Chapter 14

Hans Selye and the GAS

-Selye investigated the effects of various stressors -regardless of the stressor, Selye observed a consistant reaction, the general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

SM

-able to efficiently represent all emotions but feat (damage amygdala) -failure to look at eye region of faces she was evaluating -when told to pay attention to the eyes she could identify fear (autism-> difficulties identifying emotions of others due to lack of eye contact and abnormality of amygdala)

hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

-activation begins with messages from amygdala received by paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus -the PVN communicates with the locus coerulus, spinal cord, and pituitary gland -the PVN releases corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and vasopressin, which acts as chemical messengers between the hypothalamus and the anterior pituitary gland -in response to CRH and vasopressin the pituitary glans releases adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) -ACTH diffused from pituitary gland into bloodstream reaches the adrenal glands where it stimulates the release of cortisol -the hypothalamus also plays a role in regulating the HPA axis ---contains receptors allowing the hypothalamus to form a feedback loop ---if cortisol is too high, DRH release will decrease leading to lower levels of ACTH and cortisol -Amygdala regulates HPA axis by stimulating the release of CRH (inhibited by hypothalamus)

Testosterone

-might influence aggression by increasing reactivity to threatening stimuli -higher levels of testosterone is associated with higher levels of aggression -prenatal exposure to testosterone correlated with higher aggressiveness in humans -adult levels of testosterone not correlated with aggression -levels respond to competition

How are emotions different from moods?

-moods are general states and last longer -emotions demonstrate valence, or an overall positive or negative quality

Contemporary Theories of emotion

-note that physical responses are associated with an emotional range from specific to ambiguous -highly specific physical responses lead to unambiguous recognition by the cerebral cortex (disgust is more precise than pride) -least differentiated physical signals will produce general arousal, requiring additional cognitive processing -emotional responses range from immediate to delayed based on amount of cognitive processing required

Stress, SAM, and HPA axis

-once a potential source of danger has been perceived, the amygdala communicated with the hypothalamus -the hypothalamus in turn mobilizes the body's resources for coping with the emergency by initiating activity in 2 systems (the sympathetic adrenal-medullary (SAM) and the hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis)

the insula

-participates in the distinction between positive and negative stimuli -positive stimuli associated with activity in rostral areas -negative stimuli associated with activity in caudal areas -especially active during disgust -Participants with damage to insula rate pics as more neutral and less arousing than control participants

Basal Ganglia

-participates in voluntary movement in general, including coordination of movement in response to emotional stimuli -involved in recognizing disgust

Individual differences

-people differ in their intensity of emotional expression ability to identify others emotions, emotional style, tendencies to have more positive or negative emotions -infants that are highly reactive to environmental stimuli are at greater risk for anxiety and mood disorders later in life -extremely low reactive infants have a greater tendency toward antisocial behavior (psychopaths) -correct identification of another person's facial expressions of emotion is critical to competent social functioning (distorted by psychological disorders)

Two major components of emotion

-physical sensations -conscious, subjective feelings

Stress and epigenetics

-rats that recieved a lot of care as baby's had a milder HPA axis's response to stressors and feedback loops were more sensitive -attentive mothers had offspring with high levels of expression of gene for glucocorticoid receptors -mothers care matches their child's responses to environments they're likely to experience

Catharsis

-reduce an emotion by expressing it -suggests emotions fill a reservoir and when that reservoir is full, the emotions will over flow emptying you of that emotion -the relief of tension through expression of emotion

Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)

-serves as major gateway between the amygdala, other limbic structures and frontal lobes -processes info about pain -cooperates with orbitofrontal cortex in inhibition of aggression -contributes to more conscious, cognitive appraisals of threat -people with anxiety exaggerate threat (high activation in ACC)

Effects of chronic stress

-short term bursts of stress can have beneficial effects on many biological systems including the immune system -when faced with chronic stress, our stress response system prioritizes body functions -functions not necessary for handling the stressor are taken offline, including the immune system -the immune system produces white blood cells (lymphocytes) that protect us from invaders -stress hormones directly suppress activity of lymphocytes -chronic stress can lead to greater frequency and severity of illness -greater heart disease among those who are stressed -can interfere with quantity and quality of sleep because or cortisol release

relationship between arousal and performance

-simple tasks (greater arousal-greater performance) -complex tasks (deficit in performance is overly aroused

James-Lange Theory

-suggest that an awareness of our physical state leads to the identification of a subjective feeling -physical states related to each type of feeling are distinct from one another (physical states as separate feelings) -the facial feedback hypothesis suggests our facial expression affects the way we feel (smiling makes us feel happy) -intentionally making facial movements can stimulate physical responses that are similar to spontaneous emotional expression ***sight of bear would elicit physical response brain would interpret as fear Flaw: we have specific physical states that map onto recognizable emotional states (many emotional states have overlapping physical sensations)

Biological correlates of emotion

-the ANS participates in general arousal associated with emotional states (sympathetic and parasympathetic systems) -some measures of autonomic functions (HR,BP, breathing) produce distinct patterns for different emotions -responses for negative emotions are stronger than those for positive emotions -identifying difference between 2 different emotions with same valence -ANS answers to hypothalamus either directly or through nucleus of solitary tract

Kluver-Bucy syndrome

A collection of symptoms, including tameness, extreme sexual behavior, and oral exploration, that results from damage to the temporal lobes, and the amygdala in particular.

_____contributes to violence by reducing the inhibition of aggression normally managed by the cingulate and frontal cortices.

Alcohol

Which of the following does not support the idea that emotional expression has a strong biological basis

Fraternal twins are more similar than monozygotic twins regarding the age they begin to show fear of strangers.

Studies have shown that genetics and the environment both interact to result in aggression. For instance, boys with a low-activity version of the _____ gene were ____ likely to be antisocial (a common precursor to aggression) if they had been abused as children.

MAOA; more

Joyce is examining children who do and do not demonstrate theory of mind in the Sally-Anne task. Activity in which of the following structures might differ between the two groups?

Orbitofrontal cortex

Desiree heard a really loud noise. She quickly looked around and determined that the loud noise must have been thunder. She felt nervous and afraid so she went to seek out shelter from the storm. Which theory best explains Desiree's experience?

Schachter-Singer Two-Factor

Tamara has been experiencing a lot of sad events lately. According to the _____ theory, she should relieve her emotions by crying

catharsis

nonverbal communication

facial expressions and body language are a source of social information

empathy

imitating facial expressions might contribute to empathy -people are most accurate in assessing the emotions of another person when their own emotions match those of the person they are observing

Charles Darwin

made a careful study of the facial expressions produced by humans -concluded that emotional expression evolved

within species aggression

might have been incorporated into our genetic heritage as individuals competed for food, territory, and mates -more aggressive individuals survives, their offspring would inherit these aggressive tendencies -human twin studies indicate significant genetic influences on aggressiveness -heritability of impulse aggression is high -alleles for enzyme monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) interact with presence or absence of child maltreatment to predict antisocial behavior in boys

impulse (hot) aggression

occurs immediately in response to some provocative stimulus that produces anger or fear -occurs when subcortical structures respond to provocative stimuli without sufficient inhibition from the prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex

Predatory (cold) aggression

premeditated, goal-directed and relatively unemotional

schizophrenic

process facial features normally but perform worse than healthy controls when distinguishing between different facial expressions -likely to misinterpret emotional stimuli as threatening

bottom-up processing

refers to building a perception of a situation from initial sensations -build emotional experience up from physical sensations to cognitive appraisal

cushing's disease

result of unusually high cortisol levels (reduced hippocampal volume, memory problems, abnormal sleep patterns and depression)

autism and antisocial personality disorder

specific difficulties recognizing expressions of fear

Jason is taking a walk when he comes across a very scary snake. As a result of the danger, his hypothalamus activates both the ____ system and the _____ axis

sympathetic adrenal-medullary; hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal

Aggression

the intentional initiation of hostile or destructive acts toward another individual

Marilyn and Carolyn are laughing that Marilyn's driver's license picture looks so much different than her candid smile. Carolyn explained to her that posed smiles are controlled by _____ whereas candid smiles are controlled by _____.

the primary motor cortex; a subcortical system

top-down processing

uses cognition including memories and expectations to organize incoming sensory info -rely on cognitive appraisal of situation to interpret physical sensations

sham rage

violent reaction to normally innocuous stimuli

sympathetic adrenal-medullary (SAM) system

-activation of SAM begins with messages from the hypothalamus which controls activity of the sympathetic division of ANS -sympathetic activity leads to release of adrenaline (epinephrine) and norepinephrine from the adrenal glans into the bloodstream -these neurochemicals circulate to the brain and to other organs to produce the immediate short lived, fight or flight responses to stress

Serotonin

-affects the processing of aversive stimuli by the limbic system -decreased levels in the amygdala were associated with increased aggression -facilitates the activity of the prefrontal cortical regions (ACC and orbitofrontal cortex) in inhibiting aggression -might inhibit violence against others by influencing empathy -atypical serotonin function has been implicated in development of psychopathic traits -low serotonin promotes aggression

Brain structures and aggression

-aggression is related to patterns of activity in several brain structures including the hypothalamus, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, and the prefrontal cortex -removal of cerebral cortices produce violent rage -the amygdala, primarily through its connections with the hypothalamus, plays a role in aggression -together the ACC and the orbitofrontal cortex inhibit aggression -abnormalities in hypothalamus have been observed in antisocial, violent people -lesions of amygdala reduce violence

Environmental contributions

-although our basic emotional responses seem largely innate, culture and learning modify emotional expression -the presence of others can influence the intensity of emotional expression (societal norms) -cultures have different display rules that specify when, where, and how a person should express emotion

The Expression and Recognition of Emotion

-although we use our whole bodies to express emotions, humans pay the most attention to the face/eyes -movement of the face is controlled by two cranial nerves, the facial nerve (VII) and the trigeminal nerve (V) -the facial nerve controls the superficial muscles attached to the skin, which are primarily responsible for facial expressions -the trigeminal nerve controls the deeper facial muscles responsible for chewing and speaking -facial nerve has 5 major branches and originates in two facial nuclei located on either side of midline in pons (receive input from primary motor cortex and several subcortical motor areas) -primary motor cortex responsible for voluntary expression -subcortical system responsible for spontaneous expression

Stress

-an unpleasant and disruptive state resulting from the perception of danger or threat -stressor is a source of stress -the experience of stress is highly variable from one person to the next -what matters is that an individual perceives him/herself to be in some kind of danger -regardless of the nature of a stressor, once danger has been perceived and identified, a predictable series of reactions is set into motion -Walter Cannon demonstrated that a variety of stressors stimulated the sympathetic division of the ANS -HR, BP, and respiration all increase -functions not essential during emergencies are inhibited -stored energy is released and blood vessels at the surface of the skin constrict pushing blood to the skeletal muscles -short term stress produces benefits while long term stress can affect performance and well being

The amygdala

-associated with identifying emotional stimuli and arousal response to stimulation -participates in the active exploration of the social environment as well as in the interpretation of the results of that exploration -encodes the intensity of emotional facial expressions and participates in the evaluation of ambiguously emotional faces -role may actually be to process unexpected, unusual stimuli, especially those that might be important to safety survival -responds to stimuli that has no particular emotional value at all (unusual)

The Schachter-Singer Two-Factor theory

-assumes that emotions result from a sequence of events -does not require a specific set of physical responses for each emotion ---a stimulus produces general arousal ---make conscious, cognitive appraisal ---identify subjective feelings ***sight of bear would initiate general arousal. cognitive attribute arousal to presence of bear and identify feeling as fear Flaw: assumption that physiological states are not uniquely associated with specific emotions

volitational facial paresis

-cannot move face on command on side of mouth contralateral to damage but can smile spontaneously -primary motor cortex damage

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

-consists of 3 stages -alarm stage (stressor first perceived) -resistance stage (bodies expend considerable energy while coping with stress while also attempting to maintain normal activities) -exhaustion stage (strength and energy at low levels can lead to depression or death on extreme cases)

Adaptive advantage of emotions for our ancestors

-contributes to general arousal to activate behavior -manages approach and withdrawal behaviors -helps us communicate nonverbally -individuals with brain damage effecting emotions have difficulty making decisions -emotion bridges memory to affect how we react to things -emotions help us communicate

emotional facial paresis

-damage to subcortical motor structures -can't smile spontaneously but can on command

The somatic marker model of emotion

-expands on James-Lange theory to suggest that physical responses to stimuli not only contribute to subjective feelings but also contribute to decision making -a somatic marker is an association formed between stimuli and resulting patterns of physical activation -remembered patterns of physical responses inform subjective feelings and decision making -patients with frontal lobe damage can describe graphic images of sex and violence but unable to provide normal emotional responses

Deception

-false communication that benefits the communicator, along with the ability to detect deception have been shaped by natural selection -organisms that deceive successfully leave behind more offspring making the ability to deceive more likely in successive generations

coping with stress

-health habits like exercise, healthy diet, good night sleep, strong social networks -mindset regarding stress has been shown to influence physical responses to stress

Biological contributions

-many emotional expressions appear to be viewed similarly across human cultures (anger, sadness, happiness, fear, disgust, surprise, contempt, and embarrassment) -children's capacities for emotional expression and recognition develop according to regular timeline with little influence by experience (infants who are blind at birth still develop social smiling at same point as other infants)

Social Cognition

-the ability to understand the intentions and behavior of other people -perceiving important aspects of biological motion and facial expression involves the superior temporal cortex -understanding of peoples goals and intentions reliably correlates with activity at the junction of the temporal and parietal lobe -the amygdala participates in more complex analysis of facial expression -social decision making and theory of mind involve activity in the orbitofrontal cortex -medial prefrontal cortex processes even more complex aspects of social cognition (face familiarity, distinguish of self and others, ToM, and social norms) -Participants with autism show less gray matter volume in superior temporal cortex and higher gray matter volume in medial prefrontal cortex)

Facial expressions

-the facial nerve has 5 major branches with each branch serving a different portion of the face -the upper 3rd of the face receives both ipsilateral and contralateral facial nerve -the bottom 2/3rds of the face recieves input from the contral lateral facial nerve -the facial nerves receive input from 2 pathways (primary motor cortex responsible for voluntary expression and subcortical system responsible for spontaneous expression)

Emotion Regulation

-the influence exerted by individual over which emotions they experience, when and how they experience and express them -people exert both conscious and unconscious control over emotion ---avoid situations that evoke negative emotions ---use selective attention to focus away from emotional stimuli ---use a distraction to switch focus ---reappraisal changes the meaning of a stimulus ---suppression hides display of emotion -areas of prefrontal cortex and cingulate cortex involved with reappraisal (exert control on structures that participate in generation of emotion) -emotion regulation not static over lifetime (older adults focus on positive info and ignore negative info) ---aging associated with neural loss in lateral prefrintal areas of cortex associated with appraisal

The cerebral cortex

-the left hemisphere is associated with approach -right hemisphere associated with avoidance and plays a larger role in processing emotion than left hemisphere for most people -frontal lobe damage associated with reduction in emotional feelings -participants more successful at identifying emotional tone in left ear because left side is processed by RH

Stress and the amygdala

-the sensory system detects a threatening stimulus -connections with higher cortical processing centers identifying the object and assessing memories -at the same time, sensory info travels from thalamus to the amygdala -the amygdala participates in a "threat circuit" that provides a very rapid assessment of a stimulus or situation as potentially dangerous

The Cannon-Bard theory

-the subjective and physical responses occur simultaneously and independently -the CNS is able to produce an emotion directly without needing feedback from the PNS ***sight of bear would immediately and simultaneously trigger an interdependent, subjective feeling of fear and the physiological fight or flight response

Response to stress

-to manage emergencies successfully, physical cognitive and behavioral responses must be coordinated -the sympathetic division of the ANS is preparing for escape or fight -in parallel process the cognitive system becomes highly aroused and vigilant as the hypothalamus instructs the adrenal glands via the pituitary gland to release cortisol

Alcohol

-use is strongly associated with aggression -involved in 39-45% of murders and 45% of physical assaults -alcohol contributes to violence by reducing the inhibition of aggression

polygraph tests

-widely used by both law enforcement and employers in spite of their empirical unreliability -data reflects arousal (innocent person can be aroused out of fear, guilty person can remain calm) -researchers have focused on the cognitive load of lying -lying taxes executive controls in 3 major ways ---truth must be held in working memory ---lying requires response inhibition to avoid telling truth ---transition between truth and lie requires task switching -people who are deliberately lying slip up in predictable ways -normally articulate person stumbles verbally -nervousness leads to inappropriate smiling and laughing, swinging feet -lack of detail in story -asked to tell story backwards--> can illuminate lying -fMRIs can show changes in brain activity when lying -personal factors influence lie detection ---trusting people who believe life is fair are worse at detecting lies ---people more accurate in detecting deception when they feel threatened

Patterns of Activation and Emotion

-widespread areas of brain associated with each specific emotion -areas associated with different emotions overlap -complex patterns of activity involving multiple regions of brain characterized each emotion

Unlike the amygdala, the _____ contributes to the more conscious, cognitive appraisals of threat

anterior cingulate cortex

Bilateral damage to the _____ produces reduced emotionality

amygdala

somatic marker

an association formed between stimuli and resulting patterns of physical activation