathetic response causing the heart to stop altogether

cytokines stimulate the release of _________

prostaglandins

• produce fever, sleepiness, lack of energy

• conserves energy make you go beddy bye

psychoneuroimmunology

deals with the way experiences alter the immune system

• also examines how immune system influences the central nervous system

in response to a stressful experience, the nervous system activates the _______

activates the immune system

• increase production of NK cells, leukocytes, and cytokines

prolonged stress response

1. similar symptoms to depression

2. weakens immune system

3. can harm the hippocampus

   1. toxins or overstimulation can damage or kill neurons in the hippocampus

enteric nervous system reacts to ______

reacts to stress

• from input of brain and hormones released by stress

PTSD victims have a ______ than average hippocampus

smaller than average

PTSD victims have _____ coritsol levels and may be ill-equipped to combat stress, more prone to damage of stress

low