KHA 114 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Goal Setting, Intelligence Quotient, Self-Determination
30 Jun 2018
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Psychology D week 7: Emotion and Motivation
While emotion has elements that are similar across people and cultures, it is also very
personal and subjective, can feel intense emotions which may be problematic because
we cant just switch them off, can’t control
Areas of the brain associated with emotion: neuropsychology
- Hypothalamus: deeper parts of the brain and are hence evolutionary older
oConsidered to be central link to neural systems involved in processing
emotion
oConverting emotional signals from brain to autonomic and endocrine
responses
oStimulating produces negative emotions: anger, fear/fight or flight
responses
oSham rage: When hypothalamus intact but cortex out, no regulation,
cats show extreme aggression
- Limbic system: deeper parts of the brain and are hence evolutionary older
oWork together and semi independently to form functions
oAmygdala: main aspect of the limbic system
Emotional arousal (fear and anger)
If destroyed, unable to form fear responses, doesn’t learn harm
or to be frightened
Human amygdala’s become active when showing emotion
inducing stimuli, or when see frightened faces
Illustrates how we can take cues from other people
Evolutionary advantageous
Modulates the processes in the cortex, brings everything
together to determine the emotion you should be feeling
oHippocampus:
The fact that part of memory system is we can see how
important emotion is to memory
oCingulate cortex:
Emotional expression in social situations
Take cues from other people to know how to respond
oKluver-Bucy syndrome:
No fear response to threats, inability to learn, eating disgusting
things
Due to the removal of temporal and limbic systems
Monkey studies: shows amygdala and hippocampus link
Could recognize things within their environment but didn’t
understand emotional significance, previously fearful stimuli
didn’t respond, didn’t learn to a void these stimuli
oDiffering beliefs as to what structures form the limbic system. Also, in
real brain the regions are hard to differentiate. Could be damage to
other areas and hence not precisely the one area removed that is
responsible for changes
- Cortex: higher order regions, pays several different roles in emotion
oFrontal lobe mainly regulates expression
Laugh when people are hurt, not regulated
Damage results in deficits to decisions involving emotion
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
oConscious decisions about safety of emotional stimuli
oReceives messages from the peripheral nervous system
Allows us to interpret the stimuli that we are experiencing as
positive or fear evoking
Presentation in class, then realize your legs are shaking
oRight hemisphere:
Processes emotional cues from others
Facial expression
Avoidance related emotion
oLeft hemisphere:
Approach related emotion
- Evolutionary advantages of emotion for regions that have been around for a
long time
Neural circuitry: two kinds of systems
- Both are quite adaptive
- Quick vs. slower response; more processing time might over-ride the initial
reaction
- Thalamo-limbic circuit
oRelatively simple information
oThalamus to amygdala immediately
oFlight or fight
oFast, primitive response
oAutonomic nervous and endocrine system
oBut also information coming in from the peripheral nervous system
- Thalamus-cortex-amygdala circuit
oLonger, slower process
oCortex involved for greater appraisal
oAdding context, previous information
oDistance and number of steps is greater
oAutonomic nervous and endocrine system
oMore conscious decisions
- Differences in positive and negative responses
oDifferent reactions may be because of different tendencies to sides of
the brain (avoidance/approach)
oOr because of neurotransmitter:
Fear: sensitive to norepinephrine
Pleasure: sensitive to dopamine
- Emotion regulation: can occur before or after the emotion occurs
oBefore: reframes the meaning of the event before it occurs to reduce
negative affect
Works better than after
oAfter: suppresses emotions after the event- leads to increased
autonomic arousal
Nervous system must increase, elevated heart create and hence
anxiety
Cognitive ability put toward that so is harder to engage in
anxiety behavior
oPeople work out their own way to regulate emotions, their own pattern
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
While emotion has elements that are similar across people and cultures, it is also very personal and subjective, can feel intense emotions which may be problematic because we cant just switch them off, can"t control. Areas of the brain associated with emotion: neuropsychology. Limbic system: deeper parts of the brain and are hence evolutionary older: work together and semi independently to form functions, amygdala: main aspect of the limbic system. If destroyed, unable to form fear responses, doesn"t learn harm or to be frightened. Human amygdala"s become active when showing emotion inducing stimuli, or when see frightened faces. Illustrates how we can take cues from other people. Modulates the processes in the cortex, brings everything together to determine the emotion you should be feeling: hippocampus: The fact that part of memory system is we can see how important emotion is to memory: cingulate cortex: Take cues from other people to know how to respond: kluver-bucy syndrome:
