Brain, Mind, and Behaviour Notes - Week 2-11 PDF

**Brain, Mind and Behaviour Notes - Week 2 - 11** [[Week 2]](#d5p84uyjuq37) 2-5 ---------------------------------------- ------- [[Week 3]](#tq6e0gzafrcs) 6-11 [[Week 4]](#vndh6apkfto5) 12-20 [[Week 5]](#rozwk9ezxhgb) 21-26 [[Week 7]](#ay4gaead2ye0) 27-34 [[Week 8]](#di...

**Brain, Mind and Behaviour Notes - Week 2 - 11** [[Week 2]](#d5p84uyjuq37) 2-5 ---------------------------------------- ------- [[Week 3]](#tq6e0gzafrcs) 6-11 [[Week 4]](#vndh6apkfto5) 12-20 [[Week 5]](#rozwk9ezxhgb) 21-26 [[Week 7]](#ay4gaead2ye0) 27-34 [[Week 8]](#dirp77l91gr2) 35-42 [[Week 9]](#l5dfe82kg8u5) 43-49 [[Week 10]](#on0reh4nm9ih) 50-55 [[Week 11]](#2nu3z8q26606) 56-60 **Week 2 - 4th October 2024** Nociception vs Pain The Physiology of PainPain Fibres +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | Afferent | Muscle | Cutaneous | Fibre | Condution | | fibre group | Nerve | Nerve | Diameter | velocity | | | | | (μm) | | | | | | | (ms) | +=============+=============+=============+=============+=============+ | Myelinated | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | Large | I | Aα - C | 13 -- 20 | 80 -- 120 | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | Small | II | Aβ | 6 -- 12 | 35 -- 75 | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | Primary | | | | | | afferents | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | Smallest | III | Aδ | 1 -- 5 | 5 -- 30 | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | Non-myelina | IV | C | 0.2 -- 1.5 | 0.5 -- 2.0 | | ted | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ TS Spine  **So, What is 'Pain'?** - - - - - These are inadequate as a definition of pain. [[http://www.iasp-pain.org/Education/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=1698&&navItemNumber=576\#Pain]](http://www.iasp-pain.org/Education/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=1698&&navItemNumber=576#Pain) IASP Definition of Pain - - Retrieved from: [[http://www.iasp-pain.org/Education/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=1698&&navItemNumber=576\#Pain]](http://www.iasp-pain.org/Education/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=1698&&navItemNumber=576#Pain) (30/08/16; emphases added). **Individual Differences** **Questions:** - - **Factors that Influence PainExperience and Reporting** **Factors influencing between-individual differences:** - - - **Factors influencing within-individual variation:** - - - **Internal Factors:(differences between individuals)** **Sex** - - **Ethnicity or Culture:** - - **Personality Characteristics:** - - - **Internal Factors interact with Situational Factors** +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | **Perceived benefits of | **Perceived costs of incapacity** | | incapacity** | | | | **(e.g., internal LOC)** | | **(e.g., external LOC)** | | | | - - - - - | | - - - - - | | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ **External Factors:** **(differences within individuals)** **Automatic Evaluation** - - - - **Conclusions** - - - - - - - - - - - **Week 3 - 11th October 2024** **The Biology of Behaviour** - - - - **Cognitive processes** Sensation and Perception Imagery Attention and executive function Memory and learning ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ ---------------------------------- -------------------------------- Intelligence, decision making & problem solving Emotion and motivation Language Development of these processes **Exploring the link between Mind and Brain** Neurons Brain size and tools Larger brain → More ideas → More efficient tools → More control over environment → Population successful → Variation Flexibility - - **Infant development and increase in brain size** **Neurone growth** - - **Synapses provide a 'one-way valve' within the nervous system** **Human brain divided into lobes:** - **Topographical organisation within lobes, e.g.** the primary motor and sensory cortices **A Timeline** - - - Timeline Cont - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **Some key methodologies** - - - - - - - - **Studying the Brain-Mind Connection** **The Body** - - - - - **The Environment & Behaviour** - - - - - - - - **Nature or Nurture** - - - - - - - **What is Cognitive Neuroscience** - Structure & chemistry of the brain → Thinking, learning, remembering, creativity, problem solving, perceiving... **Why Is Cognitive Neuroscience Relevant?** 1. 2. 3. **Example 1: The effects of subjective age on health** - - - - - - - - **Example 2: The microbiome of the gut** - - - - - - - - **Example 3: The link between inflammation and psychiatry** - - - - - - - - - - **Example 4: Stress** **Beyond Brain Structure** In looking at underlying biology, remember there's more to the brain than what it looks like... - - - **Chemistry examples** - - - - **Connections - Examples** - - - **Neuropsychiatry Neuropsychology** **Neuropsychiatry** - - - - - - - - - **Psychometric testing in neuropsychiatry** - - - - - **Cognitive Testing** Assesses pattern of strengths and weaknesses - - - EG: Use of cognitive profiling in ADHD - - - Eg use of cognitive testing in alzhimer's disease - - - - - **Conclusions** - - - - - - **Week 4 - Friday 18th October** **Brain imaging & Psychology** **Learning outcomes** - - - **Psychology=Brain Science** We study the brain to understand behaviour - - - Associated with an underlying neural mechanism **Classical Approaches to Studying Brain Function** - **Invasive**! **Animals** = We can't study humans.. **Ethics** Even though psychological theories are informed from animal models we really need to ensure these apply to the human **Classical Approaches to Studying Brain Function** - - - - - - - - *http://www.cog.brown.edu/courses/cg195/pdf\_files/fall05/RordenNatureReviews.pdf* **Contribution of the Neuroimaging techniques** - - - Non-invasive! Totally Safe *https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1552-6569.2011.00600.x* Neuroscience techniques & their use in psychology **MRI-EEG (neuroimaging/mapping)** - - - **TMS, TDCS (neurostimulation)** - - - *\*magnetic resonance imaging MRI electroencephalogram (EEG) MEG (Magnetoencephalography)* *\*transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)* **Neuroimaging** - - **Neuroscience techniques neuroimaging/mapping** MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging EEG: Electroencephalogram They measure brain activity (electrical /indirectly blood flow) which allows us to find where a specific brain area is & what its function **Neuroscience techniques neuroimaging/mapping** fMRI: functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging EEG: Electroencephalogram sMRI: structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (we still call it imaging as it is a series of images: pictures of brain slices combined together in a 3D space) sMRI imaging gives us a clear picture of the body\'s structure (anatomy) as opposed to fMRI that examines activity=function) **Neuroscience techniques neurostimulation** TMS, TDCS (neurostimulation) they do not record activity! They stimulate (activate) brain regions - - - **Neuroimaging MRI/EEG** MRI - - EEG **MRI scanner** Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Structural (sMRI) Functional fMRI fMRI Participants view images on a projector screen, situated within the MRI scanner, via a mirror system mounted on the head coil **MRI** - - - **Structural MRI (sMRI)** - - - **Magnetic field strength in MRI** - - - - **Structural MRI (sMRI)** A structural MRI looks like a series of very detailed 2D images reconstructed together in 3D shape. It allows us to study anatomy (how my brain areas look like e.g. size, shape) **Example research question** - - - **Functional (activity!)** - - - Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) Electroencephalography (EEG) - Involves doing a task (function) **Functional MRI (fMRI)** - - - During brain functioning (external stimuli/participating in experiment/thinking) blood supplies oxygen to brain cells. When these cells are active, there is an increase in blood flow and blood oxygen in the surrounding area. It measures the contrast of blood that carries oxygen and blood that does not carry oxygen (blood-oxygen-level-dependent / BOLD contrast) as an indirect measure of neuronal activity (indirect because we do not actually measure the firing of neurons but assume that firing neurons consume oxygen). **sMRI-fMRI** - - **Neuroimaging MRI/EEG** - - - - **Electroencephalogram-EEG** - - **Functional MRI/EEG** - - **Structural MRI (sMRI) & psychology** **Background**: The quality of the early environment (mother-infant) is hypothesized to influence the morphological (anatomical) development of emotional areas in the brain **Current Study:** In a 22- year longitudinal study, we examined hippocampal and amygdala volumes in adulthood in relation to early infant attachment status (important indicator of the quality of the early caregiving environment) **Insecure attachment during infancy predicts greater amygdala volumes in early adulthood** **Participants:** Adults (age \~22), children of postnatally depressed and well women **Quality of early environment/infant attachment:** At 18 months infant attachment was assessed using the Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure, the gold standard observational measure of attachment security. We had this measure from the longitudinal study **Two main measures: Attachment score-Structural brain** - - - - **Amygdala & Hippocampus** We hypothesised that insecure attachment in infancy would be associated with parallel changes in the structure of the neural systems that support emotional learning: the hippocampus, and the amygdala. Amygdala is a major component of the neural circuitry of emotion, contributing to detection and evaluation of emotionally salient stimuli, as well as the expression of emotional responses such as fear/threat (Whalen &Phelps, 2010) The hippocampus exerts strong regulatory control over the hypothalamic pituitary- adrenal (HPA) axis stress response system, ultimately serving to modulate cortisol output via the same hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors that are susceptible to early environmental experiences **Amygdala Volume** Greater amygdala volumes were found in adults who had been insecurely attached infants relative to their securely attached counterparts. **Hippocampal Volume** No differences in the hippocampal volume between secure and insecure attachment **sMRI helped us study how attachment quality (in infancy) and brain structure (in adulthood) relate** - - - **Structural MRI (sMRI) & psychology** - - - **Functional MRI (fMRI) & psychology** **Is there a human visual motion area?** To design our study, we use the knowledge acquired from animal models Criteria of a visual area: region of cortex distinct from its neighbours (function) selective to a specific visual process Single cell recording studies in macaque have showed that there are motion direction selective cells in area V5/ MT. Dubner & Zeki (1971) **Is there a human visual motion area?** - - - **Moving** - Experimental condition - Moving dots - Expansion/contraction **Stationary** - Control condition - Static dots **Is there a human visual motion area?** - - - Is there a human visual motion **Is there a human visual motion?** 1. 2. 3. 4. **Functional MRI (fMRI) & psychology** - - - **EEG & psychology** - - - - - - - **\"Does the brain respond faster to moving dots compared to static dots?"** The data showed that the volunteers' brains responded to moving stimuli significantly faster than to static stimuli in the same position on the screen, essentially being able to track the real-time position of the moving stimulus **Correlation is not causation** EEG & fMRI only tell you that a region is active during a process, not that it is necessary for a process. **Outline** - - - **Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)** **Strong magnetic field** is used to cause electric current at a specific area of the brain through electromagnetic stimulation **Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)** - - - **Neurostimulation tools(TMS/tDCS)** - - **TMS /tDCS Vs lesion-deficit studies** - - - - **Cortical excitability controls the strength of mental imagery** **Research Question:** Does visual cortical excitability modulate the strength of voluntarily visual imagery? Previous studies: - - **Studying causal relationships using tDCS** - - - **Studying casual relationships using tDCS** - - **Causal Brain-behavioural Relationships** - - **Is there a human visual motion area?** Question: Is there a change in the hemodynamic BOLD response anywhere in the brain between viewing moving stimuli and viewing static stimuli? Where? How fMRI helped us study if and where there is the human motion area (human MT) - - - **Week 5 - 25th October 2024** **Low-level and high-level processing refer to different stages of visual perception in the brain:** **Low-Level Processing** Low-level processing refers to the initial stages of visual perception, where basic features of visual stimuli are detected. This includes processing simple elements like edges, colours, contrasts, brightness, and motion. Low-level processing occurs primarily in the primary visual cortex (V1), where simple features are detected and processed. This stage is largely automatic and provides the foundational visual information that higher areas will later build upon. **High-Level Processing** High-level processing refers to the more complex and abstract interpretations of visual stimuli, often involving cognitive functions like memory, attention, and recognition. This stage includes recognizing shapes, objects, faces, and understanding context or meaning. High-level processing occurs in higher-order visual areas, and it extends to cognitive areas outside the visual cortex, like regions involved in memory, attention, and decision-making. These areas interpret visual information based on past experiences, learned knowledge, and context. **Example in Visual Perception** Low-level: When you look at a picture, low-level processing allows you to detect basic features such as edges, colours, and patterns. High-level: After that, high-level processing lets you recognize the object in the picture (e.g., a dog) and understand the scene\'s context (e.g., \"this is a dog in a park\"). Visual processing, from stimuli in the world (light) to perception (this is a butterfly) it involves many stages and happens roughly in a hierarchical order. So, we can use low to refer to early levels of processing (activity in V1) and high to refer to final perception. Note, however, that when we use the terms \"lower\" or \"higher\" in relation to visual processing, they must be understood in context. For example, visual motion is processed in higher-level visual areas of the occipital cortex, such as MT, compared to lower-level areas like V1, which primarily processes simpler properties such as edges. In this case, MT can be considered \"higher\" than V1, as it processes more complex information related to motion. However, it\'s important to note that the terms \"higher\" and \"lower\" refer to the complexity of processing, and different brain regions may be referred to as higher or lower depending on the level of processing they are involved in. In this example MT is higher (=later in hierarchical order) than V1. To perceive motion, we receive signals from the MT area, which is sensitive to moving stimuli. MT neurons are activated by motion, which is detected from the movement of edges or objects in the visual scene. However, to consciously perceive that something is moving, we also need to integrate this sensory information with higher-level cognitive functions, such as memory (for past experiences of motion) and expectations (e.g., \"this is a car, so it must be moving\"). In this example, while MT processes the sensory input (the motion), higher-level cognitive functions (like recognizing the car and understanding it is moving) engage additional brain areas that go beyond MT. In this example, the cognitive brain areas (outside the occipital lobe) are higher in order/responsible for more advance processing compared to visual area MT. **A: Hierarchical visual processing** Initial phase: from stimulus (:light) to sensory neurons Light Enters the Eye: Light from an object enters through the cornea and pupil. Focused on Retina: The lens focuses the light onto the retina, which is at the back of the eye. Retinal Cells Activate: The retina has special cells (rods and cones) that convert light into electrical signals. Signals Travel to Brain: These electrical signals travel through the optic nerve to the brain. Processing in the Brain: The signals reach the visual cortex in the brain, where they are processed. **Early level of visual processing in the brain: Processing visual information in the Brain (Hierarchical Steps in the Occipital Regions): from light to shapes** 1. 1. 2. 2. 3. 4. 3. 5. 6. 7. 8. 4. 9. 10. **Visual Cortex** Information is moving in the direction of the arrow, the lower areas the earlier in the hierarchy of processing and the most basic the function  **Higher level of visual processing from visual to cognitive- from occipital cortex/visual cortex to the rest of the brain). From shape and motion of the object to the perception: this is a butterfly:** Involve hierarchical processing with cognitive functions, where memory and expectations play key roles in recognizing and interpreting visual stimuli. Final perception is influenced by cognitive processing, including the integration of past experiences and context, leading to a subjective understanding of the visual world. **5. Integration with Other Brain Areas:** - - **6. Interpretation and Perception (Incorporating Cognitive Functions)** 1. 1. 2. 2. 3. 4. 3. 5. 6. **Summary** - - - - - - - - **A: Top down and bottom up influences in perception** **Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Influences** - - - - - - - - Summary - - - - In the context of the Necker Cube, \"low level\" and \"high level\" can refer to the different interpretations or perceptions of the cube. 1. 2. **Ambiguity**: Because the Necker Cube is an ambiguous figure, the brain can interpret it in multiple ways. Bottom-up processing allows for the detection of lines and shapes, but it does not resolve which perspective is \"correct\"---that interpretation emerges through higher-level processing or perceptual shifts. If I asked you : can you make yourself see this from above? This would be a top down influence on your perceptual experience **Bottom up (from visual signals-that is from high and low visual areas) and top down influences in the perception of the hollow mask** **Bottom-Up Processing in the Hollow Mask Illusion** 1. 1. 2. 2. 3. 3. 4. 4. This is a hollow mask (concave). Depth cues, contours, shapes inform you that this is a hollow. If you don't perceive this as hollow it means that there is no bottom up influence If you perceive this as normal face (convex), it means that the top down influences (from very high level cognitive areas outside the visual areas) influence your perception. **Top-Down Processing in the Hollow Mask Illusion** 1. 1. 2. 2. 3. 3. **Summary** - - **Week 7 - 8th November 2024** Addiction and Learning 5PSYC002W Brain, Mind and Behaviour **Definition of Addiction** - - - (International Society of Addiction Medicine, 1999). - - Addiction: Why vs How - - "Everything boils down to biology" ≠ "Everything stems from biology" Example **A** **B** ------------------------ -------  These trees are members of the same species; English Oak (Quercus robur). What accounts for the differences? **Biological Bases of Addiction** - - - - - - - **Learning and Addiction** - - - - - - - **Classical Conditioning** WhatisClassicalConditioning? - Example: - - - **Recap of Terminology** **UnconditionedStimulus(US)** - **UnconditionedResponse(UR)** - **ConditionedStimulus(CS)** - **ConditionedResponse(CR)** - **Learning Mechanism: predictionContingency not Contiguity (Rescorla, 1966)** C:\\Users\\David\\Desktop\\Cont.png **Classical Conditioning in Addiction(summary)** - - - - **Operant vs Classical Conditioning** -  **The law of effect(Edward Thorndike, 1905)** ----------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C:\\Users\\Dave\\Desktop\\Thorndyke.png *"Responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation." (Grey, 2011)* ----------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **BurrhusFrederick Skinner(1904 --1990)** - ----------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------  C:\\Users\\Dave\\Desktop\\Skinner.png ----------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- **Types of Consequence:Reinforcement and Punishment**  **Reward: the Biological Basis of Reinforcement** C:\\Users\\David\\Desktop\\Reward.png **Immediate (faster) Reward vs Delayed (slower) Reward**  **Evolutionary Basis of Reward** - - - - **Biological and PsychologicalDimensions of addiction** **Remember**: "Clinically, the manifestations occur along biological, psychological, sociological and spiritual dimensions." (ISAM, 1999). **Biological dimension:** - - - - - - **Physiological and PsychologicalDimensions of addiction** **Psychological dimension:** - - - - - - **Summary: The How & Why of Addiction** **The biological perspective can describe the biological mechanisms that explain how people become addicted.** **How:** - - - - - **Why people become addicted is complex** Reciprocal Determinism (Albert Bandura) The complex interactions between biology, behaviour and environment. ------------------------ -- ------------------------    ------------------------ -- ------------------------ **Week 8 - Friday 15th November** **Nature and relevance of memory** Catherine Loveday **Review** - - - - - - - - **Review: Factors that affect encoding** - - - - - - - **Review: Factors that affect retrieval** - - - - - - - Relevance of memory - - - - - - - **Nature & relevance of Autobiographical Memory** - - - - - - - - - - - - **Key features of autobiographical memory** - - - - - - **Quick quiz: TRUE OR FALSE?** - - - - **Functions of AB memory** - - - - - - - - - - - **Studying autobiographical memory** - - - - **Conway's Self Memory System** Screen shot 2011-11-29 at 09.08.04.png Conway (2009) - - - **Evidence for organisation of memory** - - - - - - - **Dating memories** - - - - - - - - **2021: The Lost Year?**  **Autobiographical memories across the lifespan** - - - - Rem bump.jpeg **Autobiographical memories....** - - - - - **Autobiographical memory across the lifespan -** Prof Catherine Loveday **Autobiographical memory -- a reminder** - - - - **Nature of childhood Memory** - - - - - - - **Cognitive explanations for childhood amnesia** 1. 2. 3. 4. **Neurobiology of childhood memory** - - - **Early memories & stress** - - - - - **Adolescence & early adulthood -- the reminiscence bump** - - -  **Music reminiscence** **Reminiscence bump - explanations** - - - - - - **Self-defining & flashbulb memories** - - - - - - - **Flashbulb memories (cont...)** - - - - - - - - - "MEMORIES are curious things. Sometimes they masquerade as thoughts, feelings, or images, without revealing themselves as memories. Sometimes they come to mind and seem relatively meaningless, other times they overwhelm consciousness and cast us back into a vividly remembered past. They emerge into consciousness from somewhere else and give us pause for thought. Why? When a hysterical patient finally connects their intrusively persistent awareness of a disturbing smell to a memory of the smell of a particular person's cigar, why is it significant?It is significant because memories are an intrinsic part of us -- they are the database or the content of the self. They ground it in a remembered reality that constrains what the self can be now and in the future, and what it could possibly have been in the past. Because of this, memories are not some sort of mental wallpaper that merely provide a backdrop for the self. They are alive, free, sometimes alien, occasionally dangerous mental representations, that can overwhelm as easily as they fulfill." Conway (2006) **Week 9 - 22nd November 2024** **Cognitive Neuroscience Models of Memory** Catherine Loveday **MEMORY, WHERE IN THE BRAIN:THE EVIDENCE** **Evidence from patients with brain lesions..** Overall these studies: - - -  **Evidence from brain imaging with healthy participants** - - - - - **Evidence from brain imaging with healthy participants** - - - - **Key areas of brain involved in memory** From studies of people with amnesia & also neuroimaging studies we know that specific parts of the brain seem to be particularly important: - - - - - - brainmem **What can research from experimental psychology add?** - - - - - **Explicit vs Implicit Tests** +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | - - - - - - - - | - - - - - - | | | | | - | | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ **What can research from experimental psychology add?** - - - - -  +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | **Further evidence from healthy | Chart, scatter chart Description | | populations....** | automatically generated | | | | | - - - - | | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ **MEMORY, WHERE IN THE BRAIN:DIFFERENT STRUCTURES, DIFFERENT ROLES** **The non-unitary nature of memory** - "Memory is not a unitary faculty of mind but is composed of multiple systems that have different operating principles and different neuroanatomy" - - - - - - **Some well-established distinctions and terminology** - - - - - - - - - - NB "Memories" may move from one classification to another **Declarative vs non-declarative** - - - - - - **Squire & Zola-Morgan (1991)(from Henke, Nature reviews, 2010)**  **Anatomy of the hippocampus** +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | - - - - | Screen Shot 2016-11-16 at | | | 08.11.23.png | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ **Place cells in the rodent hippocampus** - - - - - **The special role of the hippocampus.....?** - - - - - - - **Beyond the hippocampus; beyond HM...? (Aggleton, 2013)** - - - - **The special role of the Pre-frontal cortex.....?** - - - - - - - - - A picture containing fruit, nut Description automatically generated **Working Memory: Baddeley & Hitch (1974; 1986; 2006)**  - - - - **The Default Mode Network** - - - - - Screen Shot 2016-11-03 at 12.37.05.png **Conclusions re evidence:** - - - - - **Week 10 - Friday 29th 2024** **Stress Arousal & Circadian Rhythms** Outline - - - **Circadian rhythms** **Nature\'s Cyclicity:** - - - - - **Implications for Psychology:** - - **Circadian rhythms in mammals** - - - - - - - **Circadian Rhythms** ------------------------ --  ------------------------ -- **Circadian Troughs**  **Light is a major factor in the regulation of circadian cycles** **Setting the cycle** - - - **Nuclei of the hypothalamus**  **The Suprachiasmatic Nucleus** - - - **The Suprachiasmatic Nucleus** **The SCN is strategically placed between the visual and the neuroendocrine pathways**  **Light and the SCN** - - - - **Shift Work** - - - **Dysregulation of Circadian Rhythms** - - - - - - *Law (2024), In Press* **Jet lag** - - - - **Circadian rhythm of cortisol secretion**  **The cortisol awakening response (CAR)** - - - **The Car is light-sensitive** **Earlier and greater CAR: better executive function in old age** CAR predicted better executive function 45 min post awakening Bigger CAR predicts more brain plasticity later in same day **What is the function of the CAR?** **The car had dual input from SCN** **Is CAR a signal from the SCN to inform peripheral clocks?** **Peripheral clocks informed by range of factors** **Peripheral clocks informed by glucocorticoids** - - **Summary and conclusion** Further reading - In: Groome & Eysenck (2016). An Introduction to Applied Cognitive Psychology (2nd Ed.). Oxon: Routledge. (Available in library) - and cognitive function. International review of neurobiology, 150, 187-217. (Available in this week's lecture folder) **Week 11 - 6th December 2024** **Decision-Making** Dr. Beth Parkin **Overview** - - - - **Learning Outcomes** 1. - - 2. 3. **Definition** "The cognitive process's that undermine the selection of one course of action from several alternatives" **People are not rational** Not even you Irrationality means that you have inherent biases in your decision making, we don't logically make decisions based on the information available. - - - - A bat and a ball together cost \$1.10 The bat costs a dollar more than the ball How much does the ball cost? - - - - How do we make decisions? **Which characterizes System 1 or System 2?** Effortful Effortless Automatic Deliberative Conscious Unconscious ---------------------- -------------------------- ----------------------- Trigger emotions Uses abstract constructs Slow Fast **System 1 - Heuristics** - - - - **What we have learnt so far....** - - - - **Decision making bias and heuristics** **Framing Heuristics** The observation that people make different choices depending on how information about the decision is presented. **Examples include:** - - - **Decoy Effect** What restaurant would you choose? (Huber 1982) A five star restaurant 25 minutes away (57%) A three star restaurant 5 minutes away (43%) A five star restaurant 25 minutes away (82%) A three star restaurant 5 minutes away (18%) A four star restaurant 35 minutes away (0%) **Gains and Losses are processed differently** - Kahneman and Tversky (1979) Balloon Analogue Risk Task Number of pumps made is a standardized measure of risk taking in psychology GAIN TRIAL 5p per pump Less risk taking LOSS TRIAL - avoid loosing ££ £3 per balloon Avoid losing 5p per pump More risk taking People tend to sell stocks too soon if they go up and keep them too long if they lose We have an irrational tendency to be less willing to gamble with profits than with losses Framing effects People adopt the default option **Availability heuristic** **Rank the following causes of death in the United States between years 1990-2000 (1- highest, 3 lowest number of deaths)** - - - **Types of errors - Summary** **Framing Heurstics:** the environment has large unrecognized effects on behavior **Decoy effect:** change in preference between two options when a third unattractive option is presented **Losses and Gains:** a person is risk adverse for gains, but risk seeking for losses **Opt in/opt out:** people adopt the default position for difficult emotional decisions **Availability Heuristics:** We base judgments by the most common reports. **Gigerenzer** - - - **Gigerenzer** **Ecological rationality** -- this refers to the idea that heuristics are neither good or bad, but instead well adapted or not well adapted to a given environment. **Risk vs Uncertainty** **For uncertainty we need rules of thumb/ heuristics.** High uncertainty ←→ Low uncertainty Many alternatives ←→ Few alternatives Small amount of Data ←→ High amount of data Make it simple ←→ Make it complex **Gigerenzer was important in highlighting the difference between laboratory decision making research and the real world** **Brain regions underlying decision making** **Striatum** - - **Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex** - - - **Orbital Frontal Cortex** - **Amygdala** - **Decision making in the real world** - **The Stress Response** **The Sympathetic Adrenal-Medullary Pathway (SAM)** - - - **Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocortical Axis(HPA)** - - **Stress leads to increased reliance on automatic processing** **Kassam et al (2009**)- Under stress participants showed less adjustment from anchors. - - Cortisol increased risk taking in men but decreased risk taking and in women on the Balloon Analog Risk Task **Conclusions** 1. - - 2. - - - - - 3. Stress leads to increased reliance on automatic processing