Cognition and emotion
Learning outcome
To what extent do cognitive and biological factors interact in emotion?
To establish the extent to which cognitive and biological factors interact, we must focus
on the following areas:
 A definition of emotion
 Relevant biological factors
 Relevant cognitive factors
Cognitive and biological factors are essential to emotion
Emotion can be further impacted by culture and by personal characteristics (what
motivates us, our sense of identity, our understanding of our environment)
Emotion
Antonio Damasio’s explanation (Crane page 88)
Emotions are physical signals of the body’s interpretation and reaction to external
stimuli
Three components:
 Physiological changes
 Subjective feelings
 Associated behavior
Biological factors
The limbic system is important in generating emotions. Basically brain activity for
emotion and cognition is intertwined – it is difficult to look at it separately because it is
meant to work together
Limbic system
 Set of cortical and subcortical structures, including:
o amygdala
o nucleus accumbens
Evidence that the limbic system is connected
Kluver and Bucy
Kluver and Bucy remove (lesion) a monkeys’ temporal lobe (1936), damaging limbic
system in the process.
 Result – monkeys lose fear
Identify the significance of these findings in the space below
Olds and Milner
Olds and Milner implant electrodes in rats’ brains
Aim: to see how rats respond to direct electrical stimulation
Findings:
 when limbic system is stimulated, rats will return to the part of the cage where
the experiment took place
 rat will choose stimulation over food, when allowed to self-stimulate
Identify the significance of these findings in the space below
Evidence that the amygdala is specifically connected
Downer (1961)
Researchers operate on monkeys
 Information entering monkey’s left eye is transmitted to the amygdala
 Information entering monkey’s right eye will not go through amygdala
Findings:
 See threat with left eye – fear response
 See threat with right eye – no fear response
Identify the significance of these findings in the space below
Biological pathways to emotion
LeDoux’s model of 2 biological pathways in the brain (Use Schacter et. al. and
Crane page 89)
Diagram the fast pathway in the space below
Diagram the slow pathway in the space below
Role of each pathway
Purpose of the fast pathway
Purpose of the slow pathway
Significance
What is the significance of LeDoux’s work in terms of the interaction of biological and
cognitive factors?
Theories about how emotional experience and physical activity
are related.
Sources
Schacter and Singer (handouts)
In the boxes below, summarize each of the theories from your reading. Your notes
should identify key points, and make it clear how the theories are different.
James – Lange theory
A stimulus causes a physiological reaction - leads to an emotional experience
Cannon-Bard theory
A stimulus causes both an emotional experience and a physiological reaction
simultaneously
Schacter and Singer’s 2-factor theory
A stimulus causes general physiological arousal
 The brain will interpret or make inferences about the cause
 This will lead to an emotional experience (a subjective feeling)
Localization of function
Emotions are not specifically localized purely in one section of the brain.
Research indicates that brain activity for emotion involves many areas of the brain
working both together and in sequence
 Jamison’s summary of the roles played in the emotion of fear by the
amygdala and insula is one example. This example also establishes a
sociocultural connection in that fears can be learned.
 Another example is that of panic disorder. In panic disorder there is increased
noradrenaline transmission from both the locus coeruleus (a nucleus in the
brain stem) and another area - the caudal raphe nuclei. (see image on the next
page)
The locus coeruleus is one of the brainstem nuclei that maintains close communications
with the amygdala. This small nucleus contains almost half of all the brain neurons that
use norepinephrine as a neurotransmitter. The locus coeruleus also projects its axons to
those parts of the brain that may be associated with panic disorders (the amygdala,
hippocampus, septum, cortex, brainstem, reticular formation, etc).
The locus coeruleus-noradrenaline system may have a significant role in processing
fear-related stimuli or it may affect fear-related processing by stimulating other regions
of the brain implicated in anxiety and fear behaviours (ie amygdala, hippocampus,
hypothalamus, cortex and spinal cord).
http://www.cnsforum.com/imagebank/item/Neuro_path_N_PAN/default.aspx
Other biological factors
Obviously we must also take into account the role of neurotransmitters in terms of how
messages are passed from one area of the brain to another.
Neurotransmitters
When we are calm, the "firing" of neurons in the locus caeruleus is minimal. Once a
stimulus is perceived, the following will take place:
Stimulus perceived

sensory cortex

thalamus

brain stem

increases the rate of noradrenergic activity in the locus caeruleus

person becomes alert and attentive to the environment
(if you go to the site below you can follow these pathways further)
http://www.cnsforum.com/imagebank/item/Neuro_path_N_PAN/default.aspx
Fight or Flight : An acute stress response
If the stimulus is perceived as a threat (message relayed from thalamus to the
amygdala)
- Neural firing intensifies
- Sympathetic nervous system kicks in (Stage 1 of GAS – General Adaptation
syndrome – a model explaining stress)
Neurotransmitters
- Acetylcholine is released
- This in turn triggers the release of adrenaline and norepinephrine
The physical reaction includes:
- Increased heart rate and breathing
- Tightening of muscles
- Constricted blood vessels
How does this help you understand the learning outcome? It gives you the big
picture, establishing the complexity of the biological factors. LeDoux gives us a
model to explain how the message is relayed which establishes also that cognitive
processing takes place. Whether or not the stimulus is perceived as a threat, in the
case of fear, will determine whether or not the flight or fight response will kick in.
keep in mind that this is not just related to fear. Such a response can also be
triggered in times of stress.
Let’s examine theories about how appraisal (what directs our perception of a
stimuli) works.
Cognitive Appraisal Theories of Emotion
As cognitive theories have developed over time (from James-Lange to Cannon-Bard and
so on), they have become more complex in their explanations of the connection between
emotion and behavior
Appraisal
In the absence of physiological arousal, we decide what to feel after interpreting or
explaining what has just happened. Two things are important in this: whether we
interpret the event as good or bad for us, and what we believe is the cause of the event.
The sequence thus is as follows:
Event ==> thinking ==> Simultaneous arousal and emotion
This challenges the two-factor separation of arousal and emotion, supporting the
Cannon and Bard theory albeit with the addition of the thinking step.
In primary appraisal, we consider how the situation affects our personal well-being. In
secondary appraisal we consider how we might cope with the situation.
This is sometimes also called Lazarus Theory.
Example
When a colleague gets promoted, I might feel resentful if I think I deserve the promotion
more than they do.
http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/cognitive_appraisal_theories.htm
Lazarus’ theory of appraisal
 Stimulus event takes place
 Brain evaluates or appraises the event
 Appraisal is related to how the situation impacts on the individual
(Crane, page 90)
Summarize the following from your reading of Crane:
 Definition of appraisal
 Lazarus’ theory (1st paragraph)
 Lazarus and Folkman’s theory of factors that impact on whether an
individual experiences stress (1984)
 Lazarus and Folkman’s research on which strategies people tend to use in
stressful situations
Cognitive connection
How can appraisal affect how people cope with emotional arousal?
The Speisman et al. study (1964) in Crane (p. 90) demonstrates that soundtracks can
affect how we react emotionally to an unpleasant film
Briefly summarize the study
If we know that environmental factors can affect our emotions,
can we use cognitive strategies to influence our emotional
responses?
Now read ‘Regulation of emotion’ – see the next page
Define emotion regulation
Define reappraisal
In what way does the Lazarus & Alfert study support the Speisman et al. study?
In what way does the Ochsner et al. study (2002) suggest that we can influence
our brain activity to lower activity in our amygdalae (plural for ‘amygdala’)?
How is this significant to our understanding of the learning outcome?