biology of emotions

WELCOMES YOU…..WELCOMES YOU…..

RELEVANCE OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS:

A STUDY FROM THE SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE

By,By, SREEJA SREEJA GANGADHARAN PGANGADHARAN P

Topic s under Discussion

• EMOTIONS

• BRAIN & EMOTIONS

• BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF EMOTIONS

• RELEVANCE OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS

• SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

EMOTION• Emotions are not mere feelings

— but there exists a biological basis for human emotional responses. • Emotions are, by definition,

associated with urges or specific

action tendencies to act in particular way.

• Four aspects of emotion are behavioral, cognitive, physiological and subjective.• Emotions are either positive

or negative.

Ekman’s Universality Studies on Emotion

Can You Identify the Emotions Expressed in these Picture???

• Primary Emotions: Happy, Sad, Surprise, Fear, Disgust and Anger.

• Primary emotions are those that we feel first, as a first response to a situation.

• Secondary emotions appear after primary emotions and is divided into Positive and Negative Emotions.

• Positive Emotions are love, astonishment, appreciation, enthusiasm etc…

• Negative Emotions are: guilt, depression, pride, jealousy etc..

BRAIN AND EMOTIONS

Emotions are assumed to be the product of neural circuits in the brain. Some of the newer, more recently evolved neural structures, such as the limbic system, play vital roles in emotional expression.

• Prefrontal cortex : Regulation of emotion and

behavior by anticipating the consequences of our actions.

• Amygdalae• The amygdale are two small,

round structures located anterior to the hippocampus they are critical for the production of emotion, particularly so for negative.

• Anterior cingulate• The anterior cingulated cortex

(ACC) is located in the middle of the brain, This region of the brain may also play an important role in the initiation of motivated behavior.

Ventral striatum

Ventral striatum The ventral striatum is a group of

subcortical structures that play an important role in emotion and behavior.

One part of the ventral striatum called the nucleus accumbens is involved in the experience of goal-directed positive emotion.

Individuals with addictions experience increased activity in this area when they encounter the object of their addiction.

INSULA

Insula• The insular cortex is thought to play a

critical role in the bodily experience of emotion, as it is connected to other brain structures that regulate the body’s autonomic functions (heart rate, breathing, digestion, etc.).

• This region also processes taste information and is thought to play an important role in experiencing the emotion of disgust.

• Amygdala is part of limbic system

that evaluates the valence of emotional stimuli and crudely processes fear-relevant stimuli prior to awareness and alerts the cortex, which does more extensive stimulus appraisal.• Amygdala, is the center for

identification of danger and hence for self preservation.

THE BIOLOGY OF EMOTIONS

Biology of Emotion

• Emotions are more than just a feeling state — that they are whole-body states that activate hormonal responses, the cardiovascular system and other systemic reactions.

• During arousal neurochemicals like dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin step-up or step-down the brain's activity level.

Neurobiology of stress "If you do not bring forth what is within you,

what you do not bring forth will destroy you." (The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas )

Stress leads to toxic amount of neuro-chemicals which will accumulate in the brain, clogging up neural pathways.

Stress is off course damaging to health. Thus stress is associated with physiological changes and cause activation of sympathetic system and lowers the activation of parasympathetic system.

• Stress triggers hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical system (HPA system) and one risk is the disposition of lipids in the walls of the arteries. • Excessive level of corticosteroids over a

protracted period damages the immune and nervous system. • Thickening of the walls of the arteries

also lead to risks from Coronary Heart Diseases . • There is an increased risk of ulceration..• It is important to learn how to handle

stress. Mindfulness meditation, an active search for novelty

HORMONES RELATED TO POSITIVE EMOTIONS

• Oxytocin released from the posterior pituitary following the birth of offspring is associated with optimism in women within the context of socially supportive relationships.

• Oxytocin down-regulate sympathetic hypothalamic-pitutary-adrenocortical activity and so reduces stress responses.

• Positive emotions has also heightened NK (Natural Killer or lymphocytes) cell activity in individuals with cancer histories.

• Hope and optimism is associated with efficient functioning of neurotransmitter systems involving serotonin and noradrenalin.

• Self control that leads to production of, Neurotransmitters like neuroendocrines and catecholamine mirror the level of felt self efficacy. This sense of realistic self efficacy lessen cardiac reactivity and lower blood pressure there by facilitating coping.

RELEVANCE OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS

• • Positive emotions have an evolutionary

advantage. • Experiencing positive emotions increases

our survival chances because positive emotions broaden our intellectual, physical, and social resources and build reserves for us to draw upon. • Strengthen your immune system to help

healing and boost your resistance to disease.

• Anger and its improper management, for instance, have been implicated in the etiology of heart disease and some cancers as well as in aggression and violence, especially in men and boys.

• By practicing positive emotions, they cope better with stressful situations. They also actively avoid stressful life events and form better social support network around themselves.

SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

A chief task of positive psychology in the coming decades is to reorient and integrate our research and insights with the main stream of science more generally.

. Exploring underlying brain mechanisms regarding the impacts of positive psychological states on behavior, using techniques such as MRI, will be an increasingly important integrative thrust for positive psychology as well.

• The Psychological and the biological science are coming together as never before, and the most creative discoveries of the next decade will integrate the biological, psychological and social levels of analysis. • Positive psychology is poised to be in

the vanguard of this exciting integrative science.

KEY WORDS• Emotions Dopamine, • Positive emotions Noradrenaline, • Negative emotions Serotonin• Prefrontal cortex Oxytocine• Amygdale Stress• Insula Meditation• Ventral striatum

REFERANCEAlan Carr , Positive Psychology: Science of Happiness and Human Strength, Routledge Publication ,

Frederick Toates, 2007, Biological psychology An Integrative aproach, Pearson Education Ltd

Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King, 2005 Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Leads to Success?, Seligman. M and Csikszentmihalyi, M (2000a), Positive Psychology: An Introduction. American psychologist 55: 5-14.

REFERANCEPsychological Bulletin, , Vol. 131.

Rob Kall, The Art of Positive Experiences and Good Feelings. Holly Vanscoy, ‘Unraveling the Biology of Emotions’, Psych Central.

Seligman M (2002) Authentic happiness: Using new Positive Psychology to Realize your potential for Lasting Fulfillment. New York: Free Press.

REFERANCE

Seligman. M and Csikszentmihalyi, M (2000a), Positive Psychology: An Introduction. American psychologist 55: 5-14.

CONTACT

SREEJA GANGADHARAN P

meera.gang@yahoomail.com

8098371390,91-7293903389