MODULE 5
NEURAL BASIS OF EMOTIONS
ROLE OF FRONTAL LOBES
Major parts of limbic system project to the frontal area of cerebral cortex from
anterior nuclei of thalamus.
Frontal lobe damage is associated with a reduction in emotional feelings, especially
those of fear and anxiety.
In humans, the frontal lobes make up about one-third of the entire cerebral cortex
and are generally viewed as being important for abstract thinking and self-
awareness.
The anterior part of the lobe is often referred to as the prefrontal cortex and is
divided into a dorso-lateral area and an orbito-frontal region.
Orbitofrontal region lies at the base of the frontal lobes and this region receives input
from the amygdala via the dorsolateral thalamus and projects to several regions of
the limbic system.
An interesting study was undertaken by Eslinger and Damasio (1985), who described
a 35-year-old man who had extensive bilateral damage to the orbitofrontal cortex
caused by a tumour.
They found that the orbitofrontal cortex may not be necessarily involved in making
judgements about situational events – but, rather, it translates these judgements into
appropriate feelings and behaviours in the real world.
PREFRONTAL CORTEX
The prefrontal cortex integrates information on
The current situation
Emotionally coloured memories of past instances
Anticipated emotional consequences of current actions.
Some emotions elicit approach and others avoidance.
Looking at activity in anterior regions of the cortex, approach is associated with
activation of the left, whereas avoidance is associated with activation of the right.
For most emotions, this maps on to approach being felt as positive and avoidance as
negative.
Under-activity of the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) is associated with depression and
withdrawal.
Anticipation that goal-directed action will bring reward is organized within the left
PFC.
Depression is associated with a failure of anticipation to control cognition and
behaviour.
The right PFC is more active in negative moods and withdrawal.
BEHAVIORAL FUNCTIONS OF HYPOTHALAMUS
Hypothalamus is involved in the production of a range of emotions, such as anger
and fear.
Some evidence on its role comes from electrical stimulation of the different
nuclei from which it is composed.
Hess (1981) implanted electrodes in cats and stimulated regions of the
hypothalamus.
In certain areas, stimulation had two functionally related effects:
Triggering defence and attack
Apparent excitation of the sympathetic system in the form of an accelerated
heart rate.
By contrast, stimulation of a different hypothalamic region triggered behavioural
calming and slowing of the heart.
Electrical stimulation of distinct hypothalamic regions suggests two distinct types
of aggression:
Affective (‘rage’) aggression, involving the medial hypothalamus
Predatory (‘non-emotional’) aggression, involving the lateral hypothalamus.
Based on studies,
Rage appears to be an aversive state that the animal strives to reduce.
‘Predatory region’ is not aversive.
Some evidence supports to the involvement of the hypothalamus in emotion.
In one patient, a tumour of the hypothalamus was associated with rage.
Surgical lesions of parts of the hypothalamus have been reported to have a calming effect
BEHAVIORAL FUNCTIONS OF LIMBIC SYSTEM
Limbic” means “border”
Limbic system – entire neuronal activity that controls emotional behaviour &
motivational drives
The name “limbic lobe” was given by Paul Broca.
Limbic lobe consists of:
Cingulate gyrus
Septal nuclei
Hippocampal formation
Amygdala
Hippocampal formation consists of hippocampus & dentate nucleus
Most of the expressions of emotions arise from hypothalamus
Fibrous tract of limbic system is called median forebrain bundle (MFB)
Cingulate gyrus & hippocampus together forms a C which encircle the upper part
of brain stem.
Papez circuit – links limbic system with hypothalamus & thalamus.
Cerebral cortex can be divided into:
Allocortex – cortex of the limbic lobe (eg; cingulate gyrus)
Neocortex – non-limbic system cortex
Several limbic structures are particularly concerned with the affective nature of
sensory sensations-that is, whether the sensations are pleasant or unpleasant.
These affective qualities are also called reward or punishment, or satisfaction or
aversion.
Electrical stimulation of certain limbic areas pleases or satisfies the animal,
whereas electrical stimulation of other regions causes terror, pain, fear, defence,
escape reactions, and all the other elements of punishment.
The degrees of stimulation of these two oppositely responding systems greatly
affect the behaviour of the animal.
Specific Functions of Other Parts of The Limbic System:
Functions Of Hippocampus
Hippocampus is the elongated portion of cerebral cortex
Has connections with basal structures of limbic system – the amygdala,
hypothalamus, septum & mammillary bodies.
Any type of sensory experience cause activation of hippocampus & it in turn
distribute signals to anterior thalamus, hypothalamus & other parts of limbic
system especially through fornix.
Hippocampus is an additional channel through which incoming sensory signals
can initiate behavioural reactions for different purposes.
Stimulation of hippocampus can cause different behavioural patterns such as
pleasure, rage, passivity, or excess sex drive
Hippocampus can become hyper excitable.
Weak electrical stimuli can cause focal epileptic seizures in hippocampus
Behavioural Functions of The Hypothalamus & Associated Limbic Structures:
Stimulation in the lateral hypothalamus - leads to overt rage & fighting
Stimulation in the ventromedial nucleus & surrounding areas - sense of satiety,
decreased eating, & tranquillity
Stimulation of a thin zone of periventricular nuclei - fear & punishment reactions.
Sexual drive can be stimulated from several areas of the hypothalamus, especially
the most anterior & most posterior portions of the hypothalamus.
Bilateral lesions in the lateral hypothalamus will decrease drinking & eating
almost to zero, often leading to lethal starvation.
Bilateral lesions of the ventromedial areas cause excessive drinking & eating,
hyperactivity & frequent bouts of extreme rage on the slightest provocation.
REWARD CENTRES
The major reward centres have been found to be located along the course of the medial
forebrain bundle, especially in the lateral and ventromedial nuclei of the hypothalamus.
Lateral nucleus is one of the most potent of all – because even stronger stimuli in this
area can cause rage.
But this is true in many areas, with weaker stimuli giving a sense of reward and stronger
ones a sense of punishment.
Less potent reward centres, which are secondary to the major ones in the hypothalamus,
are found in the septum, the amygdala, certain areas of the thalamus and basal ganglia,
and extending downward into the basal tegmentum of the mesencephalon.
PUNISHMENT CENTRES
Stimulation in these areas causes the animal to show all the signs of displeasure, fear,
terror, pain, punishment, and even sickness.
The most potent areas for punishment and escape tendencies have been found in the
central gray area surrounding the aqueduct of Sylvius in the mesencephalon and
extending upward into the periventricular zones of the hypothalamus and thalamus.
Less potent punishment areas are found in some locations in the amygdala and
hippocampus.
Stimulation in the punishment centers can frequently inhibit the reward and pleasure
centers completely.
Punishment & fear can take precedence over pleasure & reward.
RAGE AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH PUNISHMENT CENTERS
An emotional pattern that involves the punishment centres of the hypothalamus
and other limbic structures, and has also been well characterized.
Strong stimulation of the punishment centres of the brain, especially in the
periventricular zone of the hypothalamus and in the lateral hypothalamus, causes
the animal to:
Develop a defence posture
Extend its claws
Lift its tail
Hiss and spit
Growl
Develop piloerection, wide-open eyes, and dilated pupils.
Even the slightest provocation causes an immediate savage attack.
This is approximately the behavior that one would expect from an animal being
severely punished, and it is a pattern of behavior that is called rage.
Fortunately, in the normal animal, the rage phenomenon is held in check mainly
by inhibitory signals from the ventromedial nuclei of the hypothalamus.
In addition, portions of the hippocampi and anterior limbic cortex, especially in
the anterior cingulate gyri and subcallosal gyri, help suppress the rage
phenomenon.
Exactly the opposite emotional behavior patterns occur when the reward centers are
stimulated: placidity & tameness.
FUNCTIONS OF AMYGDALA
Amygdala is a complex of multiple small nuclei located beneath cerebral cortex
on medial anterior pole of each temporal lobe.
It has bidirectional connection with hypothalamus & other areas of limbic system.
It is composed of three clusters of nuclei.
Major division of olfactory tract terminates in a portion of the amygdala called
the corticomedial nuclei.
In the human beings, another portion of the amygdala, the basolateral nuclei, has
become highly developed & plays important roles in behavioural activities.
The amygdala receives information from many areas of the neocortex.
In turn, the amygdala projects widely to numerous areas of the brain, including
the frontal and temporal lobes of the cortex, the olfactory bulb and cortex, the
basal ganglia, the hypothalamus, and the nucleus accumbens.
Different parts of the amygdala participate in a wide variety of processes,
including emotion, reward, motivation, learning, memory, and attention.
Amygdala participates in the active exploration of the social environment as well
as in the interpretation of the results of that exploration.
The amygdala plays a critical role in the classical conditioning of fear.
It also plays a role in the processing of negative emotions includes its large
number of benzodiazepine receptors.
Amygdala also supports the processing of negative emotional valence.
Damage to the amygdala interrupts previously learned fear responses and
prevents further learning about new sources of danger.
Bilateral damage to the amygdala usually produces reduced emotionality.
Fear, anxiety, and aggression appear to be particularly reduced.