Emotion and Cognition
• Chapter 13
Monday November 20, 2006
Outline
1. Defining emotion
2. Early vs. current concepts of emotion
3. Neurobiology of emotion
•
•
Limbic system
Frontal structures and how they regulate emotion
4. Case studies and brain damage
5. The amygdala and learning and memory
6. The amygdala and identifying facial expressions
Emotion
Facial Expressions
Neutral
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Happy
Sad
Surprise
Neutral
Emotions are Valenced
HIGH AROUSAL
Angry
Elated
Afraid
Surprised
Annoyed
Interested
POSITIVE
NEGATIVE
Sleepy
Ashamed
Sad
Proud
Fatigued
Satisfied
LOW AROUSAL
Emotion and Cognition
Zajonc vs. Lazarus
Descartes vs. Demasio
The Limbic System
The Limbic System
Frontal Projections
Frontal Cortex: A brief Background
• It makes you do the harder thing
• Cognition (working memory and executive
function deficits)
• Task reversal (Eg. Alzheimer’s patients)
(Rolls 1999)
Frontotemporal Dementia
Sleep
The Dream
1932
Picasso
Orbitofrontal cortex in decision
making
Frontal Cortex and
Development in
Humans
W. W. Norton
Orbitofrontal cortex damage and
social deficits
• Deficits in social decision making
– Cannot inhibit inappropriate social responses or
aggressive behaviours
• Utilization behaviour (Lhermitte, 1986) and
mimicking
• Change in personality, irresponsibility, and lack of
concern for the present or future
• Decrease in social status
• Inappropriate, aggressive and impulsive reactions
Emotion
Kluver-Bucy Syndrome
Damage to the Medial Temporal Lobe produces:
•
•
•
•
Emotional Blunting: a flat affect and may not respond appropriately to stimuli.
Hyperphagia: extreme weight gain without a strictly monitored diet. There is a
strong tendency for those with Kluver-Bucy to compulsively place inedible objects
in their mouths.
Inappropriate Sexual Behavior: atypical sex behaviors, mounting inanimate
objects.
Visual Agnosia: "psychic blindness," i. e. an inability to visually recognize objects.
Inputs and Outputs of the Amygdala
W. W. Norton
W. W. Norton
Davis, M. (1992). The Role of the Amygdala in Conditioned Fear. In J.P. Aggleton (Ed.), The Amygdala: Neurobiological Aspects of Emotion,
Memory and Mental Dysfunction (pp. 255-306). New York: Wiley-Liss
Davis, M. (1992). Th Role of the Amygdala in Conditioned Fear. In J.P. Aggleton (Ed.), The Amygdala: Neurobiological Aspects of Emotion,
Memory and Mental Dysfunction (pp. 255-306). New York: Wiley-Liss
Davis, M. (1992). Th Role of the Amygdala in Conditioned Fear. In J.P. Aggleton (Ed.), The Amygdala: Neurobiological Aspects of Emotion,
Memory and Mental Dysfunction (pp. 255-306). New York: Wiley-Liss
W. W. Norton
Amygdala and Hippocampus
• The amygdala can modulate
episodic/hippocampal dependant memory
– Emotional arousal ameliorates explicit memory
performance (McGaugh, 1999)
– Chronic stress or extreme arousal can impair
hippocampal memory performance (Sapolsky,
1992)
W. W. Norton
Emotion
Facial Expressions
Happy
Fear
Whalen, P. J., Rauch, S. L., Etcoff, N. L., McInerney, S. C., Lee, M. B., & Jenike, M. A. (1998). Masked presentations of emotional facial
expressions modulate amygdala activity without explicit knowledge. The Journal of Neuroscience, 18(1), 411-418.
Emotion
SM
SM:
Mean Correlation with Normals
A life-long pattern of social and emotional
inadequacy.
SM
1
Control
0.9
0.8
Urbach-Wiethe Disease
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
Happy
Afraid
Angry
Disgusted
Surprised
Emotion
Damage to the Amygdala Interferes with
Fear
Mean % Change From Pre CS Baseline
4
2
0
-2
-4
Sham
Amygdala Lesion
Untrained
-6
-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Five Trial Blocks
8
9
Kapp, B. S., Frysinger, R. C., Gallagher, M., & Haselton, J. R. (1979). Amygdala central nucleus lesions: effect on heart rate conditioning in the rabbit.
Physiology & Behavior, 23, 1109-1117.
Laboratory Procedures for Measuring Fear
and Anxiety in Rodents
Pavlovian Fear Conditioning
Auditory Stimulus
&
Shock
Central
State of
Fear
D heart rate
decreased salivation
increased startle
defecation
hypoalgesia
D Activity
Emotion
Laboratory Procedures for Measuring Fear
Pavlovian Fear Conditioning
Auditory Stimulus
Central
State of
Fear
D heart rate
decreased salivation
increased startle
defecation
hypoalgesia
D Activity
W. W. Norton
W. W. Norton
Davidson, R.J., Jackson, D.C., and Kalin, N.H. (2000). Emotion, plasticity, context, and regulation: Perspectives from affective neuroscience.
Psychol. Bull. 126:890-909