42 Chapter 15: Discussion Questions / Chapter Assignments

Chapter 15 questions

1. Before you begin reading the chapter, find one recently published (within the past 5 years) article in the field of affective neuroscience. Summarize the article and connect its content to at least 2 concepts discussed in earlier chapters. You might consider the method of neuroscience used to gather data, show a connection between the affect and clinical condition, etc.
2. After reading the chapter, evaluate the chapter against the recently published material. Is everything consistent? Are there any inconsistencies?
3. Select one video snippet from popular media that discusses an emotion. Evaluate this discussion alongside what you learned in the chapter. Is the video’s information accurate? Show your support.
4. Activity – Inside Out – Watch in class (or Watch at home and report as an individual activity). Be prepared to discuss your observations of the main characters in terms of emotions represented.
5. Speculate as to why oxytocin therapy may work in non-human models but is less effective in trials with humans.
6. Making Connections – Could you make any connections to the work by Karla McLaren? How does the information in this chapter align with McLaren’s work?
7. Case Study – Select one case study/scenario that relates to what you learned in this chapter. Discuss all areas of the brain that might be involved in this case and why.
   If you cannot find a case student or scenario, can you develop a scenario within a small group?
8. Imagine you are an affective neuroscientist. What neuroscience method (Recall Chapter 6) would you use to study the brain basis of emotion? Give the broad strokes of a possible experiment. What are some challenges that might come up?
9. Using what you know about brain lateralization, how might you explain that patients with left hemisphere surgeries more frequently complain about memory?
10. Describe the 3 components that contribute to the intensity of an individual’s fear response in a given situation.
11. Do you think that stress is an emotion or mood, and why do you think so?
12. Discuss the impact of bilateral temporal lobe removal in monkeys (list their symptoms).
13. Describe the negative feedback loops of the HPA axis (including the brain regions and hormones involved).
14. What are the three divisions of romantic love (define each)?
15. Compare and contrast the three historical interpretations of emotion.
16. Compare and contrast the anterior and posterior pituitary.

Note: Some of these questions (Questions 10-16) were developed by, or with the assistance of, students in the PSYC 232 class of Winter 2025.