Chapter 12: Emotional BehaviorsModule 12.1: What is emotion anyway?

Module 12.2: Stress & Health

Module 12.3: Attack & Escape Behaviors

Introduction

Defining Emotions– subjective– behavioral– physiological

Consciousness & Emotion– cannot be unconscious and experience emotion

• absence seizures

– emotion can be caused by unconscious influences• Tranel & Demasio, 1993

Usefulness of Emotions

Assist in decision making– Prefrontal cortex damage lose their emotions and their

decision making suffers• affective feedback gone (“feeling good, bad about

consequences”• anticipation of consequences reduced• morality

Emotions and readiness behavior

– Emotions and increased motivation– Emotions start the fight-or-flight response

• sympathetic activation

• parasympathetic activation

Theories of Emotions/Emotional Arousal

James-Lange theory- (note: text description is incorrect)– primacy of autonomic arousal (and skeletal actions) in emotional

identification

Cannon-Bard theory-– a stimulus evokes the emotional experience and the physical arousal

simultaneously but independently

Schacter-Singer theory-– the physiological changes tell you how strong your emotion is, but

need some contextual or cognitive cue to identify which emotion being felt.

• Primacy of cognition and importance of environment

Support for J-L Theory-– facial feeback hypothesis (Ekman)– Spinal Cord Patients (Hohmann)– Locked-in syndrome

Stress and Health

Behavioral Medicine– stress, personality,

experience in health and disease processess

Stress-the nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it (Selye).– Physiological based

definition (there are others)

Stress Activates – Autonomic Nervous

system (nervous)– HPAC System

(hormonal)Pathways of the sympathetic and parasympathetic

nervous systems

Evidence of Mind-Body Interactions

Psychosomatic Illness– Onset of illness due to someone’s personality, emotions, or

experiences Ulcers

– Ulcers can be formed when an individual experiences a great deal of stress

• effect on digestive system (saliva secretion, HCL secretion, peristaltic action)

– Control of the stress can alter ulcer formation• yoked pairs, executive monkey research, predictability & control

– Ulcers are formed when the parasympathetic nervous system rebounds after the stress

• post stress rebound effects

• heliobactor pylori

Evidence of Mind-Body Interactions

Heart Disease– Data may indicate that people who experience frequent hostility

are more prone to heart disease Voodoo Death

– Richter found that voodoo death may be due to parasympathetic rebound

Stress Activation in the Body

HPA Axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal)– Slower to respond

– Important in chronic stress

– Activation of hypothalamus causes release of ACTH from pituitary and release of cortisol from adrenal

– Cortisol mobilizes resources but can be harmful if prolonged exposure

Autonomic Nervous System– Rapid Response System

– Important in more Acute Stressors

– Results in activation of Sympathetic Nervous System

The hypothalamus-anterior pituitary-adrenal cortex axisProlonged stress leads to the secretion of the adrenal hormone cortisol, which elevates blood sugar and increases metabolism. These changes help the body sustain prolonged activity but at the expense of decreased immune system activity.

Immune System Cells

Consists of cells that protect the body against invaders like bacteria and viruses– Leukocytes

• White Blood Cells• Patrol blood and other body fluids for invaders• Identifies antigens on intruders and signal attack from

immune system– Macrophage

• Surrounds intruder, digests it, and exposes its antigens on its own surface

More Immune System Cells

B Cell– attaches to an intruder and produces specific antibodies

to attack the intruder’s antigen– antibodies are Y-shaped proteins that circulate in the

blood, specifically attaching to one kind of antigen T Cell

– Cytotoxic-directly attack intruder cells– Helper-stimulate other T cells or B cells to multiply more

rapidly Natural Killer Cells

– blood cells that attach to certain kinds of tumor cells and cells infected with viruses

More Immune System Cells/Products

Cytokines– Chemicals released by the immune system that attack

infections and also communicate with the brain to elicit anti-illness behaviors

– Fevers make the body a lest hospitable host– sleepiness, decreased muscle activity, decreased sex drive

conserve energy– decreased appetite may deprive body of iron needed by

viruses

Immune system responses to a bacterial infectionA macrophage cell engulfs a bacterial cell and displays one of the bacteria’s antigens on its surface. Meanwhile a B cell also binds to the bacteria and produces antibodies against the bacteria. A helper T cell attaches to both the macrophage and the B cell; it stimulates the B cell to generate copies of itself, called B memory cells, which immunize the body against future invasions by the same kind of bacteria.

Stress Effects on the Immune System

Short-term stress acts to increase immune system function Long-term stress decreases immune system function

– Reduced levels of natural killer cells, B cells, and T cells– Reduced T cell function– Reduced NK cell function– Reduced resistance to infection

Stress Effects on the Brain

Selective cell death to hippocampal cells– Due to high cortisol levels– damage to hippocampus can lead to an increase in cortisol

levels; creating a vicious cycle of cell death and high cortisol levels

– Aged people with high cortisol levels show the greatest deterioration of the hippocampus and resulting memory impairment

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Who is Affected?– People who have had a traumatic experience of being

severely injured or threatened– people who have seen other people harmed or killed

What are the Symptoms?– Frequent flashbacks and nightmares about the event– avoidance of reminders of the event– exaggerated arousal in response to noises and other

stimuli

Attack Behaviors

Affective Attack– highly emotional attack behavior– triggered by pain or threat or when primed

Heredity and Environment in Human Violence– Evidence for a genetic or prenatal environment component– Children exposed to families experiencing discord, depression,

substance abuse or legal problems are more likely to demonstrate aggressive behaviors

Physiology of Aggression

Hormones– High levels of testosterone are associated with

aggression Serotonin

– low serotonin turnover is associated with increased aggression

Temporal Lobe– Stimulation of ventromedial hypothalamus or amygdala

can result in aggression

Location of amygdala in the human brainThe amygdala, located in the interior of the temporal lobe, receives input from many cortical and subcortical areas. Part (a) shows a blow-up of separate nuclei of the amygdala.

Escape Behaviors

Two Types– Fear-transient– Anxiety-can be long lasting

Brain Mechanisms– Associated with excitation of amygdala– Most likely associated with GABA pathways– Anti-anxiety drugs decrease fear and anxiety by facilitating

inhibition at GABA synapses

The GABAA receptor complexOf its four receptor sites sensitive to GABA, the three a sites are also sensitive to benzodiazepines.