Despite the concern that has been expressed about potential method biases, and the pervasiveness of research settings with the potential to produce them, there is disagreement about whether they really are a problem for researchers in the behavioral sciences. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to explore the current state of knowledge about method biases. First, we explore the meaning of the terms “method” and “method bias” and then we examine whether method biases influence all measures equally. Next, we review the evidence of the effects that method biases have on individual measures and on the covariation between different constructs. Following this, we evaluate the procedural and statistical remedies that have been used to control method biases and provide recommendations for minimizing method bias.

Sources of Method Bias in Social Science Research and Recommendations on How to Control It

The field of neuroscience has, after a long period of looking the other way, again embraced emotion as an important research area. Much of the progress has come from studies of fear, and especially fear conditioning. This work has pin- pointed the amygdala as an important component of the system involved in the acqui- sition, storage, and expression of fear memory and has elucidated in detail how stimuli enter, travel through, and exit the amygdala. Some progress has also been made in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie fear conditioning, and recent studies have also shown that the findings from experimental animals apply to the human brain. It is important to remember why this work on emotion succeeded where past efforts failed. It focused on a psychologically well-defined aspect of emo- tion, avoided vague and poorly defined concepts such as "affect," "hedonic tone," or "emotional feelings," and used a simple and straightforward experimental approach. With so much research being done in this area today, it is important that the mistakes of the past not be made again. It is also time to expand from this foundation into broader aspects of mind and behavior

http://gruberpeplab.com/3131/LeDoux_2000_Emotioncircuitbrain.pdf

Emotion Circuits in the Brain

http://download.neurosky.com/docs/papers/bcq/Klimesch_1999_EEG_alpha_and_theta_oscillations_reflect_cognitive_and_memory_performance.pdf

EEG alpha and theta oscillations reflect cognitive and memory performance: a review and analysis

The ionotropic glutamate receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate the vast majority of excitatory neurotransmission in the brain. The cloning of cDNAs encoding glutamate receptor subunits, which occurred mainly between 1989 and 1992 ([Hollmann and Heinemann, 1994][1]), stimulated this

/pdf/the-glutamate-receptor-ion-channels-560mntczdb.pdf

The glutamate receptor ion channels

Positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have been extensively used to explore the functional neuroanatomy of cognitive functions. Here we review 275 PET and fMRI studies of attention (sustained, selective, Stroop, orientation, divided), perception (object, face, space/motion, smell), imagery (object, space/ motion), language (written/spoken word recognition, spoken/ no spoken response), working memory (verbal/numeric, object, spatial, problem solving), semantic memory retrieval (categorization, generation), episodic memory encoding (verbal, object, spatial), episodic memory retrieval (verbal, nonverbal, success, effort, mode, context), priming (perceptual, conceptual), and procedural memory (conditioning, motor, and nonmotor skill learning). To identify consistent activation patterns associated with these cognitive operations, data from 412 contrasts were summarized at the level of cortical Brodmann's areas, insula, thalamus, medial-temporal lobe (including hippocampus), basal ganglia, and cerebellum. For perception and imagery, activation patterns included primary and secondary regions in the dorsal and ventral pathways. For attention and working memory, activations were usually found in prefrontal and parietal regions. For language and semantic memory retrieval, typical regions included left prefrontal and temporal regions. For episodic memory encoding, consistently activated regions included left prefrontal and medial-temporal regions. For episodic memory retrieval, activation patterns included prefrontal, medial-temporal, and posterior midline regions. For priming, deactivations in prefrontal (conceptual) or extrastriate (perceptual) regions were consistently seen. For procedural memory, activations were found in motor as well as in non-motor brain areas. Analysis of regional activations across cognitive domains suggested that several brain regions, including the cerebellum, are engaged by a variety of cognitive challenges. These observations are discussed in relation to functional specialization as well as functional integration.

Imaging Cognition II: An Empirical Review of 275 PET and fMRI Studies

▪ Abstract Learning the relationships between aversive events and the environmental stimuli that predict such events is essential to the survival of organisms throughout the animal kingdom. Pavlovian fear conditioning is an exemplar of this form of learning that is exhibited by both rats and humans. Recent years have seen an incredible surge in interest in the neurobiology of fear conditioning. Neural circuits underlying fear conditioning have been mapped, synaptic plasticity in these circuits has been identified, and biochemical and genetic manipulations are beginning to unravel the molecular machinery responsible for the storage of fear memories. These advances represent an important step in understanding the neural substrates of a rapidly acquired and adaptive form of associative learning and memory in mammals.

/pdf/neurobiology-of-pavlovian-fear-conditioning-3beoazhpf8.pdf

Neurobiology of Pavlovian fear conditioning.

The learning and remembering of fearful events depends on the integrity of the amygdala, but how are fear memories represented in the activity of amygdala neurons? Here, we review recent electrophysiological studies indicating that neurons in the lateral amygdala encode aversive memories during the acquisition and extinction of Pavlovian fear conditioning. Studies that combine unit recording with brain lesions and pharmacological inactivation provide evidence that the lateral amygdala is a crucial locus of fear memory. Extinction of fear memory reduces associative plasticity in the lateral amygdala and involves the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Understanding the signalling of aversive memory by amygdala neurons opens new avenues for research into the neural systems that support fear behaviour.

/pdf/neuronal-signalling-of-fear-memory-4b2qlhh914.pdf

Neuronal signalling of fear memory.

Contexts surround and imbue meaning to events; they are essential for recollecting the past, interpreting the present and anticipating the future. Indeed, the brain's capacity to contextualize information permits enormous cognitive and behavioural flexibility. Studies of Pavlovian fear conditioning and extinction in rodents and humans suggest that a neural circuit including the hippocampus, amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex is involved in the learning and memory processes that enable context-dependent behaviour. Dysfunction in this network may be involved in several forms of psychopathology, including post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia and substance abuse disorders.

/pdf/the-contextual-brain-implications-for-fear-conditioning-1qfovd52a9.pdf

The contextual brain: implications for fear conditioning, extinction and psychopathology

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/56226/marenBBR97.pdf;sequence=1

Neurotoxic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus and Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats

Electrolytic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus (DH) produce deficits in both the acquisition and expression of conditional fear to contextual stimuli in rats To assess whether damage to DH neurons is responsible for these deficits, we performed three experiments to examine the effects of neurotoxic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) lesions of the DH on the acquisition and expression of fear conditioning Fear conditioning consisted of the delivery of signaled or unsignaled footshocks in a novel conditioning chamber and freezing served as the measure of conditional fear In Experiment 1, posttraining DH lesions produced severe retrograde deficits in context fear when made either 1 or 28, but not 100, days following training Pretraining DH lesions made 1 week before training did not affect contextual fear conditioning Tone fear was impaired by DH lesions at all training-to-lesion intervals In Experiment 2, posttraining (1 day), but not pretraining (1 week), DH lesions produced substantial deficits in context fear using an unsignaled shock procedure In Experiment 3, pretraining electrolytic DH lesions produced modest deficits in context fear using the same signaled and unsignaled shock procedures used in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively Electrolytic, but not neurotoxic, lesions also increased pre-shock locomotor activity Collectively, this pattern of results reveals that neurons in the DH are not required for the acquisition of context fear, but have a critical and time-limited role in the expression of context fear The normal acquisition and expression of context fear in rats with neurotoxic DH lesions made before training may be mediated by conditioning to unimodal cues in the context, a process that may rely less on the hippocampal memory system © 1997 Elsevier Science BV

Stephen Maren

Papers

Neurobiology of Pavlovian fear conditioning.

Neuronal signalling of fear memory.

The contextual brain: implications for fear conditioning, extinction and psychopathology

Neurotoxic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus and Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats

Research report Neurotoxic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus and Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats