PSYC314 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex, Periaqueductal Gray, Orbitofrontal Cortex

• School: University of Delaware
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC314
• Professor: Roth Eric

Document Summary

Emotion: positive or negative reactions to particular situations: patterns of physiological changes and accompanying behaviors or urges to perform said behaviors, responses are accompanied by feelings, behavioral, autonomic, and hormonal. Lesions decrease emotion responses and emotional memory: causes conditional emotional responses, classical conditioning of fear. Emotions as response patterns: serotonin: activity of serotonergic neurons inhibit aggression, destruction of them facilitates aggression, vmpfc: medial orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex; role in complex analyses of social situations. It"s inputs tell it what is happening in the environment and what plans are being made by the brain. It"s outputs permit it to affect a variety of behaviors and physiological responses. Phineas gage rod through brain and he became childish, irresponsible, and thoughtless. People with this kind of damage can only theoretically assess the significance of particular situations, not act on them. Damage correlations between emotional dysfunction (not cognitive) and real-world competencies.