Biopsychology Of Emotion

1) people with paralysis still report emotion but people with autonomic failure report less intense emotion 2) induced smiling, frowning etc increases reported emotion (facial feedback hypothesis)

Feeling-cognition-action Autonomic nervous system conveys sensory info to rest if brain, stimulates reflex actions. This is largely unconscious.

Common sense: event-emotion-action James-Lange theory: event-action-fear Eg. I am frightened because I ran away

Event- appraisal- action- emotion E.g. Scary thing- appraisal-run away-fear

Emotion systems are sub-critical and ancient, shared with other animals

The lambic system is crucial to emotion and motivation. Sensory input, emotional responses to pain, and regulates behaviour (proof-rabies)

There is a clear cortical basis- insula cortex. This is the primary taste cortex. If you feel disgusted, or see someone else is disgusted or morally disgusted this is activated.

Left hemisphere relates to behavioural activation system Low autonomic arousal Approach (happiness, anger) Left frontal and temporal lobes Right hemisphere relates to behavioural inhibition system Increase attention and arousal Inhibited action (disgust, fear) Right frontal and temporal lobes People with more LH activation are happier People with more RH activation are more withdrawn But RH more responsive to emotional stimuli.

Remember event but denied emotion

Survival responses (fear=runaway, anger=attack). Autonomic activity alerts you to a problem before it is consciously registered. Often linked to observable behaviour in humans If we analyse similar behaviours in other species, we can work out functions of specific emotions.

Basic muscles=always present=always symmetrical Non-basic muscles=not always present=often asymmetrical

Reddening of the face associated with embarrassment Uniquely human (Darwin, 1872) but continuous with social appeasement in non-humans, deflect attention- avoid conflict. Parasympathetic activation- attempt to calm the body (vasodilation-cools)

Thought to be opposites. Fear-escape-flight Anger-aggress-fight Both associated with activation of the sympathetic nervous system

Generic contributors to violence MZ twins more similar than DZ twins Im violence/criminal activity Correlation between prenatal smoking and adult crime High levels of testosterone-causal? Stimulation of the hypothalamus can induce aggressive attacks, widespread stimulation also induces aggressive Attacks e.g. Epilepsy

Low release may be linked to aggression. Serotonin is a NT associated with regulation (correlation) Higley et al 1996- monkey with low serotonin turn over were most aggressive and all dies younger- there is an optimum balance of aggression and fear

Animals may be born with innate fears. Startle reflex- response to sudden noises- very fast: cochlea nucleus-pons-muscle tension in neck. Amygdala damage disrupts the startle reflex. By impairing the animals ability to learn which stimuli are scary. Amygdala helps conditioned responses form

A parasite that reproduces in cats. Infects rats, affects amygdala, rat doesn’t condition fear properly. Approaches cat and gets eaten (Berdy 2000)

Amygdala damage. Placid, tame monkeys. Willing to approach snakes, dominant monkeys, and experimenters etc. Does the amygdala affect inhibition more than fear?

It is for emotional processing in general. More active when looking at emotional expressions Responds to emotional stimuli that isn’t identifies consciously- (study- flash response) If the amygdala is damaged people still feel emotion but struggle to interpret info when ambiguous or subtle. Adolohs et al 1995. Amygdala damage patient could not draw a face showing fear.