Emotions, Stress and Health

• This is an outline about Emotions, Stress and Health
• It includes the Stress Response, Emotions, and Stress and Health

The Stress Response

• A combination of responses to an actual or potential stimulus involving changes in neuroendocrine and autonomic functions and behavior
• Influenced by experience, genetics, and behavior

Stress: Definitions

• Stress is the bodies response
• Stressors are stimuli that cause stress: physical, social, cognitive, and environmental
• There are different types of stressors, negative/threatening, positive/rewarding, controllable vs uncontrollable
• Chronic stress is constant and lasts a long time
• Acute stress happens once
• Repeated stress repeats many times with stress-free gaps

Benefits and Costs of Stress

• There are benefits and costs to stress

Early Research on the Stress Response

• Hans Selye researched stress in the 1950s
• A classic view of the stress response focuses on glucocorticoids
• This involves the anterior pituitary-adrenal cortex system
• States the General Adaptation Syndrome where short adaptive functions return the body to equilibrium
• Physical and psychological stressors trigger the same stress response

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis

• The hypothalamus is involved with corticotropin-releasing hormone
  • This hormone is known as corticotropin-releasing factor, CRF
• The anterior pituitary is involved with Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
  • This hormone is also known as corticotropin
• The adrenal cortex is involved with Glucocorticoids
• Negative feedback: - Fast: inhibit CRF release from PVN - Slow: inhibit gene transcription of ACTH precursor

Other Brain Structures that Regulate the HPA Axis

• Hypothalamus, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex inhibit the HPA Axis
• Amygdala excites the HPA Axis

Circadian Cycle of the Glucocorticoid System

• ACTH and Cortisol have separate areas on the cycle

Glucocorticoids: Metabolic Effects

• Enhanced expression of enzymes that are involved in gluconeogenesis
• Promotes amino acids from extrahepatic tissues
• Inhibition of glucose uptake in muscle and adipose tissue: enhance blood glucose
• Stimulation of fat breakdown in adipose tissue
• Operate via glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors (GR, MR)

Stress and Stress Hormones

• Stress response through brain to Anterior pituitary to Adrenal cortex to Glucocorticoids
• Stress response through brain to Sympathetic nervous system to Adrenal medulla to Norepinephrine and epinephrine

Two-Step Stress Response

• CRF from the hypothalamus acts on the pituitary and on other brain areas that have CRF receptors
• There is a behavioral (glucocorticoids) response and a physiological (adrenaline) response

Synthesis of Stress Hormones

• The adrenal medulla synthesizes catecholamines, including epinephrine and norepinephrine
• The Adrenal cortex synthesizes steroids including Glucocorticoids (cortisol, corticosterone) and Mineralocorticoids (aldosterone)

Gonadal Hormone Regulation of the HPA Axis

• The chart shows how hormones have +/- regulators connected to the HPA axis from the hippocampus

Theories of Emotion

• This section covers Charles Darwin, James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, and a modern view of emotions

Charles Darwin

• Emotions involve evolution into communication signals
• States a principle of antithesis

Darwin: Communication Signals

• Emotions act as communication signals

Darwin: Principle of Antithesis

• Dogs and cats both communicate opposite intentions with distinct body language

Emotions as Communication Signals

• Metacommunication functions as a signal that acts as a "scene setter"
• This helps communication from animals, like dogs

James & Carl Lange

• An example common sense view is stimulus, then emotion, then to autonomic/skeletal response
• With the James-Lange Theory stimulus goes to autonomic/skeletal response, then to emotion

Walter B. Cannon & Philip Bard

• States that Stimulus goes to Autonomic/skeletal response then to Emotion (James-Lange Theory)
• Then Stimulus goes to emotion as well

Modern Biopsychological View of Emotions

• The modern view is that emotions and their stimulus, reaction, and bodily response

Neurobiology of Emotions

• This section discusses the limbic system, the autonomic nervous system, measures of its activity, and current related theories

Limbic System

• A connected group of large, mainly subcortical nuclei
• Includes the amygdala, hippocampus, Fornix, Septum, and Mammillary bodies
• Is involved in regulating motivated behaviors, emotions, learning and memory

Limbic Circuit

• Diagram showing connections between the cingulate cortex, Septum, Hippocampus, Fornix, Anterior Thalamic Nuclei, Amygdala and Mammillary Bodies

Klüver-Bucy Syndrome

• Rare cerebral neurological disorder
• Symptoms involve to put objects into mouth, memory loss, extreme sexual behavior, placidity, visual distractibility
• Makes individuals friendly and un-aggressive
• Caused by damage to anterior temporal lobes (amygdala)

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

• The Sympathetic nervous system increases heart rate and blood pressure
• This system makes you dilate your pupils, increases blood flow to muscles, and increase respiration
• It increases release of epinephrine and norepinephrine from the adrenal medulla

Measures of ANS Activity

• Includes Skin conductance and Cardiovascular activity
  • Measured through heart rate, blood pressure and blood volume

Polygraphy

• Lie detection that really detects emotion through control-question and guilty knowledge techniques
• The control question technique measures the target question vs control question
• Has a success rate about 80%
• The guilty knowledge technique measures actual vs made-up details of the crime
• Has a success rate 88% in one study

Emotions and the ANS

• Total Specificity goes from One emotion makes One pattern of ANS activation
• This opposes the Total Generality going from One emotion to making One pattern of ANS activation

Jaak Panksepp’s Theory of Seven “Primary Process” Emotions

• There are 7 primary emotions:
• Seeking/Expectancy Rage/Anger
• Fear/Anxiety
• Lust/Sexuality
• Care/Nurturance
• Panic/Separation
• Play/Joy

Emotions and Facial Expression

• Studies about this area of science are about the the universality of facial expression
• Key actions in facial expression:
• Brow Lowerer
• Lips Stretcher

Muscles Associated with Facial Expressions

• Involves the Emotional Faces Action Coding System (EMFACS)
  • this system is tied to Electromyography
• The face includes:
• The Orbicularis oculi and zygomaticus which indicates smiling
• Corrugator which relates to frowning during anger
• Levator which is to do with grimace of disgust

Facial Feedback

• Participants were asked to make happy or angry faces while viewing either happy or angry images
• Called Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Amy Cuddy and the “Power Pose”

• This experiment built upon the Facial Feedback Hypothesis
• Participants who stood in "powerful postures" self-reported high confidence
• Though there are many under-powered studies with weak relationship with physiological markers

Voluntary Control of Facial Expression

• Microexpressions show emotion even if someone does not want to show it
• Duchenne (genuine) smile: the mouth (zygomaticus) and the eyes (orbicularis) involved
• Fake smile/"Pan-Am smile": Either only the mouth or mouth + eyes but eyes are delayed

Universality of Facial Expressions

• Involves mixed/complex expressions, projecting emotions, and cultural differences Little known how the recipient perceives facial expressions of emotion

Patterns of Facial expression

• Involves communication and social cohesion

As Functional Social Tools

Facial Behaviour vs Basic emotions:

• smiling can mean Happy but can also mean play or affiliate -pouting can mean Sad but can also mean Recruit interactant's succor, protection Scowling can mean Angry but can also mean influence interactant to submit
• Gasping can mean Fear but can also Deflect interactant's attack
• Nose Scrunching can mean Disgust but can also mean Reject current interaction trajectory
• being Neutral can mean emotional response. and that can mean lead the interactant nowhere in interaction trajectory
• Microexpressions can be Leaked or blended emotion to show the Conflict between displayer's interactional tactics

Fear, Defense and Aggression

• Discusses fear and defensive and aggressive behavior

Neurobiology of Fear

• Includes brain-related aspects

Definitions of Fear

• Fear is an unpleasant emotion relating to danger or threat
• Involves physical and psychological changes
• Is often an innate or learned behavioral reaction

Unconditioned (Innate)Fear

• These responses involve threat of natural stimuli
• snakes, spiders, height, predators, pain
• Involves physical responses such as fight, flight, freeze, scream and seek help

Conditioned (Learned) Fear

• Relates to previously neutral stimulus or situation
• Common within the wild

Combinations of Innate and Learned Fear

• Birds learn from other birds

Learned Fear: Rhesus Macaques

• Some species have No innate fear of snakes and learn socially
• Can use Selective learning to not fear a harmless stimulus.

Fear and Anxiety in Laboratory Rodents

• The responses are often non-conditioned or conditioned

Contextual Fear Conditioning

• Habituation, footshock. Cues in cage = fear

Neural Mechanisms of Fear

• Includes areas surrounding periaqueductal gray, hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex

Learning about Fear

• The amygdala learns from its context to act as a sentinel for learning threats
• This involves Gaze tracking to predict danger or reward

Cognitive Neuroscience of Emotions

• It covers areas such as: Brain mechanisms of human emotions, Amygdala and human emotions, Prefrontal lobe and human emotions, Lateralization, autism and Emotions in Psychopathy

Brain Mechanisms of Human Emotion

• Emotional responses: motor and sensory ability
• Similar for those experienced, imagined, or observed(empathy)
• re-experiencing of the actions of motor, sensors, etc, when thought comes
• With the Mirror Neuron System to light up when you see, replicate, etc

Panksepp’s Theory

• His theory is broken down into 7 parts that are linked to the brain
• Tertiary-Process Cognitions, Largely Neocortical withTop-down Bottom-Up Influences on Cognitive Ruminations and Thoughts