 emotional facial expressions ◦ evolutionary explanation

 emotional facial expressions ◦ evolutionary explanation  role of right hemisphere

 emotional facial expressions ◦ evolutionary explanation  role of right hemisphere ◦ recognition of emotion  brain damage –  functional imaging studies ◦ display of emotions  brain damage  functional imaging studies ◦ chimera

Chimeras of chimps in various moods

 left side of face even shows emotion sooner than right side

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

 emotional facial expressions ◦ evolutionary explanation  role of right hemisphere ◦ recognition of emotion ◦ display of emotions ◦ chimera  brain damaged humans

 limbic system- ◦ components of limbic system- includes hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, olfactory bulbs, septum  sits within the temporal lobe ◦ temporal lobe epilepsy

 What is it? ◦ stress is the nonspecific response of the body to any demand placed on it  What are some of the variables that contribute to how we respond to stress?

1. Sympathetic Nervous system ◦ activates adrenal glands to release E, NE, and other catecholamines into blood

 perhaps………

 Physiological measures of arousal  lie detector tests

Are there problems with these tests?

2. HPA Axis - (hypothalamic-pituitary- adrenal) axis causes the release of “stress” hormones (corticosteroids) cortisol - in humans corticosterone - in rats

negative feedback loop

(hypothalamus) Overactivation of either system can have negative consequences

 real illnesses that are exacerbated by stress- ◦ these can be potentially life threatening

 ulcers  heart disease  asthma  various skin conditions -

 Behavioral medicine  Psychoneuroimmunology

 Sapolsky ◦ vervet monkeys

Eight vervet monkeys, housed in a primate center in Kenya, died spontaneously from 1964 to 1966, were found at necropsy to have multiple gastric ulcers; a retrospective, neuropathological study was then done of this opportunistic population. Compared with controls euthanized for other research purposes, ulcerated monkeys had marked hippocampal degeneration that was apparent both quantitatively and qualitatively, and both ultrastructurally and on the light- microscopic level. Minimal damage occurred outside the hippocampus.

 Sapolsky ◦ vervet monkeys  gastric ulcers, overactive adrenal gland, degeneration and depletion of hippocampal neurons

 Cushings Syndrome - ◦ increased glucocorticoid release (can be reversed with treatment)  PTSD -  Depressed patients

 Increased cortisol or corticosterone ◦ increase Ca+2 influx  increased risk of overexcitation

 Rat studies -

 Yes- clinical data and animal studies

 Chronic stress situations ◦ examples: Is this associated with increased susceptibility to disease?

Chronic stress affects immune response in terms of illness incidence and recovery

 Segerstrom

◦ law students during their first semester ◦ optimism associated with  increased n of helper T cells  increased natural killer cell activity