THOUGHTS AND COMMENTARY
A Book Excerpt From
The Road to Neuroplasticity and Change to Heal Trauma, Improve Cognitive Capacity and Maximize Performance
ABOUT THE BOOK
FACTS ON FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS
The word “emotion” is from the Latin word emovere meaning “to move out, remove, agitate / from ex-“out” + movere, “to move.”
Emotion is typically defined as a response to stimuli that causes physiological changes that motivate a person to act. Changes include increased pulse rate, body temperature, activity in the glands, or an increased or decreased breathing rate. Our thoughts have a profound impact on our feelings; our feelings affect the way we behave; and our behavior is responsible for our results.
Historically, psychologists have disagreed as to whether emotions arise before an action, occur at the same time as an action, or are a response to automatic physiological process. Most neuroscientists distinguish between the words “emotion” and “feeling.” Emotion describes the brain as being auto-programmed to respond to certain stimuli. Feeling is described as our conscious impression of that response.
PRIMARY EMOTIONS
There are 8 primary emotions and a mix of these emotions eventually lead to more complex emotions like love or guilt. The 8 innate emotions include anticipation, anger, sadness, disgust, fear, acceptance and joy.
An emotional classification has four types:
Emotions can last from a split second to a few minutes or longer. We experience negative emotions longer than positive emotions. The mood is longer than the emotion. We can stay in it from a few minutes to several days.
Did You Know?
Feelings don’t provide deep wisdom, detailed plans, or the ability to know the future. Feelings are simply nudges or urges. That’s it.
NEUROSCIENCE & PHYSIOLOGY OF EMOTION
Everything we smell goes straight to amygdala, which is part of brain responsible for handling our emotions. That’s why we often react emotionally when we smell something.
Research has shown that the expression and experience of negative emotions (e.g., depression and anxiety) show higher activation in the right frontal cortex and in the deeper brain structures, such as the amygdala, while positive emotions are accompanied by more left frontal cortex activity.
Two brain structures appear most closely linked with emotions: the amygdala and the insula or insular cortex. The amygdala integrates emotions, emotional behavior, and motivation. It interprets fear, helps distinguish friends from foes, and identifies social rewards and how to attain them. The insula is the source of disgust — a strong negative reaction to an unpleasant odor, for instance.
Our health, our hormones and our brain chemicals in particular, have a huge impact on how we feel. Some of these hormones include: testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, norepinephrine, epinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, GABA, and oxytocin (the love hormone!)
See Also: Seeking Happiness
Love has a lot more to do with chemistry than you might think. Those feelings of getting butterflies in your stomach or sweaty palms when you are attracted to someone actually have scientific explanations. Certain chemicals such as dopamine and endorphins are released and these have a big influence in the relationships that we choose.
As well as being a psychological phenomenon, emotions are also felt outside of the brain in the rest of the body. Certain parts of the body, especially the upper half, are heavily stimulated during emotions such as love, happiness and pride, whereas depression and sadness are linked to numbness.
A human can make over 10,000 facial expressions to express a wide variety of subtle emotions. Of all facial expressions, the smile may be the most deceptive. There are around 18 different smiles, including polite, cruel, false, self-effacing, etc. But only one reflects genuine happiness and it is known as the Duchenne smile, in honor of the French neurologist who determined this phenomenon, Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne (de Boulogne).
Sleeping Eases Emotional Distress: REM sleep has been found to help people to recover from emotional distress, especially those related to traumatic experiences. This happens because production of stress-related hormones are significantly reduced during REM stage of sleep.
Emotional development begins from infancy. When the infant is 2 to 4 weeks old, it shows interest, spontaneous, pleasant, and unpleasant emotions without any specific cause. Gradually many other complex emotions develop as the child grows up.
EMOTIONS EXPLAINED
Allowing ourselves to feel uncomfortable (if need be) can strengthen us emotionally. To tolerate discomfort is to let yourself experience it (if need be) and learn that you can handle it.
Emotion is typically defined as a response to stimuli that causes physiological changes that motivate a person to act. Changes include increased pulse rate, body temperature, activity in the glands, or an increased or decreased breathing rate. Our thoughts have a profound impact on our feelings; our feelings affect the way we behave; and our behavior is responsible for our results.
Historically, psychologists have disagreed as to whether emotions arise before an action, occur at the same time as an action, or are a response to automatic physiological process. Most neuroscientists distinguish between the words “emotion” and “feeling.” Emotion describes the brain as being auto-programmed to respond to certain stimuli. Feeling is described as our conscious impression of that response.
PRIMARY EMOTIONS
There are 8 primary emotions and a mix of these emotions eventually lead to more complex emotions like love or guilt. The 8 innate emotions include anticipation, anger, sadness, disgust, fear, acceptance and joy.
An emotional classification has four types:
- emotions are either positive or negative
- they are primary or mixed
- emotions are quite opposite
- they vary in intensity
Emotions can last from a split second to a few minutes or longer. We experience negative emotions longer than positive emotions. The mood is longer than the emotion. We can stay in it from a few minutes to several days.
Did You Know?
Feelings don’t provide deep wisdom, detailed plans, or the ability to know the future. Feelings are simply nudges or urges. That’s it.
NEUROSCIENCE & PHYSIOLOGY OF EMOTION
Everything we smell goes straight to amygdala, which is part of brain responsible for handling our emotions. That’s why we often react emotionally when we smell something.
Research has shown that the expression and experience of negative emotions (e.g., depression and anxiety) show higher activation in the right frontal cortex and in the deeper brain structures, such as the amygdala, while positive emotions are accompanied by more left frontal cortex activity.
Two brain structures appear most closely linked with emotions: the amygdala and the insula or insular cortex. The amygdala integrates emotions, emotional behavior, and motivation. It interprets fear, helps distinguish friends from foes, and identifies social rewards and how to attain them. The insula is the source of disgust — a strong negative reaction to an unpleasant odor, for instance.
Our health, our hormones and our brain chemicals in particular, have a huge impact on how we feel. Some of these hormones include: testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, norepinephrine, epinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, GABA, and oxytocin (the love hormone!)
See Also: Seeking Happiness
Love has a lot more to do with chemistry than you might think. Those feelings of getting butterflies in your stomach or sweaty palms when you are attracted to someone actually have scientific explanations. Certain chemicals such as dopamine and endorphins are released and these have a big influence in the relationships that we choose.
As well as being a psychological phenomenon, emotions are also felt outside of the brain in the rest of the body. Certain parts of the body, especially the upper half, are heavily stimulated during emotions such as love, happiness and pride, whereas depression and sadness are linked to numbness.
A human can make over 10,000 facial expressions to express a wide variety of subtle emotions. Of all facial expressions, the smile may be the most deceptive. There are around 18 different smiles, including polite, cruel, false, self-effacing, etc. But only one reflects genuine happiness and it is known as the Duchenne smile, in honor of the French neurologist who determined this phenomenon, Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne (de Boulogne).
Sleeping Eases Emotional Distress: REM sleep has been found to help people to recover from emotional distress, especially those related to traumatic experiences. This happens because production of stress-related hormones are significantly reduced during REM stage of sleep.
Emotional development begins from infancy. When the infant is 2 to 4 weeks old, it shows interest, spontaneous, pleasant, and unpleasant emotions without any specific cause. Gradually many other complex emotions develop as the child grows up.
EMOTIONS EXPLAINED
Allowing ourselves to feel uncomfortable (if need be) can strengthen us emotionally. To tolerate discomfort is to let yourself experience it (if need be) and learn that you can handle it.
- Emotions have a purpose. Some emotions are said to be “withdraw” emotions: They encourage us to pull back or shut down. Most withdraw emotions are negative. Fear, sadness, and shame are examples.
- Colors can profoundly affect emotional responses. While not everyone experiences the same emotion in response to a particular color, most people find reds and oranges stimulating and blues and purples restful. The colors gray, brown, black, or white tend to be emotionally dulling. Studies reveal that children playing in an orange room were friendlier, alert, creative, and less irritable than children in playrooms painted white, brown, and black.
- Emotions are contagious. Negative or unpleasant emotions are more contagious than neutral or positive emotions. Watch the people around you if you are euphoric or pissed off. They absorb the vibes and are affected. Research has proven time and time again that people unconsciously mimic the emotional expressions of those around them. Whether being "infected" with a smile or picking up positive energy online, us humans just can't help ourselves from "catching" emotions from other people.
- If you adjust your facial expression to reflect a certain emotion, you will actually begin to feel that emotion. When you are happy you smile. If you want to make yourself happy, all you have to do is force your face into a smile for around 30 seconds and you will instantly feel happier.
- When a person experiences a strong emotion but tries to conceal their feelings, they let out a microexpression - a brief involuntary expression of emotion. Microexpressions occur so fast that they are often not seen in real time, but when recorded and analyzed in slow motion they can provide a fascinating insight into a person's true emotional state.
- Experiencing negative emotions such as fear and anger is important for mental health and helps us evaluate our experiences in a positive way. Someone who only experiences positive emotions runs the risk of becoming complacent and ignoring the issues that really matter. Negative emotions are perfectly natural and it’s important not to suppress them. It’s all about balance.
- Sarcasm Improves Creativity. Studies have revealed that sarcasm improves creativity and smartness. People who receive sarcastic comments need to process different layers of information like biasness, viewpoint, experience etc. This improves problem solving ability and creativity. Thus, regular exposure to sarcasm is good.
STARLIGHT POETRY BY KAI
View Me on Twitter @kairosoflife
See Creativity Chaos - a Creativity Blog by Kai
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© 2019-2020 Copyright Starlight Poetry
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View Me on Twitter @kairosoflife
See Creativity Chaos - a Creativity Blog by Kai
About | Reprints & Copyrights | Home
© 2019-2020 Copyright Starlight Poetry
VIEW FULL SITE DIRECTORY