Eisenberger et al(2003)
What was the aim?
investigate neural correlates of social exclusion and test the hypothesis that the braiN bases of social pain are similar to those of physical pain
Name atleast 2 findings of the study
- group 1 participants with two short alleles in the 5-HTT gene reported more depression symptoms in response to stressful events than the other groups
- childhood maltreatment was predictive of depression in adulthood only in adults with one or two short alleles
- participants with two long alleles reported fewer depression symptoms
What was the purpose of the study
To see if scopolamine affected hippocampal activity in the creation of spatial memory.
What was the aim? and what animal did they experiment on?
inVestigate the role of ACh in learning and memory and the animals were rats
Was the study ethical? explain why or why not
- there was informed consent (although HM forgot that he consented)
- he was protected from mental and physical harm.
- his identity has not remained confidential.
How was it conducted?
participants were given fMRI scan while playing virtual ball tossing game in which they were ultimately excluded
What was the aim of the study?
Investigate whether a functional change in the 5-HTT gene is linked to higher/lower risk of depression in an individual.
The study was counterbalanced, what does that mean?
- a technique used to deal with order effects when using a repeated measures design.
- the participant sample is divided in half, with one half completing the two conditions in one order and the other half completing the conditions in the reverse order.
What was the dependent variable and how was it measured?
memory and it was measured by how fast the rats could run a maze
Sneak question who were the participants?
Henry Molaison
Be honest have you been excluded yourself and did you feel pain similar to physical? (hint hint you can't lie)
Yes and yes
Where did they get the participants from, how old were they and how many did they use?
BQ: Can you see if someone suffers from depression?
From another study, all aged 26 and they used 847 participants
BQ: NO you don't know what's going on in people's lives
why was the study carried out blindly?
To control for researcher bias
What did the researchers conclude with?
Bonus question: What colour is a carrot?
ACh played an important role in creating a memory of the maze
BQ: uh euh I think it's a carrot
What kind of study was this?
A longitudinal case study
Name the findings of the eisenberger study
The anterior cingulate cortex was more active when participants were excluded which correlated with the results of self reported distress. They correlated these results that had also showed ACC activation during physical pain.
What groups were they split into?
1. two short alleles
2. one short and one long allele
3. two long alleles
What sample of participants did they use?
twenty healthy male adults, with a mean age of 28 years old.
What findings were found?
That ACh levels boooosted rats were better at running the maze and found the food more quickly.
For how long was the study conducted?
Over 50 years
What were the conclusion of the study?
The social attachment system in humans has "piggybacked" onto the physical pain system to promote survival gainz. (would promote and maintain social bonds)
Name one limitation
- the symptoms of depression were self reported
- The effects of the gene adaptation are dependent on the type of environmental exposure to stress. People who did not carry this gene can also become depressed.
What did the researchers find out?
that when participants were injected with scopolamine, they demonstrated a significant reduction in the activation of the hippocampus compared to when they received a placebo. Itappears that acetylcholine could play a key role in the encoding of spatial memories in humans, as well as in rats.
Between what two variables did the study establish a cause and effect relationship?
levels of ACh and memory
How does this study demonstrate the components of the multi-store model of memory?
It supports the MSM because the participant's recollection confirms that there are different storages of memory (SS, STM, LTM) with different recognizable features (capacity, duration, encoding). While implicit memory contains several stores (procedural and emotional memory, skills, habits), each of these areas is related to different regions of the brain.