Emotions, Aggression, and Stress Flashcards
What are emotions?
A subjective mental state that is usually accompanied by distinctive behaviors, feelings, and involuntary physiological changes
Physical sensations of emotions are the result of…
The autonomic nervous system
Sympathetic and parasympathetic
Sympathetic nervous system
The “fight or flight” system; prepares the body for action
Parasympathetic nervous system
The “rest and digest” system; prepares the body to relax and recuperate
Folk wisdom
Autonomic responses (like heart racing) are caused by emotions
Stimulus → perception → emotion → autonomic arousal
James-Lange theory
The emotions we feel are caused by bodily changes
Stimulus → perception → autonomic arousal → emotion
Cannon-Bard theory
Emotions and physiological responses occur simultaneously
Cannon-Bard theory issue
These don’t often occur simultaneously
Schacter’s cognitive attribution model
Emotional labels (e.g., anger, fear, joy) are attributed to relatively nonspecific feelings of physiological arousal after cognitive evaluation of context
Experiment with adrenaline shot
Autonomic responses can intensify our emotions, but our cognitive analysis (interpretation of our arousal) affects which emotion we experience
Did a core set of emotions evolve in humans and other animals?
8 core emotions in 4 pairs of opposites
Darwin says emotional (facial) expression can show in animals
He tracked facial muscles and noticed similarities
Mouse facial expressions
Computerized AI system tracked 6 subtle facial expressions in mice that has brain activation overlap with humans
How many different emotions can be detected in facial expressions?
8 emotions are universal across nearly all cultures
Why may we have evolved to have universally recognized facial expressions?
ON SLIDE: Emotions act as motivational programs that evolved to coordinate responses to solve adaptive problems
MY ANSWER: communicating without language; faces show if food is good or bad; basically just for survival
Emotions organize our responses to environmental challenges
Cooperating with a group, choosing a mate, avoiding predators, and finding food sources may have required emotional adaptation
Responding to dangerous situations with a fear program—improved survival
Avoiding foods after an individual expresses disgust for them—reduced potential sickness
Facial feedback hypothesis
Our mood can be affected by sensory feedback
Ex:
Holding pencil atop lip mimics muscles of a frown → sadness
Holding pencil between teeth mimics muscles of a smile → happiness
Do distinct brain circuits mediate emotions?
There is no simple, one-to-one relation between a specific emotion and changed activity of particular brain regions
Each emotion involves different patterns of activation across a network of brain regions associated with emotion (the limbic system)
Brain regions associated with emotions
Emotions are associated with bilateral changes in insula, amygdala, caudate, putamen, cingulate cortex and prefrontal cortex activity
Brain lesions can affect emotions
Decorticate rage and Klüver-Bucy syndrome
The key structure in mediation of fear
The amygdala
Love (compared to friendship) resulted in increased activity in the…
Insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and caudate and putamen
It also led to reduced activity in the posterior cingulate, amygdala, and right prefrontal cortex
Different emotions create different activity patterns
Love vs. friendship
Castration
Reduces aggressive behavior in males
Females show no change in aggression (consistently low) after removal of ovaries
Initial fast response
The hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system to cause the adrenal medulla to release epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline)
These act on multiple systems to boost heart rate, breathing, etc, in preparation for action
Slower and prolonged response
The hypothalamus releases CRH (corticotropic releasing hormone) which acts on the anterior pituitary
The pituitary then releases ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone), which causes the adrenal cortex to release adrenal steroid hormones such as cortisol to ready the body for action
Factors that interact during the development and progression of disease
Social support and stress levels affect immune responsivity
People exposed to viruses have more severe symptoms if they are experiencing conflict with someone
Individuals who feel they have more social support exhibit less severe symptoms and produce more antibodies in response to a flu vaccination
Reciprocal relations of the
nervous, endocrine, and immune systems
