Ch. 3 - Understanding Motivation and Emotion - Reeve 7th Ed. COMPLETE GUIDE

MOTIVATION, EMOTION, AND NEUROSCIENCE Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system—and the human brain in particular. Looking at the human brain in action—how its neural structures and pathways are associated with psychological processes, motivational processes, and emotional processes. Day-to-Day Events Activate Specific Brain Structures When someone flashes you a warm smile, a small brain structure in the back, right side of the brain —the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) processes what you are seeing and rather instinctively (automatically) knows that the person is happy and friendly. Similarly, when someone flashes you an angry facial expression, the amygdala processes this and rather instinctively knows that threat and danger are coming. Environmental events from predators and bullies, or loud noises to a pleasant smell, a humorous video clip, and finding a $20 bill that we thought we had lost— produce brain activations. The fMRI detects changes in brain activity as active brain areas are fueled by glucose and oxygen.