Emotion and Cognition

• Chapter 13

Monday November 20, 2006

Outline1. 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

EmotionFacial Expressions

Neutral Anger Disgust Fear

Happy Sad Surprise Neutral

POSITIVENEGATIVE

HIGH AROUSAL

LOW AROUSAL

Elated

Sleepy

Angry

Sad

Proud

Satisfied

Interested

Annoyed

Surprised

Fatigued

Afraid

Ashamed

Emotions are Valenced

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 Dream1932

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

EmotionKluver-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

EmotionFacial Expressions

FearHappy

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.

EmotionSM

SM:

A life-long pattern of social and emotional inadequacy.

Urbach-Wiethe Disease

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

HappyAngry

AfraidSurprised

Disgusted

Mean C

orr

ela

tion w

ith N

orm

als

SM

Control

EmotionDamage to the Amygdala Interferes

with Fear

-8

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9Five Trial Blocks

Mea

n %

Cha

nge

Fro

m P

re C

S B

asel

ine

ShamAmygdala LesionUntrained

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

Shock

heart ratedecreased salivationincreased startledefecationhypoalgesiaActivity

Central State of

Fear

Auditory Stimulus

&

Auditory Stimulus

EmotionLaboratory Procedures for Measuring

Fear

Pavlovian Fear Conditioning

heart ratedecreased salivationincreased startledefecationhypoalgesiaActivity

Central State of

Fear

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