Chapter 11 Emotional Behaviors - PowerPoint Presentation

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Chapter 11

Emotional Behaviors

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What is Emotion?

Psychologists define emotion in terms of three components

Cognition

Action

Feeling

http://www.goodnet.org/articles/7-astonishing-facts-about-science-emotions-list#

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The James-Lange Theory of Emotion

Suggests that autonomic arousal and skeletal action occurs first in an emotion

The emotion felt is the label we give the arousal of the organs and muscles

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The James-Lange Theory of Emotion Explained

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The James-Lange Theory of Emotion – Predictions

James-Lange theory leads to two predictions:

People with a weak autonomic or skeletal response should feel less emotion

Increasing one’s response should enhance an emotion

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Emotions and Autonomic Arousal – Pure Autonomic Failure

Research findings

Paralyzed people report feeling emotion to the same degree as prior to their injury

Pure autonomic failure

Output from autonomic nervous system to body fails

People with this condition report feeling same emotions, but less intensely

Suggests other factors are involved in the perception of emotion

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Emotions and Autonomic Arousal – BOTOX

BOTOX blocks transmissions at synapses and nerve-muscle junctions

People with BOTOX injections report:

Weaker than usual emotional responses after watching short videos

Implies body change is important part of feeling an emotion

However, people with certain types of brain damage show normal emotional responses

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Is Physiological Arousal Sufficientfor Emotions?

According to the James-Lange theory, emotional feelings result from the body’s actions

Panic attacks are marked by intense sympathetic nervous system arousal (rapid heartbeat, fast breathing, etc.)

Only if perceived as occurring spontaneously

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Is Physiological Arousal Sufficientfor Emotions? (cont’d.)

Creating certain body actions may also slightly influence emotion

Smiling slightly increases happiness

Inducing a frown leads to the rating of stimuli as slightly less pleasant

Indicates that perception of the body's actions do contribute to emotional feeling

However, body’s actions are not required

Example: Möbius syndrome

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Effect of Facial Expression on Emotion

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Möbius Syndrome

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Is Emotion a Useful Concept?

An emotion is usually considered a coherent “whole”

However, it has three or more aspects (cognition, feeling and action)

All aspects do not always occur together

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Is Emotion a Useful Concept? – The Limbic System

Emotional experiences arouse many areas of the brain

The limbic system includes the forebrain areas surrounding the thalamus

Traditionally regarded as critical for emotion

PET and fMRI studies suggest particular cortical areas are activated during an emotional experience

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The Limbic System

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Is Emotion a Useful Concept? – Brain Imaging Studies

Recent review of brain imaging studies indicated no strong evidence exists for localization of emotions

No brain area is critical for emotion in general without contributing to other behavioral aspects

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Theory of Lisa Feldman Barrett

Emotions are a category in the same sense that weeds are a category

Nothing in nature makes weeds different from flowers

Perception (for weeds) and social construct (for emotion) are the distinguishing factors

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Do People Have a Limited Number of Basic Emotions?

Main support for the idea of basic emotions

Facial expressions exist for happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, surprise, and perhaps other emotions

We rarely interpret emotion based solely on facial expressions

Two or more emotions can be present in a single facial expression

Context and gestures important

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Facial Expressions of Emotion

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Do People Have a Limited Number of Basic Emotions? (cont’d.)

An alternative view

Emotional feelings vary along two continuous dimensions

Example: weak to strong, pleasant to unpleasant, approach versus avoid

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Decision-Making after Brain Damagethat Impairs Emotions

Damage to parts of the prefrontal cortex blunts emotions

Impairs decision-making

Leads to impulsive decision-making without pausing to consider consequences

Those with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex show:

Inconsistent preferences

Decreased guilt and trust

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Emotions and Autonomic Arousal

Emotional situations arouse the autonomic nervous system

Most situations evoke a combination of sympathetic and parasympathetic arousal

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The Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems

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Attack and Escape Behaviors

Attack and escape behaviors and corresponding emotions (anger and fear)

Closely related physiologically and behaviorally

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Attack Behaviors

Attack behaviors depend on the individual and the situation

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Location of Amygdala in the Human Brain

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Effect of Hormones – Aggressive Behavior

Male aggressive behavior heavily depends on testosterone

Young men have highest rates of aggressive behaviors and violent crimes

On average, men engage in more aggressive and violent behaviors than women

Aggressive behavior depends on ratio of testosterone to cortisol

Cortisol inhibits violent impulses

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Serotonin Synapses and AggressiveBehavior

Impulsiveness and aggressive behavior have been linked to low serotonin release

Serotonin turnover

The amount of serotonin that neurons released, absorbed, and replaced

Measured by the concentration of 5-HIAA in the cerebrospinal fluid

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Serotonin Synapses and AggressiveBehavior – Studies (cont’d.)

Studies in humans

Low serotonin turnover found in people with history of violent behavior

Arson

Suicide by violent means

Relationship between serotonin and aggression is small

Cannot be used to make predictions about an individual

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Environment Factors in Violence

Environmental factors associated with increased violent tendencies

Witness or victim of violence in childhood

Living in a violent neighborhood

Exposure to lead

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Genetic Factors in Violence

Twins studies suggest genetic contribution to the likelihood of violent behavior

Monozygotic twins resembled each other much more than dizygotic twins with regard to violent and criminal behavior

Genes influence violent behavior in many ways, including autonomic arousal

Attempts to find a strong link between aggression and a specific gene have failed

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Interaction of Genetics and Environment in Violence

Interaction between genetics and childhood environment shows strong link to aggression

Example: interaction between MAOA levels and childhood maltreatment

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Genes, Environment, and Antisocial Behavior in Men

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Fear and Anxiety

Proneness to approach, avoidance, and anxiety varies with the situation and the individual

Role of the amygdala

Important for enhancing the startle reflex

Startle reflex

Extremely fast response to unexpected loud noises

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Fear and Anxiety – Startle Reflex

Auditory information stimulates an area of the pons that commands tensing of neck and other muscles

Information reaches the pons within 3 to 8 milliseconds

Startle response occurs within two-tenths of a second

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Fear and Anxiety – Startle Reflex (cont’d.)

Startle reflex is more vigorous if already tense

Startle reflex can be used as a behavioral measure of anxiety

Can be used with laboratory animals to explore brain mechanisms

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The Amygdala and Learned Fears

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The Amygdala and Studies of Rodents

Cells in the amygdala get input from pain fibers, vision, and hearing

Different paths through the amygdala responsible for fear of pain, fear of predators, and fear of aggressive members of same species

One part of the amygdala controls breathing changes

Another helps identify safe places

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The Amygdala and Studies of Rodents (cont’d.)

Output from the amygdala controls autonomic fear responses

Also controls avoidance and approach responses

Rat with damage to amygdala shows normal startle reflex

Signals presented before the noise do not modify reflex

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Long-Term Fear and Anxiety

If a person is attacked or has a fearful experience, he/she becomes fearful in a wide variety of circumstances

Bed nucleus of the stria terminalis

Brain area that controls long-term, generalized emotional arousal

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Studies of Monkeys – Kluver-Bucy Syndrome

Kluver-Bucy syndrome

Damage to the amygdala

Monkeys with this syndrome are tame/placid

Display less than normal fear of snakes and larger, more dominant monkeys

Have impaired social behaviors, including learning what to fear

Non-damaged monkeys with a vigorously active amygdala show fear to noise/intruder

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Response of the Human Amygdalato Visual Stimuli

fMRI studies show the amygdala responds strongly to photos that arouse fear or photos of faces showing fear

Response is stronger when the meaning is unclear and requires some processing

Responds more strongly to an angry face directed toward the viewer and frightened faces directed elsewhere

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Individual Differences in AmygdalaResponse and Anxiety

People’s tendency toward anxiety remains fairly consistent over time

People with genes for reduced serotonin uptake have increased responses to threat

Soldiers with initial high levels of amygdala response showed more combat stress

Anxiety depends on more than just the amygdala

Reappraisal as coping mechanism

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In humans, amygdala damage does not result in the loss of emotionEffects of damageIndividuals can classify emotional pictures without difficultyIndividuals experience little arousal from viewing unpleasant photos

Damage to the Human Amygdala

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A 

recent episode

 of the NPR show 

Invisibilia

 featured a woman who suffers from a rare disorder that left her amygdalae calcified. The patient, who goes by the initials 

S.M

., does not report experiencing fear, a fact that would seem to solidify the connection between anatomy and emotions. But in 2013, researchers were 

able to trigger a fear response

 in S.M. and other patients with amygdala damage by having them inhale carbon dioxide. This makes the body feel like it’s suffocating, and the so-called “fearless” patients panicked, much as anyone would.

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Rare genetic condition that causes calcium to accumulate in the amygdala until it wastes awayCase study of person called SMExperiences fearlessnessCorrectly drew faces with various emotions but had trouble drawing a fearful faceDid not generally look at people’s eyesLack of fear is dangerous to her

Urbach-Wiethe Disease

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Amygdala damage affects the ability to recognize facial expressions of fear or disgustWhen recognized, rated as less intense than other people

Recognizing Facial Expressions

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Hans Selye (1979) defined stress as the non-specific response of the body to any demand made upon itGeneral adaptation syndrome: threats to the body activate a general response to stress

Stress and the General Adaptation Syndrome

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Alarm stage: increased sympathetic nervous system activityResistance stage: sympathetic response declines; adrenal cortex continues releasing cortisol and other hormones to prolong alertnessExhaustion stage: occurs after prolonged stress; individual no longer has energy to sustain responses

Stages in the General Adaptation Syndrome

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Stress activates two systems in the body:The sympathetic nervous system: “fight or flight” response that prepares the body for brief emergency responsesThe HPA axis: the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal cortex

Stress and the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Cortex Axis

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The HPA axis becomes the dominant response to prolonged stressorsActivation of the hypothalamus induces the pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)Stimulates the adrenal cortex to secrete cortisolCortisol helps to mobilize energies to fight a difficult situation

Stress and the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Cortex Axis (cont’d.)

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The Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Cortex Axis

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Produces symptoms similar to depressionWeakens the immune systemCan harm the hippocampusToxins or overstimulation more likely to damage or kill neurons in the hippocampus

Prolonged Stress Response

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Studies in mice have revealed genes that relate to being more vulnerable or more resilientMethods to control stress responsesBreathing routines, exercise, meditation, distraction, and addressing issues Social support from a loved one helps to reduce stressReduces response in several brain areas, including the prefrontal cortex

Controlling Stress Responses

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People’s responses to stress varyWhat determines resilience?GenesSocial supportPhysical healthPrevious stressful experiencesResilience is not easy to investigate

Resilience