BiopsychologyofEmotion.ppt

Biopsychology of Emotion Ch. 17 Outline Early Research on the Biopsychology of Emotion Emotions and the Autonomic Nervous System Human Facial Expressions of Emotion Fear Conditioning Brain Mechanisms of Human Emotion Early Research Darwin’s The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals was the first major event in the study of the biological bases of emotion Darwin believed emotions evolved from behaviors that indicated what an animal would do next in a given situation; that when these behaviors were advantageous to the animal Early Research The James-Lange Theory was the first attempt to explain the physiological bases of emotion; suggests that emotion-inducing stimuli are received and interpreted by the brain, which triggers visceral changes ( organ changes in the abdomen or thorax) that subsequently trigger the experience of emotion Early Research Canon-Bard Theory is alternative theory based on the idea that emotional stimuli evoke visceral and emotional responses that are independent of one another Early Research Neither theory is entirely correct; emotions can be induced by stimuli that cannot elicit a peripheral, visceral response (e.g., patients suffering from a spinal cord transection), but visceral responses can often induce an emotional state in the absence of any obvious eliciting stimuli (e.g., a racing heartbeat and increased respiration can produce a feeling of fear in the absence of an eliciting stimuli) Early Research Bard reported that decorticate cats (without cortex) responded with unusual aggression to the slightest provocation; often this behavior was not directed at any specific topic. Bard concluded that the hypothalamus is critical for the performance of these aggressive behaviors, which he called sham rage; he also believed that the cortex normally inhibited and directed these aggressive displays Early Research This theory of hypothalamic function was followed by Papez’s proposal of a limbic system that controlled the expression of emotion