Diving Into The Brain Part 2: Emotions
A brain in the center with different textures and colors surrounding it. Additionally, on the brain it appears as if there is piece that shows inside.
In last week’s post we explored the brain in relation to language. This week we will do something similar and look at the brain and emotions! Before we dive into this post, it is important to remember that, while we are talking about the brain in relation to emotions, emotions are also very much felt in the body as well. This will be a post for the future where we look at the role of the body in emotions because of how important it is to look at that perspective. Believe me when I say it is very important to consider the body’s role as much research has been done and many fields of psychology utilize the body’s role in healing.
Similar to last week pull up the 3D brain by clicking here and dive right in!
Amygdala
The amygdala integrates information about external stimuli coming from the sensory cortices with somatic, visceral, and endocrine processes. Both the right and left amygdala are involved in emotional processing and associating emotional stimuli to memory. The right is involved in processing imagery-related and pictorial material and acts in a fast, shallow, and implicit manner. The left is more engaged in high level processing or explicit, language-related in-depth evaluations. In other words, the rapid analysis of affective information is the role of the right amygdala and the detailed, deep information processing in the role of the left amygdala. The left more so than the right amygdala is responsible for the feel of affective meaning accompanied by arousal (Daum et al., 2009).
Diencephalon: Thalamus and Hypothalamus
The anterior and mediodorsal thalamic nuclei and the mammillary bodies play a role in the integration and synchronization of emotions and memories. Then there is the hypothalamus as it controls the release of hormones by the pituitary gland. In general, the hypothalamus controls and integrates autonomic, endocrine, and behavioral components of emotional responses. And lastly, stimulation of other hypothalamic nuclei have shown that they affect inter-connected emotion and motivation systems (Daum et al., 2009).
Hippocampal Formation
Composed of the hippocampus proper, the dentate gyrus, and the subiculum,the hippocampal formation is highly interconnected with neocortical and allocortical structures and all major neocortical association areas. Though more mainly involved in memory and spatial functions, it may have a role in emotional modulation due to its involvement in neural networks. An example of this is how the entorhinal cortex receives input from subcortical areas such as the amygdala and then projects to the hippocampus. This pathway helps explain why emotions evoke memory (Daum et al., 2009).
Cingulate Cortex
The cingulate cortex has extensive connections to the amygdala, regulates attention, affect, and cognition (Daum et al., 2009).
Orbitofrontal Cortex
This structure is critically involved in emotional regulation and decision-making. It has a reciprocal connection with the amygdala and serves to modulate behavior responses due to the function of the emotional significance of the incoming stimulus. The orbitofrontal cortex is also known as the thinking part of the emotional brain (Daum et al., 2009).
Insular Cortex
Critical for storing and retrieving memory for incentive value in the absence of reward, this structure potentially codes the affective content of certain irritations. And, along with the ventral striatum has been identified as being involved in the expression of disgust identification (Daum et al., 2009).
Striatum
Termed one of the crossroads at which emotional and motor information have the ability to influence one another, the striatum receives input from several limbic areas. The ventral striatum and the nucleus accumbens are particularly noted as an interface between motor-related and emotional/motivation structures and are connected with the orbitofrontal regions needed for emotional processing (Daum et al., 2009).
Locus Coeruleus
Part of the hindbrain structure, the locus coeruleus produces norepinephrine which is responsible for heightened arousal and vigilance. Receiving input from areas like the hypothalamus, the locus coeruleus, when excited, activates the sympathetic nervous system to release norepinephrine and epinephrine causing the physical changes associated with emotions like increased heart rate and sweating (Wilson, 2013).
Hopefully, you had fun playing with the 3D brain and learning more about the brain and its role in emotions. Similar to last week there is always so much more to explore. You are empowered, if this subject really interests you, to continue to learn more. And I cannot stress this point enough, emotions are not confined to the brain. We experience our emotions in our bodies as well.
take action today moment:
Take a moment to appreciate how much goes into emotions. As humans, we are able to feel a range of emotions from happiness to sadness to anger to a multitude of many other emotions. They give us information. They help us connect with others. They help us learn about ourselves. They play a pivotal role in our lives. As you take that moment to appreciate your emotions, also notice what beliefs you have about emotions. That is information as well! You may surprised to learn what you have internalized over the years.
Learn More About emotions:
RULER Approach – Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence
American Psychological Association - Emotions
Feelings List and Body Sensations
References
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