Physiology and Behavior (P&B 5) Michael K. Amanda C. Brianna H. Examine one interaction between cognition and physiology in terms of behavior. Evaluate two relevant studies.

Prosapagnosia Inability to recognize faces, including your own face. Facial Recognition occurs in the part of the brain known as the fusiform gyrus.  Damage to this part of the brain leads to Prosapagnosia. People with Prosapagnosia can still recognized people but through other ways.  Hair style, Clothes, Voice, Situation, Location, and more.

Schachter & Singer (1962) Two-factor theory- emotion is a function of both cognitive factors and physiological arousal. 184 males were injected with epinephrine, a hormone that produces arousal.  Symptoms including: increased heartbeat, trembling, and rapid breathing. The participants were told they were being injected with a new drug to test their eyesight.

Schachter & Singer (1962) One group of participants were told the symptoms of the drug, while the others were not. The participants were put in rooms with participants who were actually confederates.  The confederates either acted happy or angry.  Participants who were not informed of the symptoms were more likely to feel happier or angrier than those who were informed.

Schachter & Singer (1962) The Participants emotions, happy or angry, were influenced both by how the confederates around them responded and also by their own mindset by being told the symptoms that would occur.

Richard Davidson (2004) Mediation influence on cognition. 8 Buddhist monks and 10 volunteers who had been trained in meditation for one week, meditated on love and compassion and were put in a PET scan.  The Buddhist monks and two of the volunteers had raised amounts of gamma waves in their brains. Gamma waves have been linked to higher reasoning faculties.

Richard Davidson (2004) When the participants stopped meditating, all of the 10 volunteers' gamma wave production returned to normal The Buddhist monks, how meditated for 10,000 hours to reach the rank adept, did not have their gamma wave production return to normal. The monks' gamma production during meditation was found to be larger then the volunteers' production.

Richard Davidson (2004) Davidson argued that meditation could have significant long-term effects on the brain and the way it processes emotions. The findings of this experiment indicate that the brain adapts to stimulation.  Whether from the environment or as a result of our own thinking.