Emotion
emotion indicates a (generally conscious) subjective, affective state that is often intense and that occurs in response to a specific experience
Mood
refers to a prolonged, less intense affective state that does not necessarily occur in response to something we experience. Unlike emotions, mood states may not be consciously recognized (Beedie, Terry, Lane, & Devonport, 2011).
Emotion neuro pathways
The limbic system includes the amygdala and the hippocampus and functions as the brain’s emotional circuit.
Both the amygdala and the hippocampus play a role in normal emotional processing as well as in mood and anxiety disorders.
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) and reticular activating system (RAS) also play an important role in the experiencing and processing of emotions.
Amygdala
- the amygdala plays a decisive role in the emotional evaluation and recognition of situations as well as in the analysis of potential threats. It handles external stimuli and induces vegetative reactions.
- Two parts of the amygdala include the basolateral complex and the central nucleus.
Basolateral complex
- part of amygdala
- the basolateral complex has dense connections with a variety of sensory areas of the brain.
- It plays a critical role in classical conditioning and in attaching emotional value to learning processes and memories.
Central nucleus
-The central nucleus plays a role in attention. It has connections with the hypothalamus and various areas of the brainstem and regulates the activity of the autonomic nervous and endocrine systems (Pessoa, 2010).
Limbic system
-The limbic system is the area of the brain involved with emotion and memory. Its structures include the hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus
Hippocampus
The hippocampus is also involved in emotional processing.
- Research has demonstrated that hippocampal structure and function are linked to a variety of mood and anxiety disorders. e.g reduction in size in PTSD
SYmpathetic nervous system
- When activated, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) controls the endocrine glands to prepare the body for emergency action.
- SNS activation causes the adrenal glands to produce epinephrine (also known as adrenaline), which results in the “fight-or-flight” response.
- The fight-or-flight response involves increased blood flow to the muscles, increased heart rate, and other physiological responses that enable the body to move more quickly and feel less pain in situations perceived to be dangerous.
Reticular activating system
- The reticular activating system (RAS) is a network of neurons that runs through the core of the hindbrain and into the midbrain and forebrain.
- The RAS is made up of the midbrain reticular formation, the mesencephalic nucleus (mesencephalon), the thalamic intralaminar nucleus (centromedian nucleus), the dorsal hypothalamus, and the tegmentum.
Reticular activating system functions
- The RAS is involved with arousal and attention, sleep and wakefulness, and the control of reflexes.
- The RAS is believed to first arouse the cortex and then maintain its wakefulness so that sensory information and emotion can be interpreted more effectively.
- It helps us fulfill goals by directing our concentration toward them and plays a role in individuals’ responses to situations and events.
James-Lange theory of emotion
- witnessing an external stimulus leads to a physiological response. Your emotional reaction depends on upon how you interpret those physical reactions.
- the physical reaction needs to be present in order to actually experience the real emotion.
Cannon-Bard theory of emotion
- proposed in the 1920s
- directly challenges the James-Lange theory.
- Cannon and Bard’s theory instead suggests that our physiological reactions, such as crying and trembling, are caused by our emotions.
Cognitive appraisal theory
- Appraisal theory is the theory in psychology that emotions are extracted from our evaluations (appraisals or estimates) of events that cause specific reactions in different people.
- Essentially, our appraisal of a situation causes an emotional, or affective, response that is going to be based on that appraisal.
Differential Emotions Theory
-the 10 fundamental emotions (interest, enjoyment, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shyness, and guilt) each have motivational characteristics.
- Each emotion has its own neuromotor program and emotional expression is activated by neurochemical changes.
- Both internal and external events can trigger neurochemical change and thus emotional expression.
-Izard
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Ekman 6 basic emotions
Paul Ekman identified six basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise)
Robert Plutchik 8 emotions
- 8 emotions
- grouped into four pairs of polar opposites (joy-sadness, anger-fear, trust-distrust, surprise-anticipation).
