# Counseling/Biopsychology and Neuroscience
### Empathy and neural functionality

When I recently retrieved my empathy undergrad learning in anticipation of this course, I realized that I had made many generalizations about the two purported empathy neurons, ===spindle=== and ===mirror===, that over-simplify their functions.
I first attempted to grasp the functions of the neurons, especially to see how the mirror neuron works, and quickly realized that I need a deep-seated knowledge of brain anatomy that was effectively a jolt because I have used my undergrad learning from a purely social perspective. Now I have to be technically expert in neuroanatomy. Another jolt was a "wake-up call" that mirror neurons are still highly theoretical. This was given to me by one of the Wikipedia "neuroscience editors" who says he is highly-technical brain researcher.
Neuroscience may, in the near future, clear up the conflicts between the different psychology theories--not to discount any, but to put help put them all in perspective.

### Functional orientation, as an extension of object orientation

I am creating lists of neural functionality, of the brain parts that mirror and spindle neurons connect to, and I am attempting to link these two lists with components of the brain's structures. This brought me to an idea, which is probably not original, called "functional orientation" that borrows from object-oriented computer science. Rather than having objects that are "evoked," such as brain components, I have functions that have object components. Emotion, as a function, has the lymbic system as an object includes sub-objects, such as the olfactory bulbs -- a connection? I think there might be, but I don't know. And so far all my attempts at short cuts by making assumptions have been dead wrong!
Notes

## Functionality
### biological

* emotion
** empathy, or emotional communication
* intelligence
* memory
* sense
* communication
* motor

### technical

* neurotransmitters
* technology to determine brain activity
* brain anatomy
* medication

## Emotion
### Manifestation of emotions

* feelings
* actions
* physiological arousal
* motivational programs
Distinct emotions seen universally in facial expressions:
* anger
* sadness
* happiness
* fear
* disgust
* surprise
* contempt
* embarrassment

### Emotion systems
#### Lymbic system structure

* nuclei
* tracts

### amygdala

* emotional reactions
** processing
** memory

### mammillary body

* recognition memory processing
* smell component of memories (connection to olafactory?)

### hippocampus

* long-term memory
* spatial navigation
* episodic (autobiographical)
** formation of new memories about experienced events
* new neurons continue to be created throughout life

### cingulate cortex and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)

* relays neural signals between the right and left cerebral hemispheres
* autonomic functions
** regulating blood pressure and heart rate
** rational cognitive functions
*** empathy
*** emotion
*** reward anticipation
*** decision-making
*** home of spindle neuron

### olafactory bulb

* transmits smell information from the nose to the brain
* process odor information, and there may be odor memory
* olfactory receptor cell, small bipolar cell

### hypothalamus

* hormone transmitter link to the the pituitary gland that regulates the endocrine system with hormone transmitters:
** body temperature
** hunger
** thirst
** fatigue
** circadian cycles

### fornix

* bundle axons that carries signals from the hippocampus to
** mammillary body
** septal nuclei

## Empathy

Sees another person experiencing an emotion
locations:
* anterior insula
* anterior cingulate cortex
* inferior frontal cortex
fMRI
* brain activity of two participants gesturing words to each other using hand gestures
* mirror neuron system of the receiver reflects the pattern of activity of the activity in the motor system of the sender
* motor concept associated with the words is transmitted using the mirror system

### Special empathy neurons
#### Spindle

* postnatal development
* become connected with diverse parts of the brain
* focus on difficult problems
** conceptualization
** modeling
** collaboration

### locations:

* anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
** transports signals from amygdala to the frontal cortex
* fronto-insular cortex (FI)
** insular cortex and limbic-related portion of the cerebral cortex
*** emotion
*** homeostasis
*** perception
*** motor control
*** self-awareness
*** cognitive functioning
*** interpersonal experience
* dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DL-PFC or DLPFC)
** planning
** organization
** regulation

#### Mirror
### locations:

* inferior frontal cortex
* anterior inferior parietal lobe
* superior parietal lobe
* dorsal premotor cortex
* ventral premotor cortex
* supplementary motor area
* somatosensory cortex, primary
* medial temporal lobe
* midtemporal gyrus

### functions:

* imitation
* language acquisition
* mediate understanding of other others' behavior:
** fires with visual event
** fires with sound cues of visual event

## Neurons

* type
* function
** between neurons and internal functions
** in the scope of psychological function from the exterior
* pick-up and delivery transports and connections
** reception
** transport
** internal processing(?binary intelligence)
** conduction
*** exciting
*** inhibiting
* locations of the connections
* nature of the connections
** what types of neurotransmitter connection
*** chemicals
*** other
* specifics about what is connected to
** reception
** transmission

## Intelligence
### Crystalized and fluid

Crystallized and fluid intelligence are separate neural and mental systems

### Crystallized intelligence (Gc):

* skills that use knowledge and experience
* accessing information from long-term memory
* depth and breadth of general knowledge
* vocabulary
* reasoning using words and numbers
* educational and cultural experience
* not memory or knowledge without intelligent use

### Fluid intelligence (Gf):

* logical problem solving
* patterns and relationships
* extrapolation using logic
* novel situations
* independent of acquired knowledge
* scientific mathematical
* inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning
Fluid may only exist as:
* component of crystallized intelligence
* laboratory environments
* purposes of human capital discrimination