PSYCH 275 Unit 7 (Chapter 11 and 12) - Emotion and Health (Questions)

In what scenario is the sympathetic nervous system activated? What are its effects on heart rate/respiration/sweat glands, digestion, peripheral blood vessels, adrenal glands?

Sympathetic NS activates the body during arousal

Increases heart rate, respiration, sweat production

Shuts down digestion

Constricts peripheral blood vessels

Raises blood pressure and diverts blood to muscles where they are needed

Stimulates the adrenal glands to release hormones

In what scenario is the parasympathetic nervous system activated? What are its effects on heart rate/respiration/sweat glands, digestion, peripheral blood vessels, adrenal glands?

Parasympathetic NS shuts down the body following arousal

Decreases heart rate and respiration, no effect on sweat glands

Resumes digestion

Peripheral blood vessels return to normal

No effect on adrenal glands

Emotional responses typically activate/involve which nervous system? Why?

Sympathetic, involve arousal (fear, excitement, etc.). Parasympathetic typically involved with emotional neutrality (calm, serene, etc.)

Muscle response to emotion is mainly (automatic/manual).

Automatic

How are autonomic and muscular arousal adaptive?

Innate responses may be learned (via societal teaching) to be unacceptable, and we will learn other ways to express

Ex. have an innate desire to yell or scream in response to fear, but if taught to be dangerous the autonomic/muscular response will adapt and we won’t automatically yell

Does muscle activity feed back and have an effect on the emotion we feel?

Yes, but only mildly and cannot completely reverse strong emotions

Ex. smiling might make you feel happy, but has no effect on depression

For each theory of emotion, describe how the body and the mind react to the stimulus and in what order.

James Lange: upon stimulus, physiological response happens first in response, then cognitive appraisal (naming of the emotion) comes after/in response to the bodily response

Cognitive: cognitive appraisal of the stimulus happens first, then the physiological response happens after

Integrative: both are occurring at the same time

In the cognitive theory of emotion, what determines what emotion we feel and what determines the magnitude of what we feel?

The mind determines what we feel (cognitive appraisal), the physiological response determines how strongly we feel about

What evidence is there for the Integrative Theory of Emotions?

Induced facial expressions influence the interpretation of environmental stimulation

Ex. those told to frown rated a pain stimulus as more painful than those told to smile

How can bodily feedback to emotions be important to societal empathy?

Understanding the facial expressions of other people → we feel it ourselves → may help us empathize with others

Emotionally and physically, what role do mirror neurons play?

Important in empathy, and visual learning/movement

Lesioning studies that affect the ___ cause the largest emotional effects.

Amygdala

What are the commonly used ways to study emotion in humans?

Electrode stimulation, brain imaging

__ is the main area of control over the autonomic system that produces general autonomic activation.

Hypothalamus

Where and how are different emotions found processing around the brain? What does this mean in terms of processing the emotion?

Every emotion has multiple regions where it is processed → each emotion relies on activity in multiple different brain areas

Emotions are often processed in general clusters/regions → specific areas can be responsible for the processing of a certain emotion

What is the effect of serotonin depletion on the amygdala, and what is the resulting emotions?

Reduced serotonin reduces inhibitory control of the amygdala → reduced serotonin leads to increased fear/anxiety due to hyper-responsive amygdala

What is the general result of amygdala damage? What occurs in bilateral amygdala damage, and why is this more severe than unilateral?

Amygdala damage leads to reduced or no fear response, opposing the “survival instinct”

Bilateral amygdala damage → complete absence of fear to external stimuli, but may still experience self/internal fear. In unilateral, one side can take over to have an instinctual fear still

What two parts of the brain are associated with the feeling of disgust? How?

Insula: taste projection itself

Basal ganglia: actions involving chewing, moving tongue, etc.

Does the ACC control the feeling of emotion or the expression of emotion? Explain.

The control of emotional expression, not the feeling

Ex. impulse control of emotional reactions, such as stopping yourself from punching someone in the face

What is often seen in those with larger ACCs?

Increase in harm-reduction/avoidance behaviour. Happens during puberty when the ACC develops

How can short-term stress be beneficial?

Acts as a drive for an organism to perform certain behaviours, increases immune system

Ex. drives us to do homework/learn

Describe the adrenal medulla’s response to short-term stress, including hormones and their effects. What metabolic system does this use?

Hypothalamus stimulates adrenal medulla → epinepherine and norepinephrine released, cortisol released → sympathetic nervous system activation → increases heartbeat (blood supply), liberates glucose from the muscles for additional energy

Uses fasting phase of metabolism

Describe the process of the HPA axis, including brain structures and hormones involved

Hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) → CRH reaching the pituitary gland causes adrenocorticotropic (ACTH) hormone to be released → upon ACTH binding, cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine is released from the adrenal cortex → triggering of the stress-reducing response

How is the HPA axis regulated?

Negative feedback: release of the product stress hormones (cortisol, E, NE) decreases subsequent release of hormones in this pathway by inhibiting the hypothalamus

Why is long term stress dangerous, with regards to feedback of the HPA axis?

Long term stress (anxiety disorders, chronic stressful situations) can cause the hypothalamus to begin ignoring negative feedback from the stress hormones → there is no stopping of stress response, constant stress that breaks down the body

What is the difference in specificity of T and B cells? Compare this to natural killer cells.

B cells create antibodies that attack cell categories. Ex. cancer cells or gram positive bacteria

T cells attack a specific strain of cell via their specific antigen. Ex. pneumonia cells

Natural killer: more general, attacks the cell itself if it is infected

What is the main form of immune protection in the CNS, and what is the secondary immune cell protection?

Most CNS is protected from foreign invaders by the blood brain barrier

Microglia act like macrophages against any agents that get through the barrier

How can long-term stress affect the immune system? Explain why.

Short term stress response uses the short-term stores of immune cells, glucose, other resources to compensate. However, when prolonged, the response depletes and then digs into long-term stores of resources

Immune cells are used up more than created → compromised immune system

How can chronic stress affect the brain matter? Is this recoverable?

Chronic stress can produce structural and functional degeneration in the brain. Grey matter destroyed will not return even if unstressed/happy for a longer period of time

What type of people are susceptible to sudden cardiac death? Why?

People who are naturally stressed and further experience a very stressful event may not be able to handle the sudden surge in the sympathetic response

Does personality have an effect on susceptability to illness?

Associations have been found between personality traits and vulnerability for/protection against disease: Type D (”distressed”) personality linked to increased risk in cardiovascular disease, introversion can lead to higher viral load (more susceptible/severe reaction), people with a strong support network are healthier and live longer

Is stress completely environment-based?

No, vulnerability to stress is heritable in some genes

Stress has the ability to modify genes and brain structures as well