Presentation on emotions

2. Samia Rani
PhD Scholar Psychology
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences
Faculty of Allied Health Sciences
The University of Lahore
Emotions

3. Topic: Emotions
■ Learning Objective:
To give the understanding of the detail
concept of emotions and related theories.
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4. Outline
■ Early Theories of Emotion
■ Core Limbic Structures: Amygdala and
Hypothalamus
■ The Limbic Cortex and Emotions
■ Limbic Association Cortex: Modulation of
Emotion
■ Neurochemical Influences on Emotion
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5. Early Theories of Emotion
■ Emotional Expressions: Signposts on a
Landscape of Inner States
■ The James-Lange Theory of Emotion: A
Bottom-Up Theory
■ The Cannon-Bard Theory: A Top-Down
Theory
■ Two-Factor Theories: Reconciling Central
and Peripheral Influences on Emotion
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6. Emotional Expressions
■ Emotions allow us to signal our internal
state to others.
■ Animals have similar emotions to humans.
■ The study of human emotions goes back
to Darwin, who
■ suggested that emotions are constant
across cultures and ages.
■ Emotions include fear, anger, surprise, joy,6

7. Emotional Expressions
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8. The James-Lange Theory of
Emotion
■ According to this theory, the physiological
reaction in the body causes the emotion.
■ Fight or flight system reacts very rapidly to
stimuli.
■ This is a bottom-up theory because stimuli
are detected by the peripheral nervous
system and transmitted to the brain.
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9. The James-Lange Theory of
Emotion
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10. The Cannon-Bard Theory
■ This arose as a criticism of the James-
Lange theory.
◻ Many bodily responses are too slow to
generate an emotional response.
◻ Artificially triggering sensations in the body
does not induce emotions.
■ This is a top-down theory, because
information about the emotion spreads
from the brain to the body.
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11. The Cannon-Bard Theory
■ This theory proposes that the thalamus
relays sensory information to the cortex
and to the hypothalamus.
■ The cortical pathway results in the
perception of the emotion.
■ The hypothalamic pathway coordinates
the emotional response within the body.
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12. Two-Factor Theories
■ Emotions do not need to be either top-
down or bottom-up.
■ Emotions could involve some combination
of both theories.
■ The two-factor theory was developed to
address this.
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13. Two-Factor Theories
■ Schacter and Singer’s experiment:
◻ Subjects were injected with either saline or
epinephrine to manipulate the physiology.
◻ Of those injected with epinephrine, half were
told of the effects and half were not to affect
the cognitive context.
◻ Subjects interacted with an actor.
◻ Both physiology and cognition affected the
subject’s emotional state.
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14. Two-Factor Theories
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15. Two-Factor Theories
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16. Core Limbic Structures:
Amygdala and Hypothalamus
■ Hypothalamus: Internal States,
Homeostatic Drives
■ Do Hypothalamic Circuits Generate Inner
Emotional Experiences?
■ Amygdala: Externally Generated States
and Drives
■ The Amygdala and Emotional Experience
■ Hippocampus: Emotional Memories
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17. Core Limbic Structures:
Amygdala and Hypothalamus
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18. Hypothalamus: Internal States,
Homeostatic Drives
■ The hypothalamus and the amygdala are
important limbic structures.
■ The hypothalamus contains many different
nuclei, which influence reproductive,
appetitive, and agonistic behaviors.
■ Receptors in the bloodstream monitor the
composition of the blood and report that to
the hypothalamus.
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19. Hypothalamus: Internal States,
Homeostatic Drives
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20. Hypothalamus: Internal States,
Homeostatic Drives
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21. Hypothalamus: Internal States,
Homeostatic Drives
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22. Hypothalamus: Internal States,
Homeostatic Drives
■ The hypothalamus can affect the internal
state via three pathways.
◻ The autonomic output pathway stimulates the
sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous
systems.
◻ The neuroendocrine pathway regulates
hormone levels throughout the body.
◻ The motivational pathway stimulates the
forebrain to generate complex plans.
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23. Hypothalamus: Internal States,
Homeostatic Drives
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24. Hypothalamic Circuits Generate
Inner Emotional Experiences
■ The hypothalamus is the first level of the
nervous system that brings together
◻ Survival-relevant stimuli
◻ Internal drives caused by these stimuli
◻ A means to change the internal state to
respond to the stimuli
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25. Amygdala: Externally Generated
States and Drives
■ Much of the input to the amygdala is from
the outside world.
■ Output from the amygdala
◻ Down to the brainstem and spinal cord
◻ To hypothalamic nuclei that are important for
secreting hormones
◻ Up to the striatum and the cortex
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26. Amygdala: Externally Generated
States and Drives
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27. Amygdala: Externally Generated
States and Drives
■ The basolateral amygdala tracks value
and projects to the cortex.
■ The centromedial amygdala projects to
and influences the hypothalamus and
brainstem.
■ The amygdala is important for fear
learning in classical conditioning
experiments.
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28. Amygdala: Externally Generated
States and Drives
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29. The Amygdala and Emotional
Experience
■ Damage to the amygdala can impact
behavior and emotions.
■ Monkeys with bilateral damage to the
amygdala develop Kluver-Bucy syndrome.
■ In humans with damage to the bilateral
amygdala, patients have difficulty learning
and expressing fear.
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30. Hippocampus: Emotional
Memories
■ The hippocampus can be functionally
subdivided into the posterior and anterior
hippocampus.
◻ The posterior hippocampus is involved in
spatial functions.
◻ The anterior hippocampus is involved in
emotional memory.
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31. Hippocampus: Emotional
Memories
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32. Hippocampus: Emotional
Memories
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33. Ventral Striatum: Pleasure and
Reward
■ Electrical stimulation of the septal area,
near the ventral striatum, provides intense
reward.
■ Rats will push a lever to receive
stimulation here to exclusion of all other
activities.
■ This region shows increased activity
during many rewarded behaviors.
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34. Ventral Striatum: Pleasure and
Reward
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35. Ventral Striatum: Pleasure and
Reward
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36. The Circuit of Papez and the
Ring of Limbic Cortex
■ Circuit of Papez
◻ Interconnected areas involved in emotional
responses.
◻ Hypothalamus monitors the internal
environment.
◻ Amygdala monitors the external environment.
◻ Anterior hippocampus generates emotional
states based on past experiences.
◻ Ventral striatum represents reward value.
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37. The Circuit of Papez and the
Ring of Limbic Cortex
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38. The Limbic Cortex and Emotions
■ The Interoceptive Insula: The “Feeling”
Side of Emotions
■ Cingulate Cortex: A Motor Cortex for the
Limbic System
■ Ventromedial Prefontal Cortex: A
Generator of Gut Feelings
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39. The Interoceptive Insula: The
“Feeling” Side of Emotions
■ The limbic regions are important for
generating and modulating emotional
states.
■ The insula regulates the sensory,
subjective experience of emotions.
■ The insula produces whole-body
sensations that are associated with
emotional states.
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40. The Interoceptive Insula: The
“Feeling” Side of Emotions
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41. The Interoceptive Insula: The
“Feeling” Side of Emotions
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42. Cingulate Cortex: A Motor Cortex
for the Limbic System
■ The cingulate cortex provides motor
control for the autonomic nervous system,
brainstem, amygdala, and hippocampus.
■ The cingulate gyrus contains many sub-
regions, each of which influences different
targets.
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43. Ventromedial Prefontal Cortex: A
Generator of Gut Feelings
■ Iowa Gambling Task
◻ Subjects pick cards from a risky deck of
cards, with large gains and larger losses, for a
safe deck, with smaller gains and losses.
◻ Over time, subjects learn that picking from the
safe deck gives them more money.
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44. Ventromedial Prefontal Cortex: A
Generator of Gut Feelings
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45. Ventromedial Prefontal Cortex: A
Generator of Gut Feelings
■ Patients with damage to the ventromedial
prefrontal cortex cannot get along well in
daily life, despite normal intelligence.
■ This structure uses somatic markers, gut
feelings that suggest danger, to influence
behaviors.
■ Patients with damage to this area do not
switch their behavior on the gambling task.
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46. Ventromedial Prefontal Cortex: A
Generator of Gut Feelings
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47. Ventromedial Prefontal Cortex: A
Generator of Gut Feelings
■ The ventromedial prefrontal cortex affects
activity in the hypothalamus, anterior
hippocampus, and brainstem.
■ Through these connections, the
ventromedial prefrontal cortex learns and
generates visceral responses to stimuli.
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48. Ventromedial Prefontal Cortex: A
Generator of Gut Feelings
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49. Limbic Association Cortex:
Modulation of Emotion
■ The Mechanisms of Emotional
Reappraisal
■ Brain Injury, Brain Stimulation, and
Emotion Regulation
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50. The Mechanisms of Emotional
Reappraisal
■ The adjustment of emotional response
based on context is known as reappraisal.
■ There are changes in the activity of the
lateral prefrontal cortex and anterior insula
when a subject reappraises the situation.
■ There are also changes in connectivity
between different regions during
reappraisal.
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51. The Mechanisms of Emotional
Reappraisal
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52. The Mechanisms of Emotional
Reappraisal
■ In healthy subjects, the ventrolateral
prefrontal cortex activates the
ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
■ This reduces autonomic and amygdala
responses to the stimulus.
■ In depressed patients, the ventromedial
prefrontal cortex increases autonomic and
amygdala responses to the stimuli.
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53. The Mechanisms of Emotional
Reappraisal
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54. Brain Injury, Brain Stimulation,
and Emotion Regulation
■ Brain injuries to the regions other than the
prefrontal cortex seem to decrease the
incidence of depression.
■ Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex injuries
increased the incidence of depression.
■ Activity in other prefrontal areas has been
shown to impact mood disorders in other
studies.
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55. Brain Injury, Brain Stimulation,
and Emotion Regulation
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56. Brain Injury, Brain Stimulation,
and Emotion Regulation
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57. Neurochemical Influences on
Emotion
■ Serotonin and Mood
■ Norepinephrine and Mood
■ GABA and Anxiety
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58. Serotonin and Mood
■ Serotonin plays an important role in
regulating mood.
◻ Subjects on a diet low in tryptophan, a
precursor to serotonin, have a negative mood
bias.
◻ Subjects also change connectivity in the
ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal
cortex to resemble patients with depression.
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59. Serotonin and Mood
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60. Serotonin and Mood
■ Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
(SSRIs) alter mood.
◻ These are commonly used to treat
depression.
◻ Even low doses can remove the negative
mood bias.
◻ Use of SSRIs improves confidence and
cooperative behaviors.
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61. Serotonin and Mood
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62. Norepinephrine and Mood
■ Some antidepressant medications affect
norepinephrine by blocking its reuptake
into the presynaptic cell.
■ Effects of increasing norepinephrine are
similar to increasing serotonin.
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63. Norepinephrine and Mood
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64. GABA and Anxiety
■ GABA is the most common inhibitory
neurotransmitter in the brain.
■ Benzodiazepines increase the effect of
GABA, thereby decreasing activity in the
brain.
■ These can be used to decrease
excitability, and therefore anxiety.
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65. GABA and Anxiety
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66. GABA and Anxiety
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67. References
■ Behrend, D.A., Rosengren, K.S., & Perlmutter, M. (1992). The relation between
private speech and parental interactive style. In R.M. Diaz & L.E. Berk (Eds.), Private
speech: From social interaction to self-regulation (pp. 85–100). Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
■ Berk, L. E. (1986). Relationship of elementary school children's private speech to
behavioral accompaniment to task, attention, and task performance. Developmental
Psychology, 22(5), 671.
■ Berk, L. & Garvin, R. (1984). Development of private speech among low-income
Appalachian children. Developmental Psychology, 20(2), 271-286.
■ Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgment of the child. London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul.
■ Piaget, J. (1936). Origins of intelligence in the child. London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul.
■ Piaget, J. (1945). Play, dreams and imitation in childhood. London: Heinemann.
■ Piaget, J. (1957). Construction of reality in the child. London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul.
■ Piaget, J., & Cook, M. T. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York,
NY: International University Press.
■

69. Topic: Emotions
■ Learning Outcomes:
At the end of lecture students will able to
understand the detail concept of emotions
and related theories.
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