Lecture 9- emotions Flashcards
4 components of an emotion
1-Emotional experience: subjective feeling
2-Emoitional behaviour: fleeing/facial expression
3-Physiological changes: tremble/sweat/tense
4-Cognitive component: context and appraisal (knowing if it is beneficial of not)
The ANS and emotions
Parasympathetic: wanting to rest and digest. Constricted pupils, airways relaxed, digestion, calming of heart rate.
Sympathetic: fight or flight, dilated pupils, dilated airways, sweating, inactive digestive system,
- Causes physiological arousal
can vary the emotional and heart rate which correlates with respiratory rate, pupil dilation and blood pressure.
- Used in lie detectors.
- Regulation from parasympathetic becomes unstable
James - Lange theory of emotion (1994 - 1995) Peripheral theory
Stimulus - physiological response - emotion
We feel fear because of the physiological response, we don’t have a physiological response because we feel fear.
Beta blockers can be used to stop adrenaline production. Slowing down heart rate but has side effects such as dizziness and tiredness
Cannon - Bard Theory (1930’s) Central theory
Emotions and physiological response are produces simultaneously.
Both originate from the Hypothalamus.
Emotions produced in hypothalamus which has connections with cerebral cortex which allows us to experience it.
Physiological components are experienced as the hypothalamus has connections to spinal cord.
Philip Bard (1927 - 1928)
Cerebral cortex creates emotional experience, so removed it in a cat. When cat was provoked, showed lots of sham rage.
This shows emotions come from hypothalamus not cortex- this just processes info.
Experiencing of emotions is not linear there are 2 components: emotional experience and physiological component.
2nd experiment electrically stimulated hypothalamus of monkey. Resulting in rage and aggression meaning hypothalamus creates emotions.
Thoeries including cognitive appraisal
Evaluating is it truly threatening, good/bad.
Schachter- singer :
stimulus- ANS + Cognitive appraisal - emotion
(I’m trembling because I’m scared)
Lazarus:
Stimulus - cognitive appraisal - emotion
(I think this is dangerous that is why I am scared and trembling)
Facial feedback hypothesis
Facial expressions don’t only express feelings but also induce emotions.
Moebius syndrome: genetic disease where patients have partial facial paralysis. Patients feel emotions are not as intense, impacting social interactions as they do not give feedback.
Benefit from this hypothesis as they can hold muscles to smile and feel happier.
Emotion as a motivational state
May not always include cognitive appraisal and may act automatically- due to a drive.
2 components to behaviour response
1- variance pos (approach)or neg (withdraw)
2- arousal level
Circumplex model of emotions Russel 1980
Maps these emotions on a graph based on arousal and valence
The mechanism of human facial expressions 1862
Darwin showed pictures of facial muscles being electrically stimulated to produce different emotions to people across the globe and found we all show the same expression to express the same emotion.
Paul ekman: 7 basic emotions which are universal
Robert Plutchik 1994: sorted basic emotions and found opposing ones and rated level of intensity of each
Then created wheel of emotions where they were grouped as similar and shade indicated level of arousal.
Are emotions truly universal?
Gendron et al 2014
Took data set of different emotions to a remote group in Nambia and to the west.
Emotions for Himba people were seen more as behaviours, reactions to a certain stimulus rather than feelings
The limbic lobe
CONTAINS:
1- Cingulate gyrus (emotion/motivation)
2- Para hippocampal gyrus (episodic memory- which is how certain emotions are associated with certain memories
3- Olfactory pathways- through nose scalp and brain directly connected to cingulate gyrus connecting smells to memories
Allows us to find the difference between Duchenne and non-Duchenne smile.
The cingulate gyrus
Includes the anterior cingulate cortex which controls motivational and drive states/ acting on emotions as it is linked with motor areas
Also responsible for inhibition (trait not found in psychopaths)
Dr James Fallon: used pet scan and found those with alzheimers had similar brains to psychopaths
The subgenual ACC those with drug resistant depression have low activity in this area.
Solution for this is deep brain stimulation which sends regulated electrical signals to subgenual ACC
Amygdala summary and 3 components
Have it onboth sides
Processes fear and threat detection- very active when we sense danger
And memories (near hippocampus)
1- Central- output to hypothalamus
2- Medial- olfactory input
3- Lateral- visual and auditory input
It evaluates emotional significance of events.
Reads body language and facial expressions
Fear conditioning and facilitates episodic memory
Cortical projections and Amygdala related pathologies
Cortical projections: amygdala sends projections to cortical areas (motor, sensory, cognitive) which is why emotions have influence on thoughts and actions Amygdala has high influence on other brain areas
PTSD: Traumatic evet associated with certain emotions triggering certain response
ASD, phobia, anxiety, depression and anger
What if there is not Amygdala: Kluve- bucy syndrome 1937
Removed amygdala from monkeys
Had problems recognising objects, hypersexual, lost fear and is more curious, approaching threats
Damage to Amygdala: Urbach- Wiethe disease
Genetic condition where they have calcification of collagen which is crucial for many bodily tissues and brain. It is no longer elastic and functioning.
Patient SM 1994 felt no fear. SM and control group shown scary films and SM ranked low levels of fear
Different parts of brain connect to which emotion?
Anterior cingulate cortex: happy/sad
Amygdala: Fear/ arousal
Insula: disgust
Orbital cortex: anger/ valence
Pleasure and reward areas/ pathways
Old and Milner 1954: implanted electrodes into mouse brain and gave them lever. Electrodes were in the pleasure/ reward pathway which was stimulated when lever was pulled. Mouse was constantly pulling lever and neglected other tasks
Associated with the ventral striatum
- Rich in dopamine
- Involved in emotional behaviours and reward-based learning
- Dopamine pathway connected for frontal lobe and cortex therefore dopamine can impact behaviour
