memory and emotion
amygdala - plays an important role in processing emotional info
amygdala: Cahill et al. (1994)
set of slides accompanied by a neutral or an emotionally arousing story
there was a delay then participants were asked about everything they can remember
FINDINGS:
control group: memory was more accurate for arousal story
beta-blocker group: no benefit
amygdala: Cahill et al. (1996)
participants were shown 12 emotionally neutral or arousing film clips
while film clips are played, participants have a PET scan
3 weeks later are asked to recall as many film clips as they can
FINDINGS:
film clips that were emotionally arousing were more likely to be remembered than the neutral ones
adrenaline
- is a stress hormone
- helps memory recall
* rats injected with adrenaline find the platform faster in the Morris Water Maze
Yerkes-Dodson Law
- relationship between emotional arousal and subsequent memory is an inverted U-curve
low and high arousal = typical memory performance
medium arousal = great memory performance
how many emotions? how many primary ones?
27 unique emotions
6 primary emotions
- happy
- surprised
- afraid
- angry
- disgusted
- sad
amygdala and fear
- presentatioon for as little as 17 msec of just the eyes, showing fear, with the rest of the face blacked out; activates amygdala
WHY? fight or flight/evolutionary response
in short, amygdala is sensitive to fear
patient SM
- Urbach-Weithe disease which calcifies amygdala and renders it useless
- led to bilateral amygdala damage
BEHAVIORAL FINDING:
- impaired on fearful race recognition
* knows what fear is, but cannot identify it
fear conditioning
- Pair tone with adverse event, over time rats or people will have an emotional response to the tone
** does NOT occur with people who have damage to the amygdala –> in other words, amygdala is important for fear conditioning
fear conditioning: Doyere et al (2007)
- 2 different tones are paired with a shock
- 24 hours get U0126 injection (beta blocker)
**goal: block fear response for tone 2
Data:
- 3 hours later tested with tones, no difference
- 24 hours later tested with tones, beta blocker inhibited fear response
flashbulb memories
Memories for the circumstances in which one first learned of a very surprising and consequential (or emotionally arousing) event
i.e. 9/11
flashbulb memory: 9/11 (Sharot et al 2007)
- tested memory recall of people who were (1) downtown near World Trade Center (2) 5 miles away from midtown Manhattan
FINDINGS:
- the downtown group’s amygdala activated more, reported they could see, hear, and smell what occurred
- physical distance has negative relationship with recollection experience of event
post traumatic stress disorder
- mental health disorder
- triggered by terrifying event either by experiencing it or witnessing it
- can have both arousal and avoidance symptoms
arousal symptoms
- startling easily
- trouble sleeping
- irritable/angry outbursts
avoidance symptoms
- detached
- emotional “numbing”
- lack of interest in normal activities
propranolol
- Beta-adrenergic receptor blocker
- Block beta receptors so they cannot bind
- Doesn’t erase the memory of the traumatic event but takes away the emotional response of the event
Pitman et al. (2002) –> PTSD exp
1/2 administered propranolol & half given a placebo
(PTSD sample)
RESULTS:
- lower scores for PTSD scale!
Mahabir et al. (2015)
- chronic PTSD
chronic PTSD sample (individuals with PTSD whose trauma occurred years ago)
administered propranolol
had to read their narrative detailing their account of the trauma
RESULTS:
- after administration, decreased fear response
** can treat people for a traumatic event years later
arousal vs. valence
AROUSAL
- physiological & psychological state
(calm to intense)
VALENCE:
- intrinsic attractiveness
(unpleasant to pleasant)
