Prep Guide 5- Carley Thomas

PREPARATION GUIDE 5 Based on: Sapolsky. (2017), Behave (Chapter 2b (pp. 45-80), Chapter 3); 1. Functions of the frontal cortex (a) Sapolsky lists seven functions among the frontal cortex's expertise, named at least 4. (b) What larger umbrella does Sapolsky group the frontal cortex's functions under? (c) In humans, at what age is the maturation of the frontal cortex complete? (d) The frontal cortex mediates "executive function". What is meant by executive function? (4 points) a. Working memory, executive function, gratification postponing, long-term planning b. The frontal cortex makes you do the harder thing when it's the right thing to do c. mid-twenties d. It chooses the harder decisions during cognitive functions 2. Using the frontal cortex (a) Using the frontal cortex has a high metabolic cost. As a consequence, Sapolsky says willpower (an executive function) is more than just a metaphor – self-control is what kind of resource? (b) Name at least two other consequences of high cognitive load. (c) Sapolsky gives examples of potty training, playing music, and sports to illustrate how the brain reduces the heavy demand for active cognitive control. What happens with these complex behaviors over time? (d) How does he say this translates to moral willpower? (e) Individuals with frontotemporal dementia, which damages frontal cortex neurons exhibit behavioral disinhibition, and difficulty making decisions. Huntington's disease, and frontal lobe stroke patients often show similar symptoms. What developmental stage(s) do you think the behavioral consequences of frontal lobe damage resemble? (f) Individuals who are criminally psychopathic have decreased frontal and PFC activity compared to controls. What link does the author make between the frontal cortex and individuals incarcerated for violent crime? (4 points) a. Self-control is a finite resource b. Being less prosocial and less emotional regulation c. These behaviors become automatic d. The frontal neurons are expensive or vulnerable cells e. f. Criminals have trauma/ injury to the frontal cortex

3. In front of the frontal cortex, or The PFC : (a) What specific function does the prefrontal cortex (PFC) perform? Judgment appears to be an interaction of cognition (dlPFC) and emotion (vmPFC). (b) Would we make better decisions in the absence of the vmPFC? (c) We learned that the amygdala is central to learning fear. Which part of the frontal cortex is central to "unlearning" the same fear? (d) Can the reactions of the vmPFC (emotions) be mediated by conscious thought? (3 points) a. Decision making b. We would have worse judgment and bad decision-making c. dlPFC d. Conscious thought moderates vmPFC 4. “I’m the decider” – the PFC gets presidential: "Doing the right thing" means different things under different conditions. (a) Describe an instance for which the PFC is the area that will contribute most to effectively doing the right thing. (b) Describe an instance where the amygdala will contribute the most effectively to "doing the right thing". (c) In your view , how is each area important to decisions in contexts where judgment has extreme consequences (e.g., criminal justice, policing, diplomacy, economics)? (3 points) a. Thinking of killing someone activates your dlPFC to think the opposite b. Your amygdala gets triggered when emotional stimuli occur c. The dlPFC controls the emotional side and the vmPFC controls logic. 5. Dopamine: (a) Name at least three of the five brain areas that comprise the dopamine system. (b) What is the basic function of the dopamine system? While punishing someone else releases dopamine, the release is higher during social cooperation than during social punishment. (c) What does this tell us about their relative importance? Sapolsky describes an experiment where dopamine levels are tracked in a monkey who pushes a lever to earn raisins. (d) What do you think the implications of this experiment are to human consumption, sexual behavior, eating, drug use, and gambling? (e) What about Capitalism vs. Socialism? (4 points) a. Initiating movement, ventral tegmental, and nucleus accumbens. b. Pleasure response c. d. The experiment displays that things like human consumption/ drug use will only build a tolerance, sexual behavior isn't satisfied, eating you will never be full, and gambling you will never win enough

of black individuals (but not white individuals). Not only do the brain systems that influence our emotions respond to sensory stimuli, but they can preferentially bias us toward looking for stimuli that reflect our emotional state. (h) In what way has the amygdala been found to bias our sensory information-gathering, according to Sapolsky? All of this has implications for situations where fast decisions occur, involving people of different races. ( i) What problems do you think might this exacerbate? (9 points) a. b. It is reactionary versus thought-out feelings or emotions c. Amygdala d. This is also responsible for memory and executive functioning. e. Anterior cingulate and dlPFC f. These structures are responsible for decision-making, social interactions, and reward-based learning, also working memory. g. Within our own experiences, we build biases towards and against others and situations we’ve been in. Therefore when it comes to seeing others of another race, we instantly see a difference and instantly remember our biases. These led us to make assumptions about that race from what we already have. h. This part of the amygdala that groups our sensory experiences can cause false implications toward others and their race or gender. If you're a person with darker skin and see other people with similar skin to you be detained and killed by white cops, when you get pulled over for a broken taillight, you're going to fear for your life when a white cop walks up to your window. i. This will continue to cause a divide and possibly escalation between every race because of one's ignorance and one's fear.