Unit 9: Emotion and the Social Brain

These flashcards cover the key concepts from the lecture on emotions and the social brain, important for understanding neuropsychological aspects of emotions.

Emotion

The cognitive interpretation of subjective feelings, as an inferred behavioral state called affect.

Affect

A conscious, subjective feeling about a stimulus, independent of where or what it is.

Psychophysiology

The physical reactions in the body that accompany emotional responses, such as increased heart rate or stomach aches.

Amygdala

A brain structure involved in emotional processing, particularly in recognizing threats and regulating emotional responses.

Klüver-Bucy Syndrome

A condition resulting from the bilateral removal of the amygdala, leading to a lack of affect.

Somatic Marker Hypothesis

A theory suggesting that emotional responses are linked to bodily reactions to stimuli of biological importance.

Cognitive-emotional Interaction Theory

The notion that cognitive and emotional processes evolved together and are interconnected in the brain.

Temporal-lobe Personality

A distinct personality change observed in patients with temporal-lobe damage, often entailing obsessive traits.

Mirror Neuron System

A network in the parietal and premotor cortex that activates both when observing and performing actions, related to understanding others' behaviors.

Neuropsychological Assessment

The process of evaluating cognitive and emotional skills using various standardized tests.

Distinctive Motor Behaviour

Observable emotional expressions such as tone of voice, facial expressions, and posture.

Self-Reported Cognition

Conscious thoughts and feelings reported by the individual (e.g., love, hate).

Nonconscious Behaviour

Automatic emotional responses that occur without conscious awareness (e.g., intuition).

Diencephalon Theory of Emotion

Early view proposing that the thalamus and hypothalamus contain neural circuits for emotional expression and autonomic responses.

Papez Circuit (1937)

A model proposing an “emotional brain,” where the limbic lobe produces emotion and the neocortex transforms emotional signals into conscious experience.

Limbic Lobe

An anatomical system proposed as the basis of emotion.

Neocortex (Emotion)

Does not directly produce emotion but is necessary for transforming limbic activity into emotional experience.

Psychosurgery (Frontal Lobotomy)

Historical surgical procedure involving frontal lobe lesions to alter emotional behavior.

Corticomedial Amygdala

Amygdala subdivision involved in olfactory and emotional processing.

Basolateral Amygdala

Subdivision integrating sensory information and emotional learning.

Central Amygdala

Subdivision controlling autonomic and behavioral emotional responses.

Multimodal Amygdalar Cells

Amygdala neurons that respond to visual, auditory, somatic, gustatory, and olfactory stimuli.

Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC)

Prefrontal region involved in processing positive and negative rewards.

Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC)

Prefrontal region involved in social behavior and emotional regulation.

Emotional Asymmetry

The idea that the left and right hemispheres play different roles in emotional behavior.

Left-Hemisphere Lesions (Emotion)

Associated with mood flattening, fearfulness, and depression, especially when language is affected.

Right-Hemisphere Lesions (Emotion)

Associated with emotional indifference.

Anterior Lesions (Emotion)

Cause reduced frequency and intensity of facial expressions.

Spontaneous Speech Reduction

left frontal lesions.

Aprosodia

Impairment in emotional tone of speech due to right hemisphere damage.

Right Hemisphere (Emotion)

Primarily involved in automatic components of emotional processing.

Left Hemisphere (Emotion)

Responsible for cognitive control of emotion, especially via language.

Emotional Comprehension Deficits

Difficulty understanding humor and judging mood after right hemisphere lesions.

Facial Expression Matching Deficit

Impaired ability to match negative facial expressions following frontal, temporal, or parietal lesions (especially right-sided).

Temporal-Lobe Personality Change

Personality alterations observed in temporal-lobe lesion patients.

Right Temporal-Lobe Personality

Characterized as more obsessional.

Left Temporal-Lobe Personality

Characterized by concern with personal destiny and identity.

Multicomponent Emotion Process Model (Scherer, 2019)

Emotion is an interface between organism and environment, composed of multiple synchronized components.

Emotion Differentiation

Process involving action tendencies, physiological responses, and motor expression.

Theory of Constructed Emotion (Barrett, 2017)

Emotions are constructed from bodily predictions, past experiences, culture, and context.

Allostasis

The brain’s process of anticipating and regulating bodily needs for survival and action.

Affective Feelings

Pleasant or unpleasant feelings generated by limbic and cortical systems.

Somatic Marker

Bodily changes triggered by biologically significant stimuli.

Nonconscious Emotional Mechanism

Automatically detects and responds to threats.

Conscious Emotional Mechanism

Produces the subjective experience of emotion (e.g., fear).

Social Brain

A network of brain regions involved in social interaction, emotion, and cognition.

Insula (Social Cognition)

Involved in empathy for pain and recognition of others’ suffering.

Amygdala (Social Cognition)

Critical for recognizing fear in others.

Acquired Sociopathy

Social and emotional dysfunction following bilateral vmPFC damage.

Amygdala Network

Includes amygdala, OFC, and temporal structures; triggers emotional responses and detects socially relevant stimuli.

Mentalizing Network

Includes superior temporal sulcus and anterior temporal cortex; involved in understanding others’ actions and intentions.

Empathy Network

Includes insula and cingulate cortex; supports attribution of intentions and emotional resonance.

Mirror Neuron Network

Parietal and premotor systems involved in observing and imitating others’ actions.

ADOS-2

Assessment of emotional reciprocity, shared interest, communication, and social interaction.

ADI-R

Structured interview assessing social communication and emotional reciprocity.

Faux-Pas Test

Measures theory of mind and understanding of social mistakes.

CELF-5 (Pragmatics)

Assesses pragmatic verbal communication.

Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test

Measures emotion recognition from eye expressions.

MCMI-IV / MACI-2

Personality assessment tools for adults and children.

MMPI-2

Adult personality and psychopathology assessment.

SCL-90-R

Psychological symptom inventory.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social communication difficulties and repetitive behaviors.

Pragmatic Language Deficit

Impairment in the social use of language despite preserved structural language abilities.