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in list: Neuroethics

For many students, attention may not be the roadblock learning, but rather remembering what's been learned once, twice, or dozens and dozens of time. When we see these kids in our clinic, more often than not, we don't find a child with a severe memory impairment; rather we see a boy or a girl who has a good memory for certain types of things and a bad memory other types of things.

emotions neurolearning

The issue of retributivism and punishment has been a common theme on both the Garden and Forking Paths and Flickers of Freedom. My present purpose is to try to briefly get clear on the salient terms and themes of the debate. Because this is the first of what will be a series of posts by me in the coming months on retributivism, I want to define some of the key terms up front to prevent confusion downstream.

emotions retributivism punishment grue

A new study suggests that, like everyone else, I recorded these emotional memories independently of the factual aspects of the day.

emotions memory amnesiacs cogsci grue

The researchers found sounds indicating negative emotions were widely understood by both groups but positive emotions were mainly culture-specific.

emotions culture 150

The popular answer is the evolutionary one--that emotions have helped us survive. When we lived in the wild--with monkeys and mastodons and tigers--we needed emotions in order to react quickly to dangerous stimuli. If faced with a tiger, it's better to be rocked with a fear so strong it triggers a rush of blood than to sit around and theorize about the threat. We developed an emotional system because it could induce quick responses to danger (for theorists on emotion and evolution, see Antonio Damasio, Joseph LeDoux, and Robert Trivers).

emotions psychology evolution

In my last post, I wrote about the evolutionary value of emotions. One reason emotions are useful is that they get us to react quickly in response to danger. Although our rational (as opposed to emotional) minds do a lot to keep us at the top of the food chain, rational thinking is sometimes too slow for handling a threat (e.g. fighting a tiger). Sometimes, we need to react more quickly--and our emotions, like fear and surprise, help us do that.

emotions morality

Snorting oxytocin, shown in recent years to trigger all kinds of feel-good emotions, might also incite envy and gloating (Scientific American)

oxytocin brains emotions cogsci

“I think animals do experience regret, as defined as the recognition of a missed opportunity,” Dr. Brosnan said. “In the wild, these abilities may help them to recognize when they should forage in different areas or find a different cooperative partner who will share the spoils more equitably.”

regret animal emotions mind grue

Takahasi et al. show that experiencing envy at another person's success activates pain-related neural circuitry, whereas experiencing schadenfreude--delight at someone else's misfortune--activates reward-related neural circuitry. (Deric Bownds' MindBlog)

emotions brains cogsci

If we knew what made some people vulnerable to the effects of tryptophan depletion, we would be a long way towards understanding depression. We still don't. But it's something to do with serotonin. In some people, in some circumstances, serotonin is the only thing between happiness and despair. No, really. (Neuroskeptic)

brains emotions serotonin

Twenty-nine healthy participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while imagining being in situations in which they or someone else harmed themselves or someone else. Kédia et al. 20 (10): 1788 -- The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

neuroethics morality brains emotions emotion harm

in list: Neuroethics

A social psychologist explains how abstract concepts can create physical feelings

metaphors emotions psychology grue

oxytocin attenuates our emotional response and amygdala reactivity to faces that we have learned to dislike (Deric Bownds' MindBlog)

oxytocin emotions

Damasio, A. (2003) "Feelings of Emotion and the Self," Annals of the New York Academy of Science 1001, 253-261.

damasio emotions brains self AZB

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