Emotions

Emotional Learning and Reward Processing in the Brain

• Different brain areas control emotional learning: amygdala for emotional valence and hippocampus for memory
• Surgical removal of amygdala, hippocampus, or both is relevant for epilepsy treatment
• Right dLPFC and amygdala are more active for remembered faces and fearful/happy expressions
• The amygdala processes emotional stimuli, particularly faces, for approach or avoidance
• The amygdala has fast and slow routes for processing known and novel emotional stimuli
• Reward processing involves dorsal striatum for action and ventral striatum for objects/events
• The striatum shows consistent responses to pleasurable music and correlates with willingness to pay
• The anterior cingulate cortex is part of the limbic system and is involved in action selection and conflict monitoring
• The orbital frontal cortex and ventromedial frontal cortex evaluate rewards and guide behavior
• Damage to these frontal areas causes impaired decision-making and risky behavior
• The Iowa Gambling Task and studies on regret in humans and rats illustrate the role of these brain regions in decision-making
• Asymmetry in the brain leads to right hemisphere specialization for emotions and music and left hemisphere specialization for language.

Emotional Learning and Reward Processing in the Brain

• Different brain areas control emotional learning: amygdala for emotional valence and hippocampus for memory
• Surgical removal of amygdala, hippocampus, or both is relevant for epilepsy treatment
• Right dLPFC and amygdala are more active for remembered faces and fearful/happy expressions
• The amygdala processes emotional stimuli, particularly faces, for approach or avoidance
• The amygdala has fast and slow routes for processing known and novel emotional stimuli
• Reward processing involves dorsal striatum for action and ventral striatum for objects/events
• The striatum shows consistent responses to pleasurable music and correlates with willingness to pay
• The anterior cingulate cortex is part of the limbic system and is involved in action selection and conflict monitoring
• The orbital frontal cortex and ventromedial frontal cortex evaluate rewards and guide behavior
• Damage to these frontal areas causes impaired decision-making and risky behavior
• The Iowa Gambling Task and studies on regret in humans and rats illustrate the role of these brain regions in decision-making
• Asymmetry in the brain leads to right hemisphere specialization for emotions and music and left hemisphere specialization for language.

Emotional Learning and Reward Processing in the Brain

• Different brain areas control emotional learning: amygdala for emotional valence and hippocampus for memory
• Surgical removal of amygdala, hippocampus, or both is relevant for epilepsy treatment
• Right dLPFC and amygdala are more active for remembered faces and fearful/happy expressions
• The amygdala processes emotional stimuli, particularly faces, for approach or avoidance
• The amygdala has fast and slow routes for processing known and novel emotional stimuli
• Reward processing involves dorsal striatum for action and ventral striatum for objects/events
• The striatum shows consistent responses to pleasurable music and correlates with willingness to pay
• The anterior cingulate cortex is part of the limbic system and is involved in action selection and conflict monitoring
• The orbital frontal cortex and ventromedial frontal cortex evaluate rewards and guide behavior
• Damage to these frontal areas causes impaired decision-making and risky behavior
• The Iowa Gambling Task and studies on regret in humans and rats illustrate the role of these brain regions in decision-making
• Asymmetry in the brain leads to right hemisphere specialization for emotions and music and left hemisphere specialization for language.

The Amygdala and Emotional Processing

• The amygdala is involved in fear learning and emotional valence, while the hippocampus is associated with memory.
• Surgeries for epilepsy may involve removing the amygdala, hippocampus, or both if the condition is severe.
• The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC) is more active when remembering faces, particularly for fearful and happy expressions.
• The amygdala is not only activated by negative stimuli, but also by positive ones, such as happy faces.
• The amygdala has two processing routes: a fast route for automatic reactions and a slow route for learning emotional valence of novel stimuli.
• The dorsal striatum is connected to the dLPFC and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and is involved in reward valuation in the context of action.
• The ventral striatum is connected to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus and is responsible for reward valuation of objects and events.
• The nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the ventral striatum shows increased activity when subjects listen to music they prefer, and this activity correlates with the amount of money they are willing to pay for the music.
• The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in selecting actions based on effort and motivation and is linked to the limbic system and frontal lobe.
• The orbital frontal cortex (OFC) and ventromedial frontal cortex (vmFC) play a primary role in evaluating rewards to guide behavior and are connected to the ventral striatum, amygdala, and hippocampus.
• Damage to the OFC and/or vmFC can lead to socially inappropriate behaviors, impaired decision-making, and difficulty assessing costs and benefits of actions and outcomes.
• The right hemisphere is specialized for emotions and music, while the left hemisphere is specialized for language. Damage to the right hemisphere impairs recognition and memory for faces and emotional expressions.

The Amygdala and Emotional Processing

• The amygdala is involved in fear learning and emotional valence, while the hippocampus is associated with memory.
• Surgeries for epilepsy may involve removing the amygdala, hippocampus, or both if the condition is severe.
• The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC) is more active when remembering faces, particularly for fearful and happy expressions.
• The amygdala is not only activated by negative stimuli, but also by positive ones, such as happy faces.
• The amygdala has two processing routes: a fast route for automatic reactions and a slow route for learning emotional valence of novel stimuli.
• The dorsal striatum is connected to the dLPFC and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and is involved in reward valuation in the context of action.
• The ventral striatum is connected to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus and is responsible for reward valuation of objects and events.
• The nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the ventral striatum shows increased activity when subjects listen to music they prefer, and this activity correlates with the amount of money they are willing to pay for the music.
• The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in selecting actions based on effort and motivation and is linked to the limbic system and frontal lobe.
• The orbital frontal cortex (OFC) and ventromedial frontal cortex (vmFC) play a primary role in evaluating rewards to guide behavior and are connected to the ventral striatum, amygdala, and hippocampus.
• Damage to the OFC and/or vmFC can lead to socially inappropriate behaviors, impaired decision-making, and difficulty assessing costs and benefits of actions and outcomes.
• The right hemisphere is specialized for emotions and music, while the left hemisphere is specialized for language. Damage to the right hemisphere impairs recognition and memory for faces and emotional expressions.

The Amygdala and Emotional Processing

• The amygdala is involved in fear learning and emotional valence, while the hippocampus is associated with memory.
• Surgeries for epilepsy may involve removing the amygdala, hippocampus, or both if the condition is severe.
• The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC) is more active when remembering faces, particularly for fearful and happy expressions.
• The amygdala is not only activated by negative stimuli, but also by positive ones, such as happy faces.
• The amygdala has two processing routes: a fast route for automatic reactions and a slow route for learning emotional valence of novel stimuli.
• The dorsal striatum is connected to the dLPFC and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and is involved in reward valuation in the context of action.
• The ventral striatum is connected to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus and is responsible for reward valuation of objects and events.
• The nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the ventral striatum shows increased activity when subjects listen to music they prefer, and this activity correlates with the amount of money they are willing to pay for the music.
• The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in selecting actions based on effort and motivation and is linked to the limbic system and frontal lobe.
• The orbital frontal cortex (OFC) and ventromedial frontal cortex (vmFC) play a primary role in evaluating rewards to guide behavior and are connected to the ventral striatum, amygdala, and hippocampus.
• Damage to the OFC and/or vmFC can lead to socially inappropriate behaviors, impaired decision-making, and difficulty assessing costs and benefits of actions and outcomes.
• The right hemisphere is specialized for emotions and music, while the left hemisphere is specialized for language. Damage to the right hemisphere impairs recognition and memory for faces and emotional expressions.