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dc.contributor.advisorÅsli, Ole
dc.contributor.authorHopmann, Karen
dc.date.accessioned2013-11-05T08:08:29Z
dc.date.available2013-11-05T08:08:29Z
dc.date.issued2013-05-02
dc.description.abstractThere are two different routes in the brain that deal with the processing of sensory information and initiate a response. One fast route, the dorsal magnocellular pathway, involves structures like the amygdala and starts a rapid and automatic fear reaction, necessary in so-called fight-or-flight situations. The other route comprises the neocortex, initiating a slower response via the parvocellular ventral pathway. Previous studies have shown that different features of pictures, such as spatial frequency, orientation or amplitude, influence different pathways. In general, neurons in the brain get more activated to higher amplitude. Based on that, this study - consisting of two experiments - investigated the influence of amplitude in low spatial frequency (LSF) pictures on emotional reactions in the brain. In experiment 1, eighty-four volunteers participated in a startle eyeblink response study. Responses were enhanced to LSF facial pictures of high amplitude in comparison to low amplitude. In addition, a stronger eyeblink response was observed when measured at longer latencies (after 3,000 ms) in comparison to short latencies (250 ms), which could be explained by prepulse inhibition at shorter latencies. Moreover, a subjective test revealed a significant difference between the different emotional valences on a positivity scale. Experiment 2 further investigated whether reaction times were enhanced when watching high amplitude LSF facial pictures. Contrary to predictions, higher amplitude LSF pictures led to significantly longer reaction times, while low amplitude pictures initiated a faster response.en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/5480
dc.identifier.urnURN:NBN:no-uit_munin_5182
dc.language.isoengen
dc.publisherUniversitetet i Tromsøen
dc.publisherUniversity of Tromsøen
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccess
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2013 The Author(s)
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0en_US
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)en_US
dc.subject.courseIDPSY-3900en
dc.subjectVDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Psykologi: 260::Kognitiv psykologi: 267en
dc.subjectVDP::Social science: 200::Psychology: 260::Cognitive psychology: 267en
dc.titleSpatial cognition of emotional faces : how fast is our brain?en
dc.typeMaster thesisen
dc.typeMastergradsoppgaveen


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Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)