Chapter 10 - Emotion.docx

##### Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary. *Mark Twain* ##### When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion. *Dale Carnegie* Emotion ======= - What is an emotion? - What role do emotions play in behavior? - How are emo...

##### Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary. *Mark Twain* ##### When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion. *Dale Carnegie* Emotion ======= - What is an emotion? - What role do emotions play in behavior? - How are emotions generated? - Is emotion processing localized, generalized, or a combination of the two? - What effect does emotion have on the cognitive processes of perception, attention, learning, memory, and decision making, and on our behavior? What effect do these cognitive processes exert over our emotions? ### What Is an Emotion? - Involve changes across multiple response systems (e.g., experiential, behavioral, peripheral, physiological) - Are distinct from moods, in that they often have identifiable objects or triggers - Can be either unlearned responses to stimuli with intrinsic affective properties (e.g., smiling after your very first taste of sugar), or learned responses to stimuli with acquired emotional value (e.g., fear when you see a dog that previously bit you) - Can involve multiple types of appraisal processes that assess the significance of stimuli to current goals - Depend on different neural systems (Oschner & Gross, 2005) - An "emotion" constitutes an internal, central (as in central nervous system) state. - This state is triggered by specific stimuli (extrinsic or intrinsic to the organism). - This state is encoded by the activity of particular neural circuits. - Activation of these specific circuits gives rise, in a causal sense, to externally observable behaviors, and to separately (but simultaneously) associated cognitive, somatic, and physiological responses (**Figure 10.2**). a. The conventional view of emotion reflects theories in which emotions have multiple components that need to be coordinated. b. Anderson and Adolphs propose that a central emotion state causes multiple parallel responses. 1. A physiological reaction to a stimulus 2. A behavioral response 3. A feeling TAKE-HOME MESSAGES - The word *emotion* has eluded a consensus definition. - Three commonly agreed-upon components of emotion are a physiological reaction to a stimulus, a behavioral response, and a feeling. - The acute stress response is adaptive, but chronic stress can result in medical, mood, and anxiety disorders. - Moods are diffuse, long-lasting emotional states that do not have an identifiable object or trigger. 2. ### Neural Systems Involved in Emotion Processing Early Concepts: The Limbic System as the Emotional Brain Emerging Concepts  - The locationist account of emotion suggests that mental states belonging to the same emotion category are produced by specific neural circuits that, when activated, produce specific behavior. - Investigators no longer think there is only one neural circuit of emotion. Rather, depending on the emotional task or situation, we can expect different neural systems to be involved. - Neuroimaging approaches based on machine learning reveal that specific emotional states activate several brain networks. 3. ### Categorizing Emotions TAKE-HOME MESSAGES - The Papez circuit describes the brain areas that James Papez believed were involved in emotion. They include the hypothalamus, anterior thalamus, cingulate gyrus, 1. **Basic emotions**, a closed set of emotions, each with unique characteristics, carved by evolution and reflected through facial expressions 2. **Complex emotions**, combinations of basic emo- tions, some of which may be socially or culturally learned, that can be identified as evolved, long- lasting feelings 3. **Dimensional theories of emotion** describe emo- tions that are fundamentally the same but that differ along one or more dimensions, such as valence (pleasant to unpleasant, positive to negative) and arousal (very intense to very mild), in reaction to events or stimuli Basic Emotions TABLE 10.1 **Well-Established and Possible Basic** TABLE 10.2 **Ekman's Criteria for Basic Emotions** - Distinctive universal signals - Rapid onset - Presence in other primates - Distinctive physiology - Brief duration - Automatic appraisal - Distinctive universals in antecedent events - Unbidden occurrence Complex Emotions 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 a. Sighted athletes 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 back out b. Congenitally blind athletes tally blind athletes **(b)**. Dimensional Theories of Emotion TAKE-HOME MESSAGES - Emotions have been categorized as basic, complex, or varying along dimensional lines. - According to Ekman, six human facial expressions represent basic emotional states: anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, and surprise. - Complex emotions are produced by a broad network of regions within the brain. In jealousy, for example, these regions include higher-order cortical areas involved with social cognition, theory of mind, and interpretation of actions performed by others. - The dimensional approach, instead of describing discrete states of emotion, describes emotions as reactions that vary along a continuum. 4. ### Theories of Emotion Generation - The physiological reaction (for instance, the racing heart) - The behavioral reaction (such as the fight-or-flight response) - The subjective experiential feeling ("I'm scared!") James--Lange Theory of Emotion Cannon--Bard Theory of Emotion -- -- -- -- Appraisal Theory of Emotion -- -- -- -- \ Singer--Schachter Theory: Cognitive Interpretation of Arousal LeDoux's Fast and Slow Roads to Emotion Panksepp's Hierarchical- Evolutionary Psychology Approach to Emotion Anderson and Adolphs: Emotions as Central Causative States ### The Amygdala 1. The largest area is the *basolateral nuclear complex*, consisting of the *lateral* and *basal nuclei*, pictured in **Figure 10.9b**, and *accessory basal nuclei* that are not seen in this view. The lateral nucleus (La) receives sensory inputs. Connections from the lateral nucleus to the basal nucleus (B), and from there to the ventral striatum, control the performance of actions in the face of threat (e.g., escape and avoidance; LeDoux & Gorman, 2001; Ramirez et al., 2015). TAKE-HOME MESSAGES 2. The centromedial complex (Ce), which consists of the *medial nucleus* and the *central nucleus*, receives information that has been processed in basal nuclei and forms a response. It is connected to regions of the brainstem controlling innate emotional (or de- fensive) behaviors and their associated physiological (both autonomic and endocrine) responses. Figure 10.9b depicts some of the inputs and outputs of the lateral (La), basal (B), and centromedial (Ce) nuclei. 3. The smallest complex is the *cortical nucleus* (Co), also - Emotions are made up of three psychological compo- nents---a physiological response, a behavioral response, and a subjective feeling---that have evolved in animals, including humans, enabling responses to significant stimuli that have promoted survival. The underlying mechanisms and timing of the components are disputed. - Researchers do not agree on when and if cognition plays a part in producing or processing emotions. - Researchers do not agree on how emotions are gener- ated, and many theories exist. \ TAKE-HOME MESSAGES - The amygdala is the most connected structure in the forebrain. - The amygdala contains receptors for many different neurotransmitters and for various hormones. - The amygdala's role is still enigmatic, but it may function as a danger detection device. 1. The amygdala must play a critical role in the identifi- cation of facial expressions of fear. 2. S.M. fails to experience the emotion of fear. 3. S.M. appears to have no deficit in any emotion other than fear. 4. S.M.'s inability to feel fear seems to have contributed to her inability to avoid dangerous situations. That ### The Influence of Implicit Emotional Learning a. Before training b. During training c. After training **ITC** **B** **Ce** Amygdala Time \ Explicit Emotional Learning 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 2 0 0.2 0 20 15 10 5 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100  \ TAKE-HOME MESSAGES - Emotional learning can be both implicit and explicit. The amygdala is necessary for implicit, but not explicit, emotional learning. - Conscious knowledge of an upcoming shock cannot generate physiological changes normally associated with fear if there is no link to the amygdala and its midbrain connections. - Information can reach the amygdala via two separate pathways: The "low road" goes directly from the thala- mus to the amygdala; the "high road" goes from the cortex to the amygdala. - The hippocampus is necessary for the acquisition of a memory, but if arousal accompanies memory acquisition, the strength and duration of that memory is modulated by amygdala activity. 7. ### Interactions Between Emotion and Other Cognitive Processes a. Participants in one group experienced a stressor, and the control group did not. Cortisol levels in the stressed group rose higher and continued to rise longer than in the nonstressed group. b. A stressful event did not immediately affect memory perfor- mance, but it did as time passed and cortisol levels rose. \ The Influence of Emotion 1/25 1/10 Emotion and Decision Making 1. *Incidental affect.* Current emotional state, unrelated to the decision at hand, *incidentally* influences the decision. 2. *Integral emotion.* Emotions elicited by the choice op- tions are incorporated into the decision. This process may include emotions that you anticipate feeling after you have made the decision, which humans are notoriously bad at predicting (Gilbert, 2006). 1. They can act as information. 2. They can act as "common currency" between dispa- rate inputs and options (you can feel slightly aroused by a book and very aroused by a swimming pool). 3. They can focus attention on new information, which can then guide the decision. 4. They can motivate decisions to engage in approach or avoidance behavior. \$6 \$5 \ TAKE-HOME MESSAGES - The amygdala is activated by novel stimuli independent of valence and arousal. - The amygdala mediates transient changes in visual corti- cal processing that enhance perception of the emotion- laden stimulus without the aid of attention. - Both one's current emotional state and the emotions elicited by choice options can influence decision making. - Acute stress interferes with prefrontal cortex activity, necessary for the flexible control of behavior, and en- hances striatal activity, generally linked to choices based on habits. 8. ### Emotion and Social Stimuli Facial Expressions 100 80 60 40 20 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 Beyond the Face Social Group Evaluation 0.10 0.05 0.00 --0.05 --0.10 Masked (30 ms): Unmasked (525 ms): TAKE-HOME MESSAGES - People with extensive damage to their amygdalae do not recognize fearful or untrustworthy facial expressions. - The amygdala appears to be an integral part of a system that automatically directs our visual attention to the eyes when we encounter any facial expressions. - When we look at faces, the activity of the amygdala increases with the degree of difference from a categori- cally average face.  ### Other Areas, Other Emotions Insula The Insular Cortex Disgust Happiness Love  a. Medial views b. Lateral views ### Get a Grip! Cognitive Control of Emotion TAKE-HOME MESSAGES - The perception of internal bodily states is known as in- teroception. The connections and activation profile of the insula suggest that it integrates visceral and somatic in- put and forms a representation of the state of the body. - Depending on how they are analyzed, neuroimaging studies have been interpreted to both support and refute the theory that there are different brain areas or circuits associated with the processing of different emotions. - The insula appears to play a broad role in integrating subcortical affective processes and cognitive processes. - Maternal love, passionate love, and unconditional love recruit different brain networks. Situation selection Emotional cues - Behavioral - Experiential - Physiological TAKE-HOME MESSAGES - Emotion regulation is complex and involves many processes. - Emotion regulation depends on the interaction of frontal cortical structures and subcortical brain regions. - Different emotion regulation strategies have different physiological effects. #### Summary #### Key Terms #### Think About It 1. Briefly describe the limbic system hypothesis and its historical role in the cognitive neuroscience of emo- tion. Explain which aspects of the hypothesis have been questioned and which remain valid. 2. Describe the three generally accepted components of emotion and how they apply to the different theories of emotion generation. 3. Explain the role of the amygdala in fear condition- ing. Be sure to cover what is known about the 4. What are Paul Ekman's basic emotions, and what is the relationship between them and facial expressions? 5. Describe the effect of emotion on another cognitive process. #### Suggested Reading  **473**