PSYC18H3 Chapter 6: Chapter 6. Emotions and the Brain
Document Summary
Neuroimaging: display and analysis of images of brain processes, derived from scanning the brain and making computational constructions of specific brain activities. Include pet and fmri that show brain activity changes over time. Hindbrain includes regions that control basic physiological processes: the medulla regulates cardiovascular activity, the pons controls human sleep, the cerebellum is involved in controlling motor movement. The forebrain includes the thalamus which is involved in integrating sensory information, the hippocampus critical for memory processes, and the hypothalamus which regulates important biological functions like eating, sexual behaviour, and aggression. Within the forebrain, limbic system with structures involved in emotion like the amygdala sets human brain apart from that of other species. Cats deprived of their cortex were liable to make sudden, inappropriate, and ill-directed attacks called sham rage. Children abound with uncontrolled emotion until their cortex develops sufficiently to inhibit their lower functions.
