Chapter Twelve Emotional Behaviors

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Chapter TwelveEmotional Behaviors
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Usefulness of Emotions

• Assist in decision making
• Prefrontal cortex damage lose their emotions and
  their decision making suffers
• Emotions and readiness
• Emotions start the fight-or-flight response

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Figure 12.1  The limbic systemThe limbic system
is a group of structures in the interior of the
brain. Here you see them as if you could look
through a transparent exterior of the brain.
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Theories of Emotions

• Theories of emotional arousal
• James-Lange theory-autonomic arousal and skeletal
  actions occur what we label that arousal is the
  emotion
• Cannon-Bard theory-a stimulus evokes the
  emotional experience and the physical arousal
  simultaneously but independently
• Schacter-Singer theory-the physiological changes
  would tell you how strong your emotion is, but
  you would need some contextual or cognitive cue
  to identify which emotion you are feeling

Video
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Stress and Health

• Stress-the nonspecific response of the body to
  any demand made upon it
• Stress Activates the Autonomic Nervous system

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Figure 12.4  The sympathetic and parasympathetic
nervous systems Review pages 9193 for more
information.
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Evidence of Mind-Body Interactions

• Psychosomatic Illness
• Onset of illness due to someones personality,
  emotions, or experiences
• Ulcers
• Ulcers are formed when an individual experiences
  a great deal of stress
• Control of the stress can alter ulcer formation
• Ulcers are formed when the parasympathetic
  nervous system rebounds after the stress

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Evidence of Mind-Body Interactions

• Heart Disease
• Data may indicate that people who experience
  frequent hostility are more prone to heart
  disease
• Voodoo Death
• Richter found that voodoo death may be due to
  parasympathetic rebound

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Stress Activation in the Body

• HPA Axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal)
• Slower to respond
• Important in chronic stress
• Activation of hypothalamus causes release of ACTH
  from pituitary and release of cortisol from
  adrenal
• Cortisol mobilizes resources but can be harmful
  if prolonged exposure

• Autonomic Nervous System
• Rapid Response System
• Important in more Acute Stressors
• Results in activation of Sympathetic Nervous
  System

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Figure 12.5  The hypothalamus-anterior
pituitary-adrenal cortex axisProlonged stress
leads to the secretion of the adrenal hormone
cortisol, which elevates blood sugar and
increases metabolism. These changes help the body
sustain prolonged activity but at the expense of
decreased immune system activity.
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Immune System Cells

• Consists of cells that protect the body against
  invaders like bacteria and viruses
• Leukocytes
• White Blood Cells
• Patrol blood and other body fluids for invaders
• Identifies antigens on intruders and signal
  attack from immune system
• Macrophage
• Surrounds intruder, digests it, and exposes its
  antigens on its own surface

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More Immune System Cells

• B Cell
• attaches to an intruder and produces specific
  antibodies to attack the intruders antigen
• antibodies are Y-shaped proteins that circulate
  in the blood, specifically attaching to one kind
  of antigen
• T Cell
• Cytotoxic-directly attack intruder cells
• Helper-stimulate other T cells or B cells to
  multiply more rapidly
• Natural Killer Cells
• blood cells that attach to certain kinds of tumor
  cells and cells infected with viruses

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More Immune System Cells/Products

• Cytokines
• Chemicals released by the immune system that
  attack infections and also communicate with the
  brain to elicit anti-illness behaviors
• Fevers make the body a lest hospitable host
• sleepiness, decreased muscle activity, decreased
  sex drive conserve energy
• decreased appetite may deprive body of iron
  needed by viruses

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Figure 12.6  Immune system responses to a
bacterial infectionA macrophage cell engulfs a
bacterial cell and displays one of the bacterias
antigens on its surface. Meanwhile a B cell also
binds to the bacteria and produces antibodies
against the bacteria. A helper T cell attaches to
both the macrophage and the B cell it stimulates
the B cell to generate copies of itself, called B
memory cells, which immunize the body against
future invasions by the same kind of bacteria.
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Stress Effects on the Immune System

• Short-term stress acts to increase immune system
  function
• Long-term stress decreases immune system function
• Reduced levels of natural killer cells, B cells,
  and T cells
• Reduced T cell function
• Reduced NK cell function
• Reduced resistance to infection

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Stress Effects on the Brain

• Selective cell death to hippocampal cells
• Due to high cortisol levels
• damage to hippocampus can lead to an increase in
  cortisol levels creating a vicious cycle of cell
  death and high cortisol levels
• Aged people with high cortisol levels show the
  greatest deterioration of the hippocampus and
  resulting memory impairment

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Who is Affected?
• People who have had a traumatic experience of
  being severely injured or threatened
• people who have seen other people harmed or
  killed
• What are the Symptoms?
• Frequent flashbacks and nightmares about the
  event
• avoidance of reminders of the event
• exaggerated arousal in response to noises and
  other stimuli

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Attack Behaviors

• Affective Attack
• highly emotional attack behavior
• triggered by pain or threat or when primed
• Heredity and Environment in Human Violence
• Evidence for a genetic or prenatal environment
  component
• Children exposed to families experiencing
  discord, depression, substance abuse or legal
  problems are more likely to demonstrate
  aggressive behaviors

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Physiology of Aggression

• Hormones
• High levels of testosterone are associated with
  aggression
• Serotonin
• low serotonin turnover is associated with
  increased aggression
• Temporal Lobe
• Stimulation of ventromedial hypothalamus or
  amygdala can result in aggression

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Figure 12.7  Location of amygdala in the human
brainThe amygdala, located in the interior of
the temporal lobe, receives input from many
cortical and subcortical areas. Part (a) shows a
blow-up of separate nuclei of the amygdala.
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Escape Behaviors

• Two Types
• Fear-transient
• Anxiety-can be long lasting
• Brain Mechanisms
• Associated with excitation of amygdala
• Most likely associated with GABA pathways
• Anti-anxiety drugs decrease fear and anxiety by
  facilitating inhibition at GABA synapses

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Figure 12.14  The GABAA receptor complexOf its
four receptor sites sensitive to GABA, the three
a sites are also sensitive to benzodiazepines.