Emotional response consists of 3 types of components:

• Behavioral
• Autonomic
• Hormonal

• Muscular movements appropriate to the situation that elicits them

• Facilitate the behaviors and provide quick energy

• Reinforce the autonomic responses

• Signifies presence of critical stimuli, such as what?

• Medial nucleus
• Lateral/basolateral nuclei
• Central nucleus
• Basal nucleus

• Receive sensory info and relay it to basal forebrain and hypothalamus

• Receive sensory info and have multiple projections to cortex, hypothalamus, and hippocampus
• Also project to central nucleus

• Receives info from other amygdaloid nuclei and projects to PAG

• Projects to lower brain structures which control emotional expression
• Most important part of the brain for emotional expression associated with aversive stimuli

• Animal no longer fearful
• Act more tame with handling
• Have lower levels of stress hormones
• Less likely to develop ulcers

• Show physiological and behavioral signs of fear and agitation
• Long-term stimulation produces ulcers

• Classically conditioned
• Response to aversive stimulus includes autonomic, behavioral, and hormonal components

Behavioral reponses - PAG

Coping Response

• Reduces stressful effects of an aversive stimulus

• Central nucleus has benzodiazepine receptors and opiate receptors

• Basolateral nucleus involved in conditioning of odor to aversive food
• Lesions disrupt flavor aversion

• Stimulation of amygdala produces fear
• Larger startle when looking at unpleasant photos (Alien movie example)
• PET scans during recall show active right amygdala to emotional photos, but not neutral
• Also greater blood flow in amygdala when working on unsolvable problems

• Receives info regarding what's happening in the environment and what plans are being made by the rest of the frontal lobes
• Outputs affect many behavioral and physiological responses

Pain Perception

• Patients with orbitofrontal lesions still sense pain, but no longer have an emotional reaction to it

• They can talk the talk, but not walk the walk

• Part of limbic system
• Interface between decision-making frontal lobes, emotional functioning amygdala, and movement control areas
• Electrical stimulation produces either positive or negative emotions
• Damage causes akinetic mutism

• Which side is more expressive?
• Why?
• How do we know certain emotional expressions are innate human traits?

• "ups and downs of speech"
• right hemisphere lesions vs. pure word deafness - how do they differ in emotional tone perception?

• why is that important? - 2 reasons

• volitional vs. emotional

• plays a role in primary emotions, mostly negative

• modulates emotional displays controlled by the right hemisphere
• organizes social displays of positive emotions

• emotional feelings based on what we notice ourselves doing and on our sensory feedback
• how did study with spinal cord patients support this theory?

• What happened when people followed instructions to perform certain facial positions?
• What explains this phenomenon?

• Increased activity inhibits aggression
• Metabolite found in CSF
• Low levels found in patients who attempted suicide, particularly violent attempts