CAS PS 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Autonomic Nervous System, Ghrelin, Amygdala

• School: Boston University
• Department: Psychological & Brain Sciences
• Course: CAS PS 101
• Professor: Stuart Phillips

Document Summary

Emotion can be defined as a positive or negative experience that is associated with a particular pattern of physiological activity. The amygdala is an extremely fast and sensitive threat detector that is activated even when potentially threatening stimuli (such as fearful faces) are shown at speeds so fast that people are unaware of having seen them. According to joseph le doux, information about a stimulus takes two routes simultaneously: the fast pathway , which goes from the thalamus directly to the amygdala (comprehensive), and the slow pathway , which goes from the thalamus to the cortex and then to the amygdala. Emotion regulation refers to the cognitive and behavioral strategies people use to influence their own emotional experience. Different people have different strategies: behavioral strategies, cognitive strategies and emotional strategies. Because of the expression causes emotion effect, when we mimic someone"s facial expression, we also feel their emotions.