Fear & Emotion

Question 1

What are the 3 main fear responses?

Answer 1

Behavioural - movement appropriate to a situation
Autonomic - blood vessels constrict/dilate, with heart rate changing to enable a behavioural response
Hormonal - hormones produced to reinforce autonomic response

Question 2

What areas and subareas of the brain are primarily involved with the fear response?

Answer 2

Amygdala!
Central nucleus - projects information
Lateral & Basal nucleus - recieves sensory information

Question 3

What is the result of lesions to the central and lateral nuclei of the amygdala?

Answer 3

Deficits in fear conditioning, note: lesions to basal nucleus do not have the same effect!

Question 4

What has single unit recording found in the lateral amygdala?

Answer 4

Increased firing in response to CS after training

Question 5

How are humans social learners when it comes to fear?

Answer 5

Increase in GSR when exposed to CS+ despite never having received shock, only by watching others be shocked

Question 6

What area of the brain is activated in humans when they are told to expect a shock?

Answer 6

Left amygdala (lateralisation due to language?)

Question 7

How can fear response be reduced with extinction?

Answer 7

• cue presented many times with shock absent

- conditioned response decreases

Question 8

What brain area is associated with fear extinction?

Answer 8

Amygdala response is inhibited by the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, electrical stimulation of this area speeds up extinction

Question 9

How does cognitive therapy decrease the response of the amygdala?

Answer 9

• Participants asked to think of nature when presented with stimuli
• Believed to be inhibited by vmPFC and dlFFC

Question 10

What is reconsolidation?

Answer 10

Process by which stored memories that have been reactivated/remembered, are then stored again

Question 11

How can reconsolidation be used to reduce a fear response?

Answer 11

• Ask participant to recall memory
• Administer protein blocker or use extinction during reconsolidation window
• Memory is lost permanently