This page discusses the
underlying psychobiology of emotions or feelings and their
importance.
What are emotions?
Emotions
are feeling states. They are the affect side of consciousness. They
have both psychic and physiological dimensions. They are subjective but
are readily communicated to others.
Feelings are neither good nor bad
Our feelings are just our
feelings.
Not good, not bad, just feelings. We have little affect on how we feel
about something. They are so primal, so fundamental to what makes us
human. They go way back in vertebrate evolution, especially
mammals.
While how we feel about something is neither good nor bad, what we do
about those feelings can be good or bad. This is where the good old
brain, actually the cerebral hemispheres, comes into play. It has
control over our behavior, which is what we do (and say).
There
is a whole branch of therapy, called Cognitive Therapy, that argues
that our thoughts control our feelings. I have real problems with this
premise as emotions were here long before our large cerebral
cortex (see evolution discussion below). Yes, we can affect our
emotions through rational arguments and reason. But let's not put the
horse before the cart (Somehow this seems appropo for this website--the
horse-cart analogy.) Emotions are primal, basic. Rational, logical
thought override is only a very recent evolutionary addition.
What are the basic emotions?
Depending
on which authority you read, there are seven basic emotions:
anger,
fear, sadness, happiness, emotional pain, shame/guilt, and loneliness.
Some authors
would also include surprise as an emotion. This is related to the
startle
response. Or, as I discuss in the Wild Ride,
being "spooked", in the case of Mustang Sally.
Emotions
are not all-or-none. They usually occupy a continuum. You can be a
little sad or a lot sad, a little angry or a lot angry, etc., or
anywhere in between.
One of the tricks of the trade in therapy
is to have the client self-rate how strong their feelings are. I
usually use
a 0-10 scale, where "0" is no sadness, anger, etc. and "10" is the
maximum of experiencing that emotion.
More complex emotions
consists of mixes of these basic emotions and various gradations of
them on their continuum. Frustration, for example, may be a mix of
anger and sadness.
You can feel more than one emotion at the same time. You can feel both
sad and happy for example.
While most of these basic emotions are self-evident for most of us, I
want to say a few words about a couple of them...
Anger and fear
Anger and fear are the emotions of the flight-or-fight
response, the most fundamental of vertebrate survival tools--and many
invertebrates too. Fear is to flight as anger is to fight. They have a
specific part of the brain, an ancient part of the brain, the amygdala, buried deep the
ancient midbrain, that regulates them.
Diseases
or accidents that damage the amygdala result in a loss of fear and
anger. Sounds good, no? No, is right. These individuals have a
significantly lowered chance of survival.
Shame and guilt
These
are similar but different from the therapeutic standpoint. Shame is
something imposed from the outside by others for something you have
little or no control over. Guilt is a feeling of regret or remorse for
something you have done. You had control over this one (usually) but
are feeling bad about the choice you made.
A way of conceptualizing emotions is in terms of an n-dimensional
emotional hyperspace, where n
is the number of basic or primary emotions. This model helps us
understand our comfort zone and personal growth. Here is a link to a
page that discusses this concept and its applications...click here
Evolution of emotions
Emotions
began in primitive protozoans (mobile, single-cell, microscopic
critters) as a simple approach-avoidance response. You moved toward
something that was "good" (food, mate, light, etc.) and away from
things that were "bad" for you (e.g. predators, toxic compounds,
darkness, etc.) This movement is referred to as "taxis". Life
of a protozoan is pretty basic so they don't need a complex emotion
system. Where would they house it anyway?
Even plants might be said to have their own primitive "emotions"--their
own approach-avoidance system. The "move" by growth though. This growth
is called "trophism". Plant leaves and stems grow toward
light--something called positive photrophism. Whereas roots are
negatively phototrophic--they grow away from the light.
As
organisms became more complex and mobile (multicellular, brains, legs,
that sort of stuff), they needed a larger range of
emotional responses to cope with the more complex enviornments they
encountered. Those that had a wider range
of emotions survived and reproduced better.
Why do we have emotions?
Remember Mr. Spock of Star Trek? His
totally logical mind devoid of emotions? If having no emotions
were such a great thing, then why do mammals as well have so many of
them. Why are we not more like Mr. Spock? In short, and as indicated
above, Mr. Spock would have been at a selective disadvantage in terms
of his survival, and lets not even go there in terms of reproduction.
Better survival and reproduction
Survival and reproduction
are the
two evolutionary imperatives. You don't do these, and both of
them, you and your genes loose in the evolutionary game. So there was
natural selection for more complex emotion systems. But more complex
emotion systems required more complex brains or central nervous
systems. Emotions confer a selective advantage for organisms that have
them. Emotions help us to survive and reproduce.
Fear and anger are probably the most primitive of the emotions because
they are coupled to the flight-or-fight response.
Quick read on the environment
Emotions give an organism a quick assessment of his environment. No
thought required. Go with your gut feeling, etc.
If you are a frog or lizard, not a lot to "think" with anyway. About
all these critters, the lower vertebrates, sharks, fish, amphibians,
and reptiles, can do it seems is flight-or-fight stuff, fear and anger.
Of course they can get affectionate too. But that has more to do with
hormones, pheromones, and mating than emotions per se.
Help us make decisions
Emotions help us make decisions. It is hard to choose between
alternatives if you do not have any emotion toward them one way or the
other. Hamburger or hot dog? How do you choose? Does one make you
happier than the other? Probably.
Darwin's studies
Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory, was one of the
earliest pioneers to systematically study emotions. He looked at
emotions in other mammals and across cultures. His findings were
published in his book, The
expression of the emotions in man and animals, in 1898.
In general he found that other mammals use similar muscles in their
face and body to express many of the same emotions as humans. Across
cultures, the same muscles and emotions were seen. So emotions
seem universal in mammals.
Emotions and the Brain
The Triune Brain
This gets us to what has been called the triune brain (coming soon).
The triune brain distinguishes the reptilian brain, the mammalian
brain, and the the neo-mammalian brain. The latter, found only in man
and perhaps the higher primates,
is characterized by the greatly expanded cerebral cortex, more complex
cross-connections between the two cerebral hemispheres of the cortices,
and an expanded limbic system.
It is the limbic system that houses and enables our complex emotional
system. It is in a sense our "emotional brain". Derived from the
olfactory (smell) parts of the brain's temporal lobe,
it also explains why smells are so linked to our emotions and,
consequently, why and how aromatherapy works. This is why aromas or
smells can elicit such emotional responses. The amygdala is part of the
limbic system and has to do with our emotion of fear.
Right and Left Brain
EEG
studies have indicated that the right frontal lobe of the
cortex controls negative emotions like depression, fear,
shame,
etc., while the left side, positive emotions. Shy or inhibited children
more right frontal activity and more left frontal activity in bold or
uninhibited children.
Molecules of Emotion
Candace Pert in her great book, Molecules
Of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine, discusses
her
discovery of endorphins. These natural opiates of the body are our
feel-good molecules that connect body to mind in a complex information
network that we can refer to as the body-mind. They are neuropeptides,
short strings of amino acids that act as neurotransmitters,
transmitting information between neurons and cells.(See discussion in
"Neruotransmitters", coming soon)
Her pioneering work discovered opiate receptors that lie on the
neuron's outer membrane. Many more of these
endorphins and neuropeptides have since been identified along with
their receptors. These receptor-neuropeptide systems along with other
such systems. explains
the body-mind experience of emotions.
Genes of emotions
The Human Genome project has enabled us to to identify several genes
associated with emotions. There are genes that have been identified
that affect depression, anxiety, thrill seeking, and addiction, for
example. (See Living
with Our Genes: Why They Matter More Than You Think.)
We know from other genetic studies that many mental
disorders have a large genetic (hereditary) component, e.g. depression,
anxiety, bi-polar, Asperger's, schizophrenia, etc.
Let
us talk about one gene that has been identified that affects emotions
and is related to novelty or thrill-seeking. We will discussed other
genes related to emotions in other sections. Genes that affect anxiety
and depression
have also been identified and is discussed more in those sections.
The thrill-seeking gene
Dopamine is our "feel good" neurotransmitter. It affects
is our emotion of happiness.
As
discussed in our Depression page, it along with serotonin and
norepinephrine (a.k.a. adrenalin) in proper balance, are important for
maintaining mood. There is a gene that codes for dopamine and another
that codes for its receptor. But, we want to briefly discuss an
associated gene that affects what stimulates the release of dopamine in
our brains, the D4DR gene. First, back to dopamine...
Dopamine
Dopamine
energizes or motivates people to seek something that feels good. In our
primitive organism model mentioned above, it energizes our critter to
approach something that "feels" good, e.g. food, light, a sex,
etc.
There are a group of cells deep within the brain in a
region called nucleus accumbens that are especially rich in neurons
that produce and respond to dopamine. This is sort of the brain's
"G-spot" for those that know something about this from human sexuality.
Biochemically,
dopamine is composed of a modified single amino acid. So it is in a
class of neurotransmitters called monoamines. These are a group of
neurotransmitters that are involved in affecting personality,
depression, drugs and alcohol, aggression, eating, and sex.
Receptors
Briefly
each neurotransmitter has its own receptor. The two of them,
neurotransmitter and receptor fit together sort of like a lock and key.
The neurotransmitter is the key and the receptor is the lock. There are
separate genes that code for each receptor. Receptors are proteins. Our
cells' surfaces are lined my a huge array of these receptors. This is
discussed more fully on the "Neurotransmitters" page (coming soon).
Mice without dopamine
To
give you an idea of what dopamine does in terms of energizing or
motivating behaviors, in one experiment mice were genetically
engineered so that they would not have dopamine. All they wanted to do
was to lay around. They were not motivated even to eat. When they were
injected with L-Dopa, a replacement for the dopamine they could not
produce, they quickly recovered their interest in eating, drinking, and
moving around.
In humans
Dopamine deficiency in humans
is what leads to Parkinson's disease and is caused by a degeneration in
cells in the substania niagra that also lie deep in the brain. In
addition to the physical movements affected by Parkinson's, there are
accompanying changes in personality caused by the dopamine deficiency.
Most notably affected was the trait of novelty seeking.
The DN4R gene
This
gene codes for one of the several dopamine receptors. There are several
versions (alleles) of the gene found in the general population. It is
the long version, which has an elongated number of amino acids in the
middle of the receptor protein. People with this long version are what
can be called "thrill seekers".
Recall that for any gene
(a.k.a. locus) we carry two alleles. One we get from our mother and the
other from our father. If we get the same version of the gene (allele),
we are said to be homozygous for that gene. If we get different
alleles, we are heterozygous.
People that are homozygous for the
long version allele rate hight on thrill seeking. In order to get
enough dopamine affect in their brains, they have to be involved in
intense thrill activities such as sky diving, racing, mountain
climbing, bull riding, etc. Only when engaged in such activities do
they feel really alive. They just can't seem to get enough dopamine
otherwise.
The long version of the D4DR gene protein does not bind with dopamine
as well as the shorter versions. So it takes more dopamine to have the
same affect as people with the shorter version.
Addicts
have a similar problem. In this case, however, the drug has decreased
the number of dopamine receptors available. More about this under
Addictions (coming soon).
This gene is highly expressed in the limbic portion of the brain, our
emotional center.
Hot love
Just as an interesting aside to this story is the emotions
that surround infatuation. There is a dopamine high produced in the
early stages of many relationships that is addictive as a result. As
time goes on however, and if the relationship continues, the
dopamine level drops off. This is about the two-year point at a maximum
(usually). At which time the relationship must "mature" into a new kind
of relationship.
This is one of the reason we see such a high
frequency of divorces, separations, and breakups around the 1-2 year
point. The dopamine high has worn off.
This is also probably why
in ancient and indigenous societies we see breakups of the "marriage"
between the 2-4 year mark: two years for the dopamine high, and four
years for weaning from breast feeding of the young.
, discusses
her
discovery of endorphins. These natural opiates of the body are our
feel-good molecules that connect body to mind in a complex information
network that we can refer to as the body-mind. They are neuropeptides,
short strings of amino acids that act as neurotransmitters,
transmitting information between neurons and cells.(See discussion in
"Neruotransmitters", coming soon) 
.) 