Emotions: Mind and/or Body
Have no fear, we are not going to talk about neuroscience today regarding emotions. Instead, we are going to investigate something about emotions. Do emotions begin in the mind or the body? Before you keep reading, take a guess about the answer. Most importantly, keep track of your train of thought about how you arrived at this answer.
Before we do dive in, just a quick reminder of the neuronal populations in the brain that are highly involved in emotions beginning with the cerebral cortex, specifically the anterior cingulate, insula, ventromedial prefrontal, and the subcortical structures, like the amygdala, ventral striatum, putamen, caudate nucleus, and ventral tegmental area (Šimić et al., 2021). So we do know that the brain is involved in emotions. We cannot deny that. That’s it! No more neuroscience!
Two Recent Ideas!
As with many concepts, there have been many ideas and theories throughout time each one informed by current research. We will not cover them all. That would take a while and probably be just as boring as going over all the brain structures. We have already experienced that in previous weeks. Not today, everyone.
Damasio (1996) introduced the idea that emotions arise unconsciously in the central nervous system (CNS) from interoceptive and proprioceptive afferent body signals and correlates followed by a conscious production of feelings after the information is processed. If we follow this train of thought then it stands to reason that we do need to know our bodily states. Furthermore, Damasio (1996) argued that we need the constantly updated self-representation of our whole body image and that once we have an embodied experience emotions can then exist in the CNS. There is more to this, but this will give you a general idea.
Another theory is called the Schachter-Singer Theory. The Schachter-Singer Theory postulates that physiological arousal is the first factor that contributes to the development of an emotion (Dror, 2017). The arousal can be caused by stimuli such as physical sensations, behaviors, and/or thoughts. There is also the second factor, cognitive interpretation, or our understanding, perceptions, or beliefs of the arousal (Dror, 2017). Maybe an example would help. You are out in nature and you see a mountain lion. Their body goes through physiological changes like an increased heart rate, shortness of breath, and/or tightness in the chest. These sensations are then interpreted as fear. Applying the theory we can then say that the feeling of fear is the combination of the physiological responses and the interpretation of them as fear.
If looking at the models of emotions interests you, by all means dive in and research more. There is so much more we can all learn from investigating the theories related to emotion. Some of the other theories argue that emotions arise from our cognitive evaluation.
Emotions Begin In
So now we come back to the original question. Where do emotions originate? What was your original thought or guess? Emotions begin in the body. Emotions begin in the mind. Emotions begin because of a combination. Ultimately, we do not know the exact answer. We can only guess. It is up to each of us to decide what theory we like and think makes the most sense. Thus, we do not have to agree with each other. Someone may like the Schachter-Singer Theory while another person may like the James-Lange Theory (one of the theories not discussed). The point is that each one of us takes the time to investigate what each theory has to offer and apply critical thinking to the theory. What do we know from research? And here is the most important thing to remember when using critical thinking. Part of critical thinking and evaluating research means acknowledging the evidence that constricts your beliefs, ideas, or the theory. It sounds hard, however, it is necessary because when we are open to exploring all the information we learn more.
The word EMOTIONS on wooden board. The wooden board is one a wooden wall.
take action today moment:
While you can absolutely dive into the different theories about the origin of emotions, you can pick a different topic if that is not for you to investigate. Practice researching and questioning. Look at the topic from different perspectives and angels. Look at angels and perspectives that are similar or align with what you believe and look at the perspectives and information that contradicts. You may not necessarily change your mind, but at the same time you may have a better understanding of the topic.
Learn More About emotions:
Evolutionary Theory of Emotion
References
Damasio, A. R. (1996). The somatic marker hypothesis and the possible functions of the prefrontal cortex. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 351(1346), 1413-1420. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1996.0125
Dror, O. E. (2017). Deconstructing the “two factors”: The historical origins of the Schachter–Singer theory of emotions. Emotion Review, 9(1), 7-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073916639663
Šimić, G., Tkalčić, M., Vukić, V., Mulc, D., Španić, E., Šagud, M., ... & R. Hof, P. (2021). Understanding emotions: origins and roles of the amygdala. Biomolecules, 11(6), 823. doi: 10.3390/biom11060823