Chapter 10

16

medial nucleus

A group of subnuclei of the amygdala that receives sensory input, including information about the presence of odors and pheromones, and relays it to the medial basal forebrain and hypothalamus.

central nucleus

The region of the amygdala that receives information from the basolateral division and sends projections to a wide variety of regions in the brain; involved in emotional responses.

basal nucleus

A group of subnuclei of the amygdala that receives sensory input from the lateral and basolateral nuclei and relays information to other amygdaloid nuclei and to the periaqueductal gray matter.

conditioned emotional response

A classically conditioned response that occurs when a neutral stimulus is followed by an aversive stimulus; usually includes autonomic, behavioral, and endocrine components such as changes in heart rate, freezing, and secretion of stress-related hormones.

coping response

A response through which an organism can avoid, escape from, or minimize an aversive stimulus; reduces the stressful effects of an aversive stimulus.

orbitofrontal cortex

The region of the prefrontal cortex at the base of the anterior frontal lobes.

akinetic mutism

A motor disorder characterized by a relative lack of movement and lack of speech; caused by damage to the cingulate gyrus.

display rule

A culturally determined rule that modifies the expression of emotion in a particular situation.

volitional facial paresis

Difficulty in moving the facial muscles voluntarily; caused by damage to the face region of the primary motor cortex or its subcortical connections.

emotional facial paresis

Lack of movement of facial muscles in response to emotions in people who have no difficulty moving these muscles voluntarily; caused by damage to the insular prefrontal cortex, subcortical white matter of the frontal lobe, or parts of the thalamus..

Wada test

A test often performed before brain surgery; verifies the functions of one hemisphere by testing patients while the other hemisphere is anesthetized.

James-Lange theory

A theory of emotion that suggests that behaviors and physiological responses are directly elicited by situations, and that feelings of emotions are produced by feedback from these behaviors and responses.

defensive behavior

A species-typical behavior by which an animal defends itself against the threat of another animal.

threat behavior

A stereotypical species-typical behavior that warns another animal that it may be attacked if it does not flee or show a submissive behavior.

submissive behavior

A stereotyped behavior shown by an animal in response to threat behavior by another animal; serves to prevent an attack.

predation

Attack of one animal directed at an individual of another species, on which the attacking animal preys.