2017-03-26 11:19:48
Happiness Is…
Today's Topics
- Biology of emotion
- Happiness/pleasure
- Quiz 3 Friday
Biology of Emotion
- What is emotion?
- What are the types of emotions?
- Biological systems involved in emotion
What is emotion?
- Feelings
- Physiological state
- Actions (now)
- Propensity to act (in the future)
What are the different types of emotions?
Emotions
- Vary in
valence
- Positive/negative
- Vary in intensity (arousal)
- Vary in
action tendency
- Approach/avoid
Emotions (can) serve biological goals
- Ingestion
- Defense
Reproduction
Affiliation
Plutchik
Biological goals served by
- Anger
- Fear
- Disgust
- Trust
- Sadness
- Happiness
Do all emotions serve biological goals?
- Shame
- Guilt
- Pride
- Embarrassment
- Regret
Are 'social' goals biological?
- Darwinian view:
- If influence on reproductive outcomes, yes.
- Do 'social' goals – shame, pride, etc. – influence reproductive success?
Is emotion different from cognition?
(Swanson 2012)
Is emotion different from cogntion?
(Pessoa 2008)
Here, I will argue that complex cognitive–emotional behaviours have their basis in dynamic coalitions of networks of brain areas, none of which should be conceptualized as specifically affective or cognitive. Central to cognitive–emotional interactions are brain areas with a high degree of connectivity, called hubs, which are critical for regulating the flow and integration of information between regions.
(Pessoa 2008)
Here, I will argue that complex cognitive–emotional behaviours have their basis in dynamic coalitions of networks of brain areas, none of which should be conceptualized as specifically affective or cognitive. Central to cognitive–emotional interactions are brain areas with a high degree of connectivity, called hubs, which are critical for regulating the flow and integration of information between regions.
Emotion as "computing"
- Input
- Processing/evaluation
- Output
Emotion as "computing"
- Input
- Processing/evaluation
- Output
Emotion as "computing"
- Input
- External
- Internal
External Input
Cole, P., Gilmore, R.O., Scherf, K.S. & Perez-Edgar, K. (2016). The Proximal Emotional Environment Project (PEEP). Databrary. Retrieved October 31, 2016 from https://nyu.databrary.org/volume/248.
Emotional "computing"
- Input
- Processing/evaluation
Emotional "computing"
- Input
- Processing/evaluation
- Current state + past states (memory)
- Food/non
- Threat/non
- Mate/non; offspring/non
Emotional "computing"
- Input
- Processing/evaluation
- Output
Emotional "computing"
- Output
- Physiological state
- Autonomic nervous system
- Hormones
- Physiological state
Emotional "computing"
- Output
- Actions
- Locomotion or freezing
- Facial expression
- Vocalization
- Gestures, body posture
- Actions
(Pollick and Waal 2007)
…The study distinguished 31 manual gestures and 18 facial/vocal signals. It was found that homologous facial/vocal displays were used very similarly by both [bonobos and chimpanzees], yet the same did not apply to gestures. Both within and between species gesture usage varied enormously. Moreover, bonobos showed greater flexibility in this regard than chimpanzees and were also the only species in which multimodal communication (i.e., combinations of gestures and facial/vocal signals) added to behavioral impact on the recipient.
Are non-human animals consistent in their use of emotion-expressing actions?
Are different emotions processed differently in humans?
- Autonomic responses related to feelings
- Autonomic specificity: emotions autonomically unique vs. autonomically identical? (Levenson 2003)
- Belief in idea stronger than evidence
Biological systems involved in specific emotions
- Happiness
Components of happiness
- Aristotle
- Hedonia
- Pleasure
- Eudaimonia
- Life satisfaction
- Relates to motivation
"Computing" 'happiness'
- Inputs
- External
- Internal
- Processing
- Outputs
- Feelings
- Actions
Brain mechanisms
- Circuits for signaling pleasure and pain
- Similarities across animal species
- Dopamine and endogenous opioid neurotransmitter systems involved
Neuroanatomy of 'happiness'
Rewards
- A reward reinforces (makes more prevalent/probable) some behavior
- Milner and Olds (Milner 1989) discovered 'rewarding' power of electrical self-stimulation
- (Heath 1963) studied effects in human patients.
Electrical self-stimulation
"Reward" circuitry in the brain
Nodes in the "reward" circuit
- Ventral tegmental area (VTA) in midbrain
Nucleus accumbens (nAcc)
- Hypothalamus (Hyp)
- Amygdala (Amy)
- Hippocampus (HP)
- Dorsal Raphe Nucleus/Locus Coeruleus (DR/LC)
Prefrontal cortex (PFC)
Nucleus accumbens and dorsal striatum
Psychopharmacology of 'happiness'
- Dopamine
- Opioids
- Cannabinoids
- Serotonin, Norepinephrine
- ACh
Endogenous morphine-like NTs (endorphins) from hyp, NST
Endogenous cannabinoid system
- CB1 receptors in CNS; CB2 in body, immune system
Brain contains its own systems for drugs of 'pleasure'
- Endogenous opioids (endorphins)
- Endogenous cannabinoids
ACh projections in the CNS
Generalizations about happiness/pleasure
- Types of pleasure activate overlapping areas
- Pleasure/happiness engage a network of brain areas
- Pleasure/happiness signaling involves multiple neuromodulators, but DA especially important
- “Reward” pathways activated by many different inputs.
Next time
- Fear
- Stress
References
Clapp, Peter, Sanjiv V. Bhave, and Paula L. Hoffman. n.d. “How Adaptation of the Brain to Alcohol Leads to Dependence.” http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh314/310-339.htm.
Cock, Valérie Cochen De, Marie Vidailhet, and Isabelle Arnulf. 2008. “Sleep Disturbances in Patients with Parkinsonism.” Nature Clinical Practice Neurology 4 (5): 254–66. doi:10.1038/ncpneuro0775.
Flores, África, Rafael Maldonado, and Fernando Berrendero. 2013. “Cannabinoid-Hypocretin Cross-Talk in the Central Nervous System: What We Know so Far.” Neuropharmacology 7: 256. doi:10.3389/fnins.2013.00256.
Heath, Robert G. 1963. “Electrical Self-Stimulation of the Brain in Man.” American Journal of Psychiatry 120 (6). Am Psychiatric Assoc: 571–77. doi:10.1176/ajp.120.6.571.
Kringelbach, Morten L, and Kent C Berridge. 2009. “Towards a Functional Neuroanatomy of Pleasure and Happiness.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 13 (11). Elsevier: 479–87.
Levenson, Robert W. 2003. “Autonomic Specificity and Emotion.” In Handbook of Affective Sciences, edited by R. J. Davidson, K. R. Scherer, and H. H. Goldsmith, 212–24. Series in Affective Science. New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press.
Milner, Peter M. 1989. “The Discovery of Self-Stimulation and Other Stories.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, The Neural Basis of Reward and Reinforcement: A Conference in Honour of Peter M. Milner, 13 (2–3): 61–67. doi:10.1016/S0149-7634(89)80013-2.
Nestler, Eric J, and William A Carlezon. 2006. “The Mesolimbic Dopamine Reward Circuit in Depression.” Biological Psychiatry 59 (12). Elsevier: 1151–9. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.09.018.
Pessoa, Luiz. 2008. “On the Relationship Between Emotion and Cognition.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience 9 (2): 148–58. doi:10.1038/nrn2317.
Plutchik, Robert. 1980. Emotion: A Psychoevolutionary Synthesis. Harpercollins College Division.
Pollick, Amy S., and Frans B. M. de Waal. 2007. “Ape Gestures and Language Evolution.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 (19): 8184–9. doi:10.1073/pnas.0702624104.
Swanson, Larry W. 2012. Brain Architecture: Understanding the Basic Plan. Oxford University Press.