Diving Into The Brain Part 3: Explanation of How Language and Emotion May Interact Behaviorally and Neurologically and Cultural Considerations
Layers of wood planks with different languages written on each one.
There is a song by TobyMac called Speak Life that talks about how words have power. Language has the power to build people up or tear people down. The same goes for how we talk to ourselves. Okon-Singer et al. (2015) suggest that there is evidence that brain territories and psychological processes that are commonly associated with cognition also play a role in emotion, specifically the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and working memory. Furthermore, the regions of the brain involved in the semantic processing of words (1) are engaged during emotional experiences, (2) coordinate with regions of the brain involved in affect to create emotions, (3) hold representational content for emotions, and (4) may be important for the construction of emotional experience (Satpute & Lindquist, 2021). These regions include the anterior medial prefrontal cortex, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and the lateral temporal cortex including the temporal pole.
So now we take the connection out of the neurological realm and into the behavioral realm. Lindquist et al. (2015) discuss that language is a fundamental element in emotion that helps build both emotional experiences and perceptions. Using the Conceptual Act Theory (CAT), when emotion occurs from the information from someone’s body or other people’s bodies, that information is made meaningful in the light of the current situation using concept knowledge about the particular emotion. The CAT looks at how language plays a role in emotion due to how language supports the conceptual knowledge used to construct meaning from bodily sensations. They further discuss that language helps people use concepts to make meaning of on-going sensory perceptions and serves as the glue for emotion concept knowledge.
In daily life emotions, language, behavior, and how they interact, show up for all of us. When I think about how a bully and their words can impact a young child who may then feel sad, upset, or angry. The bullying victim then takes steps based on what they are feeling. How a person talks to themselves and the language that they pick can impact and motions and thereby behavior. The examples could continue. There is power in the language that we use!
Emotion and Issues of Culture and Diversity
It can be easy to make the assumption that culture doesn’t play a role in emotions, but science says differently.
In a review of ethnographic and cross-cultural studies on emotion lexicons, emotions interpreted from facial expressions, and dimension implicit in comparative judgements of emotions there were indications of both similarities and differences in emotional categorization in different languages and cultures (Russell, 1991).
Taking it a step further into another context, we can look at music. A study by Argstatter (2015) found evidence for cultural specificity in music. The questions that the study focused on were how six basic universal emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise) are perceivable in music not known to listeners with different cultural backgrounds; and which aspects of musical emotions demonstrate similarities and differences across cultural boundaries. The results suggest evidence for a pan-cultural emotional sentience in music but there were distinct cultural, emotion and item-specific differences in emotion recognition.
This concludes the three week series! Hopefully, you have enjoyed reading this series. This final week’s post is my personal favorite because it asks us to put what we have learned into context and do some reflection!
take action today moment:
What will you do with the learning that has occurred over these past three weeks? How will you use this information in your life? You have been on a roller coaster ride looking at language, emotions, and then reviewing how they intersect. You have been asked to consider what you have internalized over the years and also to bring appreciation for what your brain and body do for you. Now it is time to, like this post, bring the threads together and decide what you will do with the learning.
Learn More About emotions and language:
Emotion Suppression Across Cultures: Dr. Jenny Wang's Strategy of the Week | Dealing With Feelings
How Culture Influences Our Emotions (and Why it Matters) with Jeanne Tsai
The power of language: How words shape people, culture
Implications of Culture on Language | Amirpooya Dardashti | TEDxTAMU
References
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Lumen. (n.d.). Human Language and the Brain. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-hostos-child-development-education/chapter/human-language-and-the-brain/
Daum, I., Markowitsch, H., & Vandekerckhove, M. (2009). Neurobiological Basis of Emotions. In H. Markowitsch & M. Vandekerckhove (Eds.), Emotions as bio-cultural processes (pp. 111-138). Springer. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-09546-2_6
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. (n.d.). Specific language impairment [Fact Sheet]. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/Documents/health/voice/Specific-Language-Impairment.pdf
Okon-Singer, H., Hendler, T., Pessoa, L., & Shackman, A. J. (2015). The neurobiology of emotion-cognition interactions: Fundamental questions and strategies for future research. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, Article 58. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00058
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Satpute, A. B., & Lindquist, K. A. (2021). At the neural intersection between language and emotion. Affective Science, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs42761-021-00032-2
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