Emotion Chapter 18 Monday, November 24, 2003

Emotion and Motivation  Motivation – that which gives energy and direction to behavior. Inferred from goal-directed behavior.  Emotion: A process which evaluates the significance of events with respect to important goals. A means of communicating with others. A motive in its own right.

Obsolete Theories  Concerned with the relationship between experience, emotion and behavior: James-Lange – emotion is epiphenomenal to physiological changes. Cannon-Bard – physiological changes and emotion occur at the same time, emotion can occur independent of physiology.

Limbic System  Includes the cingulate gyrus and hippocampus.  Broca (1878): Originally thought to be unrelated to emotion – forms a ring around the brain stem.  MacLean (1952) – thought to be the primary circuit for emotion.

Papez Circuit (1937)  Merging of different streams of feeling, thought, and sensation in limbic areas.  Links the hypothalamus with the cortex.  Includes the cingulate gyrus, hippocampus, fornix, hypothalamus, and anterior nuclei of thalamus.

Emotion Doesn’t Map Well  No one-to-one relationship between brain structure and function.  Emotion is diverse.  Some of the structures in the limbic system are involved in emotion but others are not.  Other areas of the brain are important beyond the limbic system.

Not a Single System?  Basic or discrete emotions – fear, anger, disgust, sadness, joy, surprise.  Moods (anxiety, depression, happiness, peace or calm).  Preferences and evaluation – negative, positive, like or dislike, approve, reject.  Cognitive emotions – curiosity, interest, confusion.

Kluver-Bucy Syndrome  Kluver-Bucy Syndrome – results from bilateral removal of temporal lobe: Psychic blindness – didn’t recognize objects Oral tendencies – put everything in mouth Hypermetamorphosis – run around and touch everything Altered sexual behavior – x-rated Emotional changes -- fearlessness

Importance of Amygdala  Some Kluver-Bucy symptoms related to removal of cortex, but most due to removal of amygdala.  Amygdala active with fear and anger.  Amygdala communicates with hypothalamus and hippocampus. Emotionally important memories and classical conditioning (learning). LeDoux’s research.

Kinds of Aggression  Predatory aggression – attacks against a different species to obtain food. Few vocalizations Aimed at head and neck of prey  Affective aggression – attacks against members of the same species. For show – displays and vocalization Sympathetic ANS arousal.

Affective Aggression Competitive aggression – for place in a dominance hierarchy. Defensive aggression – inescapable threat. Irritative aggression – aversive stimulus (pain- induced aggression). Territorial aggression – defensive. Maternal aggression – protect young. Sex-related and female social aggression.

Testosterone  Males are more aggressive than females in most species.  Testosterone’s effect appears to be prenatal – unrelated to fluctuations in adult hormones.  Testosterone is related to dominance and achievement, task-persistence, success- related behaviors.

Neurotransmitters  Lower levels of serotonin were found in more aggressive strains of mice.  Animals with less serotonin more likely to attack neutral targets.  Depressed humans who commit suicide may have lower levels of serotonin.  Children with conduct disorder have less serotonin.

Pain and Pleasure  Both have an affective component.  Sensory pathways involved in pain are complex, involve multiple areas of the brain, and not well understood.  Pain and pleasure play a major role in operant learning and classical conditioning.

Emotion and Pain  Pain is a metaphor for discussing negative affect.  Emotion (and especially sympathetic arousal) amplifies the subjective experience of pain.  Cognitive activity (distraction of attention) decreases subjective awareness of pain.  Placebos can decrease the experience of pain.

Pleasure vs. Well-Being  Emotion may operate using a homeostatic mechanism with a set point, just as hunger does.  Well-being appears unrelated to intense pleasure and unrelated to events in one’s life. Lottery winners vs paraplegics (Brickman)  More negative affect than positive.

Stress and Anxiety  Stress is the response of the body to any demand. Stress is not harmful. Prolonged stress in a situation where one is helpless is harmful (lack of control).  Stress contributes to disease. Cortisol as a measure of stress. Stress changes brain chemistry.

Social Attachment  Social species have greater emotion.  Attachment permits essential learning.  Attachment permits individuals to regulate their affect (control emotion).  Emotional expressions generate empathy and regulate interpersonal behavior.

Emotion Regulation  Anger motivates instrumental behavior to change things.  However, people must conform to social expectations about expression.  Controlling emotion is not psychologically damaging but is what people must learn to do from infancy.

Venting is Ineffective  Staying angry is harmful.  Venting (expressing affect) is ineffective at decreasing or eliminating negative affect – if the person stays angry. Venting prolongs negative affect. Venting does not defuse hostility but escalates it in relationships.  Distraction helps.

Rumination & Perseveration  Perseveration – obsessively returning to thoughts about one’s problems.  Ruminating (brooding) prevents active problem solving. Rumination decreases likelihood someone will engage in mood-changing activities. Rumination biases thinking, leading to a vicious circle of depression.