PSYC 2310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Meta-Analysis, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Electric Shock
16 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Very hard to identify altruistic prosocial behaviour. Went under functional magnetic resonance imaging (fmri) The study consists of five experimental blocks, during which the participants viewed 10 threat cues with no shock, 2 with shock, and 12 safety cues in variable order. Electric shock was delivered to the participant while they were either holding hands with friend, a stranger, and no one. Two electric shocks were applied to participant"s ankle and their friend"s ankle. Activity in people"s brains was almost identical when their friend was about to receive the shock as when they themselves were about to receive it. In comparison, there was relatively little activity in the threat response regions (left lateral prefrontal cortex) when they held a stranger"s hand. Conclusion: the results of frmi show that there is an overlap between neural representation of self and others when there is social bonding. Self-friend pattern of neural activities suggests empathic understanding of others.
