Question

1. Patients with a specific shared brain lesion have a specific set of behavioral deficits. Does this show that this brain area is necessary for that behavior, sufficient, neither, or both?
2. What do we mean by a visual object agnosia? What are some tests you would give to a patient to try to diagnose or rule out this condition?
3. Describe an experiment that would illustrate the function of the amygdala in emotional processing.

Answer 1

1. Yes, this brain area is necessary for that behavior as both ie sufficient or either.

2. Visual object agnosia is an impairment in recognition of visually presented objects. For example is an inability to name or describe the use for an object placed in front of you when you just looking at it.

You will still be able to reach for it and, pick it up. You can also use your sense of touch to identify what it is or its use once you are holding it.

Tests rule out visual agnosia:

* Assesing the patient's ability to name, describe uses for and, pantomime the use of visually presented objects.

Diagnosed by extensive occipital damage due to anoxic insult or severe infarction.

3. Experiment:

Aim: To highlight the sensitivity of the amygdala to emotional intensity.

Methods:

Participants.

Eighteen healthy participants with normal or corrected to normal vision and no history of neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Written informed conscent and safety screening questioniare to undergo MRI was obtained from each participant.

Experimental procedure:

* First session: functional MRI to examine regional brain activity during a spontaneous emotion activity risk.

Second session: same participants performed the same paradigm but outside the scanner.

Conclusion:

* These results highlight the sensitivity of the amygdala to variations in the intensity of positive emotions and in conjunction with results in the literature of negative emotions, show the role of amygdala in the perception of emotional intensity.