Download Emotion, Stress, Memory: Neurobiological Perspectives - Prof. John Salamone and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! SECTION III. 1.1 EMOTION AND STRESS MOTIVATION, EMOTION AND STRESS Different but related ways of viewing the same behavioral conditions - emotion: emphasizes the internal stimuli, perceptions and cognitions associated with motivationally-relevant situations - stress: emphasizes that motivational conditions can present a challenge to normal psychological and physiological function THEORIES OF EMOTION James-Lange theory: emotions result from the organism’s perception of its own bodily (i.e., autonomic) arousal. Emotionally significant stimuli increase autonomic nervous system activity. The organism perceives this arousal, and according to the theory this perception of arousal is the basis of emotion. Cannon-Bard theory: autonomic arousal is only one aspect of emotion; an organism can be going through very different emotions, but the autonomic arousal can be basically the same. Autonomic changes can indicate that emotions are being experienced, but not which emotion is being experienced. Organisms process information about the situation in parallel with the autonomic arousal. Schachter and Singer theory: This is a follow-up to the Cannon-Bard theory. According to this theory, emotion is a composite of autonomic arousal and the perception of the emotional valence of the stimulus. Circumplex Model of Emotions - based upon the Schacter-Singer experiments and other data - according to this idea, there are distinct dimensions of emotion (valence, arousal) and each emotion is an intersection along these dimensions Alternative Theory: An alternative is that there are a small number of basic “building block” emotions, and every emotion is a combination of the basic ones. COMPONENTS OF EMOTIONS Emotions are complex, and include many components -autonomic - facial expressions - posture - cognitive components BRAIN AREAS RELATED TO EMOTIONS Amygdala: part of limbic system; lesions produce flat emotions; electrical stimulation produces sympathetic arousal, fear, agitation in animals; tumors near amygdala can lead to increased emotionality, even aggression, in humans - antianxiety drugs such as Valium appear to suppress anxiety and stress by facilitating GABA transmission in the amygdala Prefrontal cortex: lesions produce flat emotions, site of “lobotomy” or “transorbital leucotomy” surgery LIE DETECTION WITH A POLYGRAPH??? Detects autonomic changes during emotion, including GSR (galvanic skin response; increased conductance due to increased sweating; marker of sympathetic activation) Problem: different emotions can produce very similar autonomic changes MOTIVATION, EMOTION AND STRESS Different but related ways of viewing the same behavioral conditions - stress: emphasizes that motivational conditions can present a challenge to normal psychological and physiological function STRESS ACTIVATES VARIOUS NEURAL AND HORMONAL SYSTEMS Prefrontal cortex: increased DA and NE release Sympatho/adrenal axis: increased sympathetic activity, increased release of adrenaline Hypothalamo/pituitary/adrenal axis: (HPA) neuro/endocrine system Neuroendocrine Axes and Stress Hypothalamus pituitary adrenal cortisol cortex adrenaline adrenal sympathetic system (ANS) medulla Neuroendocrine Axes and Stress Sympatho/adrenal: - increased heart rate, blood pressure, - more blood flow to arm/leg muscles - rapid breathing - “fight or flight” system, mobilize glucose, expend energy Effects of Cortisol: - increases blood glucose - decreases available protein - decreases immune response (fewer T and B lymphocytes) - increases secretion of stomach acids STRESS LEADS TO… Acute effects: mobilization of energy resources, to deal with emergencies; at moderate levels, this is adaptive Chronic effects: - muscle fatigue - increase risk of infectious disease - increased risk of psychiatric disorders very intense or chronic stress can be maladaptive 3.2 MEMORY, LEARNING AND COGNITION THREE-STAGE MEMORY MODEL Sensory Memory- transient maintenance of sensory impact of stimulus; different for each sensory modality (vision = iconic memory; hearing = echoic memory) Short Term Memory (STM)- memory for information that lasts only seconds/ minutes Long Term Memory (LTM)- memory for information that lasts for hours/days/months/years/decades Transfer of information from STM to LTM STM | v consolidation LTM 1. importance, salience, meaning 2. repetition (i.e., rehearsal)
