Exam 3 Ch 11

Emotion

Physiological (bodily) arousal + expressive behaviors + conscious experience (thoughts and feelings)

James-Lange theory

The body's response produces our subjective feeling. Stimulus -> Perception -> Specific pattern of autonomic arousal -> Emotion experienced

Cannon-Bard theory

The body's response and subjective feelings occur simultaneously and independently. Stimulus -> Perception -> Specific autonomic arousal + Particular emotion experienced at the same time

Cognitive/Schacter-Singer experiment

People were given epinephrine, and those who were told didn’t have fear and instead knew it was attributed to that. The ones that weren’t told experienced fear since they couldn’t attribute it to that.

Cognitive/Schacter-Singer Theory

Arousal and thinking THEN feeling. We interpret our arousal by thinking (“my heart is racing, and theres a bear over there. I must be afraid”). Stimulus -> Bodys response and Context + interpretation at same time -> feeling (This is the most supported/correct one)

Basic/core emotions (not which ones, but the overall concept)

Emotional expressions may have originated in a common ancestor

Facial expressions (universality of some; cultural influences; not specific muscles and nerves)

Laughter/Play is universal, and fear might be different depending on circumstances needed to survive.

Facial feedback hypothesis

That sensory feedback from facial expressions can affect mood (controversial)

Limbic system

Important for emotion. Includes the hippocampus and the amygdala.

Fear conditioning

Classical conditioning where a neutral stimulus becomes a bad one that signals fear response

Amygdala

Structure important in fear and emotional learning

High road in amygdala

Projection from thalamus to Sensory cortex to amygdala. Slower process and takes more time allowing for realistic processing used memory and learning

Low road in amygdala

Projection from thalamus to the amygdala. Bypasses conscious processing and allows for immediate emotional reaction

Lateral nucleus of the Amygdala

encodes association between specific stimuli and adverse affects

Central nucleus of the amygdala

Activated by the Lateral Nucleus. Sends the info to brainstem centers to elicit emotional responses

Patient S.M. (& responses to external vs internal threats)

Girl with damaged Amygdala. No external fear like watching a scary movie, but there is internal fear like breathing CO2. Proves there must be another system for internal fear.

Cortex & emotion

Different patterns of their activity indicated different emotions (insula, cingulate cortex, PFC)

Stress

Stressful stimuli + the stress processing system + response to stress

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

Hypothalamus stimulates (anterior) pituitary gland, which releases a hormone (ACTH) that then makes adrenal (cortex) active, which releases Cortisol

Adrenal gland

Releases Cortisol, which readys the body for action slower than Norepinephrine and Epinephrine

Norepinephrine

Released by Adrenal Medulla when sympathetic NS active. Also called adrenaline. It can work as a hormone and synaptic transmitter. Boosts heart rate and breathing.

Epinephrine

Released by Adrenal Medulla when sympathetic NS active. Boosts heart rate and breathing.

Cortisol

Ready’s the body for action slower than Norepinephrine and Epinephrine including releasing body stores of energy

Fast stress respone

SAM (Sympathetic adrenal medulla) pathway. Adrenal glands release epinephrine and norepinephrine (noradrenaline)

Slow stress response

HPA axis releases Coritsol