Basis of Emotion

BASIS OF EMOTION

Emotions are subjective and are also described as feelings. Emotions are different from mood. Emotions are not long-lasting and are reactive to the environment, while mood is prolonged, less intense, and is not a response to the environment. Moods are not conscious while emotions are consciously perceived.

Emotions are a combination of psychological appraisal, physiological arousal, and subjective experience. They are influenced by past experiences, culture, and psychosocial background. Different individuals will have different emotions in similar situations. There are different theories on what emotions are all about.

The James-Lange theory says that emotions are mainly physiological. They are based on different effects of the autonomic nervous system: the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system. There is the sympathetic fight or flight response that determines some emotions, while the parasympathetic rest and digest response determines other emotions.

The Cannon-Bard theory says that both physiological states and emotional experiences will act separately to determine an emotion. This explains partly why people will have different emotions to different things and indicates that psychological states play an equal role in what a person feels. People who do not feel physiological arousal from a spinal cord injury still have emotions.

The Schachter-Singer two-factor theory says that both psychological and physiological factors play a role in emotions. It indicates that there is a cognitive role in having an emotion. Because there are just a few physiological states and many different emotions, there must be some cognitive component to arrive at the different emotions.

Strong emotional responses are linked to strong physiological arousal states. These can produce sweating, increased heart rate, and increased respiratory rate. Polygraphs measure lying by asking the person questions and looking at physiological reactions. There is, however, no standardized way of predicting what physiological reactions are linked to lying.

The cognitive-mediational theory indicates that emotions are based on a person s appraisal of a given stimulus. The appraisal will change the emotional response to the stimulus and is largely unconscious. Appraisal happens before any cognitive thinking.

Emotions are highly linked to the limbic system, which is the amygdala, hypothalamus, thalamus, and hippocampus. The hypothalamus helps to activate the sympathetic nervous system, while the thalamus relays sensations and projects them out to the amygdala and the cerebrum. The amygdala also sends information to the cerebrum. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that connects emotional experiences to cognitive thinking.

The amygdala is strongly correlated with fear and anxiety. There are several clusters of nuclei in the amygdala, including the basolateral complex and the central nucleus, which interact with sensation and attention. These are activated in things like classical conditioning. The treatment of an animal in early life can affect the amygdala and will determine emotional responses later in life. The rat pups that were abused showed evidence of depressive behavior as they grew older. It is believed that the same thing happens in human subjects.

The hippocampus is also linked to mood disorders and anxiety disorders. People with PTSD have abnormalities in their hippocampus. Treatment of PTSD will increase the volume of the hippocampus and is linked to behavioral and mood improvements.

Culture affects the way individuals show emotion. There are cultural display rules, which determine how and which emotions get expressed. Certain cultures do not allow the display of some emotions in public. Cultures with a lot of social cohesion will suppress emotions more. There are gender differences in emotions. Men and women differ in how emotions are regulated. On the other hand, the facial expressions used in different emotions are universal. There are seven universal emotions that have distinct impressions: surprise, happiness, fright, disgust, sadness, anger, and contempt.

The facial feedback hypothesis indicates that facial expressions can influence emotions. It s possible that smiling can make a person happier. Body language and tone of voice also influence how individuals display emotions. People are very sensitive to a person s body language, even though it is not always in conscious awareness.