Psych 475 (F&S) Unit 1, 2

Darwin made a number of important contributions to our study of emotions:

1. Darwin saw emotions as discrete. That is to say, humans experience fear, anger, disgust and so forth as distinct entities. 2. Darwin emphasized the human face in the expression of emotions as illustrated by the photographs of human faces he used in his book. 3. One of Darwin's main ideas is that emotional processes are innate and found across a variety of species, including humans. Darwin clarified this idea by suggesting that although facial expressions are universal, gestures may be specific to a given culture. 4. Darwin's fourth idea is that emotions are not unique to humans and may be found in a variety of species. 5. Particular muscle movements may signal a particular emotion.

Allostatic load has been discussed by McEwen in terms of four particular situations

1. The first situation reflects the fact that allostatic load can be increased by frequent exposure to stressors. These stressors can be both physical and psychological in nature. A variety of psychological studies have shown an association between worry, daily hassles, and negative health outcomes. One of the most studied areas is cardiovascular risk factors with stress showing a strong association with heart attacks and the development of atherosclerosis. 2. The second condition for the increase in allostatic load is where an individual does not adapt or habituate to the repeated occurrence of a particular stressor. Some people for example continue to show larger physiological responses to everyday situations like driving a long distance or taking an airline flight even though the data suggest there is limited risk in these situations. Asking individuals to talk before a group also induces stress-like responses in many individuals. 3. The third situation reflects the fact that not all individuals respond the same to changing situations. In particular some individuals show a slower return to a non-challenge physiological condition once the initial threat is removed. These individuals appear to be more at risk for developing health related conditions. Some researchers suggest that high blood pressure is associated with a normal stress response not being turned off. 4. The fourth and final condition discussed by McEwen reflects the situation in which a non-response to stress produces an overreaction in another system. That is, if one system does not respond adequately to stress then activation of another system would be required to provide the necessary counter-regulation and return the system to homeostasis

The overall stress response involves two tasks for the body

1. turn on allostatic response 2. turning off these responses A variety of research suggests that prolonged exposure to stress may not allow these two mechanisms to function correctly and in turn leads to a variety of physiological problems. This cumulative wear and tear on the body by responding to stressful conditions is called allostatic load.

Present in non-Human Primates

Current research, as well as Darwin's observations, suggests that non-human primates share most if not all emotional expression with humans.

The article by Eleonora Gullone serves two purposes

First, it continues the discussion of developmental patterns in relation to fear. As such you will read that the experience of fear decreases with age into adolescence. During this period there is also a transition from fear to specific objects to more anxiety type stimuli in which the adolescent worries about the future or potential rejection. Second, the article introduces you to measures of fear and stress which is the focus of this lesson.

tend-and-befriend

First, they suggest that, over evolutionary time, females have evolved behaviors which maximize the survival of both themselves and their offspring. Second, when stressed, females respond by nurturing offspring as well as displaying behaviors which protect them from harm. These tending behaviors have also been shown to reduce the presence of stress hormones in the infants. Third, like fight-or-flight, these behaviors are associated with particular neuroendocrine responses although different hormones are involved. These responses make up the tending response.

Brief Duration

For clarity, it is important to distinguish emotions from moods which are more long-lasting. It is also possible to turn an emotion into a mood by the continued presence of the stimulus or by talking to yourself about the situation. suggest that each basic emotion has associated with it "distinctive thoughts and memory images," as well as "distinctive subjective experiences."

cognitive tasks

Have someone do mental arithmetic, for example, ask her to take 3,227, subtract 7 from it and then continue subtracting 7 from the new number and so forth. A stronger task is to have a person give a speech in front of older individuals who are evaluating his or her performance. The most common method of inducing stress in rodents is to restrain the animal for various amounts of time, often by placing the animal in a clear tube that allows them to breathe, but not move very much. Still other methods are used to induce stress in larger animals

Historical Approaches to the Study of Fear and Stress

Hungarian endocrinologist Hans Selye was one of the major figures in stress research. He worked at the University of Montreal, and helped establish the connection between stress and the development of diseases. In physics, the term stress refers to the strain placed on a material. Selye borrowed the term and used it to represent a way of organizing physiological responses to a variety of challenges including heat, cold, pain, noise, hard work, and so forth. One of Selye's early findings was that the body reacts similarly to a variety of these different stressors. Selye called this response the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), and it involved three stages: Alarm stage Resistance stage. Exhaustion stage.

Universal Antecedent Events

In sadness for example, there is a loss of someone or something significant to the person.

the basic neuroendocrine responses to stress appear to be similar in both males and females.

It is initially a sympathetic response, as described previously. What is different is that these hormones affect males and females differently.

Fear

It's important not to confuse fear and anxiety. Here's the difference: a fear response results from an actual event or stimulus being present; anxiety results from concern about what might happen. With social anxiety, a person worries about how others might evaluate him. With generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a person worries about what might happen.

Control and Prevention for Reducing the Stress Response

McEwen suggests that part of the problem in understanding stress is the ambiguous meaning of the term. He posits that the term stress can be replaced with the term allostasis, which refers to the body's ability to achieve stability through change. Brain processes can achieve stability in a number of different ways

Exhaustion stage

Not all stressful situations reach this stage, but if the stressor remains in place long enough, the bodily resources become depleted. Although the stressor is still present, we can run or fight no more. Our hormones and immune system have run out of juice. At this stage, the metaphorical lion would catch us. But in facing the average stressor of today's world, this is the stage where stress gets the best of us and we become ill (catch a cold, for example).

physiological measures

One common measure in humans is cortisol. cortisol is produced during the activation of the HPA response. Short term cortisol measurements are fairly easy to perform in saliva, blood, and urine. When the researcher is interested in more long-term measures, cortisol can be measured in a person's hair. Because hair grows about 1 cm per month, the longer term accumulation of cortisol can be determined.

Rena Repetti's work

She examined the behaviors of fathers and mothers following a stressful workday. Whereas fathers tended to isolate themselves at home following stress, mothers tended to be more nurturing and caring toward their children. That is, where females seek someone to talk with, males tend to want to be alone or just play videogames or watch videos. Further, similar differences also are found in the larger social networks where stressed females tend to seek out other women for comfort and support. Compared to females, males seek support from same-sex friends less often.

Some of these cells migrate to the thymus and develop into T-cells.

T-cells circulate through blood and lymph as well as exist in the lymph nodes. There are also other types of cells such as the B-cell which produce antibodies. Both B- and T-cells require prior exposure to the pathogen to produce an immune response. Other natural killer cells (NK) do not require prior exposure and form a first line of defense against pathogens. In addition to attacking pathogens, immune system responses are also associated with the experience of feeling ill. From an evolutionary perspective, feeling ill would be protective as it would result in withdrawal from dangerous situations as well as allow for rest.

immune cells originate in the bone marrow

TRUE

Alarm Stage

The alarm stage is an initial reaction of the body to the stress. When a person is first faced with a stressor, the body reacts by increasing activation of the sympathetic nervous system, and adrenal glad output, getting us ready to face the metaphorical lion that has just showed up out of nowhere. Our heart rate speeds up, our pupils dilate, and adrenalin courses through our blood vessels. For many stressful situations, the experience ends here; the stressor disappears. If not, we next enter the resistance stage.

fusiform gyrus

The area of the right temporal lobe responds selectively to faces as compared to other types of complex visual stimuli, and networks with the amygdala are thought to process the emotional content of the face

The sympathetic-adrenal medullary pathway (SAM)

The autonomic nervous system innervates a variety of organs including the adrenal medulla. This pathway results in the release of catecholamines (norepinephrine and epinephrine) from the terminal of sympathetic nerves. the basic consequence of this action is to prepare the body for action.

Quick Onset

The basic idea is that emotions are quick and that there is survival value. You see something disgusting, have a reaction, and move away.

There are two major types of immune responses that protect an organism

The first response is general and involves those processes of the immune system that are present at birth. It responds to a variety of pathogens, including bacteria and other toxic organisms. This system tends to be fast acting, nonspecific, and usually of short duration. The recognition of pathogens that evoke this system is built into the human body. If the innate system does not recognize the pathogen, then a second type of immune response begins to learn the nature of the pathogen. The second type of immune response begins to develop after birth. This type of immunity is involved in recognizing specific pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, or toxins after initial contact. This system is longer lasting and is able to remember a specific pathogen. It is also the basis of immunizations for preventing specific diseases. Basically, the immune system learns to recognize the presence of a specific pathogen. Today, measles, chicken pox, mumps, diphtheria, whooping cough, yellow fever, and polio can all be prevented through the use of vaccines that activate this response of the immune system.

self-report measures

The idea behind these measures is that the tend to reflect long-term or chronic stress. Technologies such as cell phone apps have been used to record people's stress levels at random throughout the day. When the person's phone beeps at random times, he or she can report the amount of stress they are experiencing at that moment. This allows for a measure of short term or acute stress.

Evolution of the Immune System

The immune system evolved to help organisms protect themselves from pathogens. These defense mechanisms appear to be some of the earliest to have evolved. One important task of the immune system is to determine what is foreign and which cells are part of the organism. These foreign substances include bacteria, viruses, and parasites which enter our system and are detected by the immune system. Antibodies, which are produced by the immune system, can detect millions of foreign substances and engage in a process that (hopefully) leads to their destruction. The human immune system has evolved to recognize a variety of pathogens, and is also capable of learning the characteristics of new pathogens and attacking them upon future exposure. This is the basic mechanism through which immunizations work.

Resistance stage

The resistance stage represents an adjustment to the stress which includes the availability of additional energy resources (glucose) and mechanisms for fighting infection and tissue damage. The body is even better able to withstand the effects of the stress at this stage. To enter this stage, the stressor must still be apparent (the metaphorical lion is stalking or chasing us), and our body ramps up its ability to stay in top form in order to overcome the stressful situation, and try to return to our original homeostasis.

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)

The second pathway involves cells in the hypothalamus. These cells are released into the bloodstream and go the pitutary gland. This causes the pituitary to release hormones that influence other hormones, which in turn influence peripheral organs such as the adrenals, as well as cells in the immune system. Simply said, this system helps to convert stored fats and carbohydrates into energy sources that can be used immediately. This hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal (cortex) pathway is called the HPA axis. In psychology and physiology, these mechanisms have been studied under the rubric of stress.

cardiovascular functioning

These measures include heart rate, blood pressure, and vagal tone. Vagal tone can be measured by examining heart rate variability along with respiration. The vagus nerve is the 10th cranial nerve and is involved in parasympathetic modulation of the heart. A number of studies have shown a relationship between heart rate variability and stress.

allostatic load.

This cumulative wear and tear on the body by responding to stressful conditions

homeostasis

This is the process by which the body keeps itself in balance.

Emotion-specific Physiology

This means that underlying emotional states are distinctive patterns of physiological activity expressed in the central and autonomic nervous systems. Indeed, in a variety of studies it has been shown that autonomic nervous system activity displays different patterns for anger, fear, disgust, and sadness

Unbidden Occurrence

This simply means that individuals do not plan to have an emotional reaction. suggest that each basic emotion has associated with it "distinctive thoughts and memory images," as well as "distinctive subjective experiences."

Why did researchers initially not see differences in male and female responses to stress?

Throughout most of the 20th century, research studies did not include females; even the animal studies typically used male animals. Once females were studied more intensely, these differences emerged. If you think about it, you can see that these stress response differences are consistent with mating differences and investment in the care of offspring. That is to say, given that the female typically has a greater role in caring for offspring, then her response to stress should not jeopardize herself or her offspring as might be the case with fleeing or fighting.

Shelley Taylor and her colleagues suggest that the fight-or-flight response better describe a human male's response to stress, and not

a female's response to stress.

autonomic nervous system

a network of hypothalamic, pituitary, and adrenal responses, the cardiovascular system, metabolism, and the immune system.

Distinctive Universal Signals

a specific facial expression is associated with each of the basic emotions.

The amygdala has projections that go to the temporal lobe which....

allows it to be involved in emotional recognition involving both emotional face perception and emotional memories

Emotions and the Brain

amygdala-an almond-shaped structure. It is a subcortical area found in the front part of the temporal lobe. The amygdala receives processed sensory information and also has a direct connection to the olfactory bulb. Structures involved in memory and attention, such as the hippocampus, basal ganglia, and basal forebrain, connect to the amygdala. The amygdala also has direct connections with the frontal lobes which are involved in planning and decision making. Given these connections, the amygdala sits between external information brought in through our sensory systems and the necessary attentional, memory, and emotional responses.

the relationship of the stress response to various types of psychopathology.

article by Laura Klein and Elizabeth Corwin, they approach this question in relation to gender differences. They begin with the idea that gender differences in relation to the stress response may help society better understand gender differences in relation to psychopathology. They also articulate the stress response in terms of "tend-and-befriend" which is seen as the predominant stress response of females. The basic idea is that females in terms of stress seek social interactions rather than the fight-or-flight response. This response is modulated by the hormone oxytocin

Automatic Appraisal Mechanism

basic idea is that there is a very fast, usually out-of-awareness, process, that allows for appraisal of both internal and external stimuli. LeDoux, for example, describes the presence of a second visual system which runs through the midbrain and allows for quick responses without the visual clarity of the rat's normal visual system. Such a system might cause it to jump as it moves through its environment if it sees a snake-like structure on the ground. It is only through the slower normal visual system that it can make a distinction of whether what it saw was a snake or a stick. In humans a variety of cortical networks are involved in affective processing.

orbitofrontal cortex

bottom one-third of the prefrontal cortex

Chronic stress can lead to

chronically elevated cortisol levels in the blood stream, which can cause more harm than good

Researchers have used a variety of challenges to activate the HPA system in the lab in order to study the effects of stress. A common one is

cognitive tasks

explicit memories involve

details of the external situation

Damage to the amygdala interferes with

emotional memories that are implicit, but not explicit. Alternatively, damage to areas of the temporal lobe does the opposite. It interferes with explicit memories, but not with implicit ones. Thus, with temporal lobe damage you could remember feeling a certain way but not remember the situation in which it occurred.

Neurons in the prefrontal cortex have been shown to

fire when organisms see foods they like.

Psychoneuroimmunology

is the study of how psychological factors can influence the immune system.

The most recent research with the amygdala discusses

it as processing negative emotions to a structure involved in any event that may have major negative significance for an individual. In non-human primates, there is a long tradition showing the role of the amygdala in social processes, especially those related to dominance. Monkeys normally establish dominance hierarchies with the alpha male as the one in charge. Following damage to the amygdala, the alpha monkey no longer displays any aggressive behavior. Overall, the amygdala is seen to play an important role in the evaluation of both emotional and social processes

Although, similar to homeostasis, allostasis .....

leans heavily on physiological mechanisms to maintain balance, even our tendency to reach out to our social network, or choosing to meditate, can be considered part of allostasis mechanisms. As you might imagine, the complex interaction of many systems, including cognition, takes more work. Under increased and prolonged stress, allostatic balance becomes harder to attain and to maintain. Over time, this creates an allostatic load that can lead to illness (diabetes, heart disease, chronic hypertension, etc.) and early mortality

Some of the psychological factors that can influence the immune system include

loneliness; poor social support; negative mood; disruption of marital relationships; bereavement; and natural disasters.

right frontal areas have been seen to

mediate negative affect

left frontal areas have been seen to

mediate positive affect

Present in the female brain is the hormone

oxytocin, which is released in larger amounts in females compared to males. A variety of animal studies found that oxytocin reduces anxiety and calms the organism. According to Shelly Taylor and her colleagues, oxytocin leads females to quiet and calm down offspring in response to stress.

prefrontal cortex

part of the brain involved in emotional processes

The Development of Fear

personal experiences help to evoke fear responses in similar situations

Levels of Analysis

ranging from culture to genetics. The higher levels include culture, society, and social relationships. First, examine what makes up the social level as well as the individual level, which includes your actions and experiences. Then, ask what makes up the individual in terms of sensory, motor, emotional, and cognitive systems. You can study each of these levels as they influence our behavior and experience. From there, examine how each system works, and look at the physiological processes that make up our central and peripheral nervous systems. This takes you to the cortical network level, where you can see how neurons and their connections form the basis of information transfer and processing. The most basic level is the genetic level, and you will need to understand how environmental conditions influence genetic processes. You will also learn about a related process, epigenetics, in which genes can be turned on or off by the environment and these mechanisms can be passed on to future generations without actually changing the basic genetic structure.

stress response

reaction to something that scares you in the present

basic reflexes such as sneezing, coughing, and crying are additional mechanisms for

removing pathogens before they can enter the body

Types of Measures

self-report measures physiological measures cardiovascular functioning

An alternative approach to studying major life events is to measure

short term events such as daily hassles. Such hassles can include getting caught in traffic or having an important meeting canceled. When compared with the major life events, daily hassles are even more strongly associated with a decline in physical health as well as a worsening of symptoms in those with a disorder.

In terms of the HPA axis...

stressors activate neurons in the hypothalamus that secrete releasing hormones, such as corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP). These releasing hormones act on the anterior pituitary to promote the secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which in turn acts on the adrenal cortex to initiate the synthesis and release of glucocorticoid hormones (for example, cortisol in humans). Circulating glucocorticoids then promote the mobilization of stored energy, and thereby enhance numerous sympathetic nervous system responses.

Note that the quickest system to prepare us for any threat is the

sympathetic nervous system's direct innervation of target organs like the heart, lung, and blood vessels (and sweat glands, did I mention that?). The SAM system is next in terms of speed, and finally the HPA axis provides a less quick, but longer-lasting effect to deal with stress.

Human males show the

sympathetic response of activation and increased arousal which can lead to aggression—the fight part of fight-or-flight. The male brain appears to be organized to give aggressive responses in the presence of substances such as testosterone that are less present in the female brain.

Allostatic Systems

systems that are designed to adapt to change. For humans, change traditionally related to stress take on a broad range of possibilities. These can include various situations, such as dangerous situations, crowded and unpleasant environments, experiencing infection, and performing in front of others.

females, they suggest a better descriptor is

tend-and-befriend.

Stress

textbook author, Robert Sapolsky, defines the stress response as: a response to a critical situation which allows an organism to avoid danger, often running away from the situation.

Activated directly by the hypothalamus (not the HPA axis), neuronal axons of the sympathetic nervous system release norepinephrine at its target organs and glands, including

the adrenal glands above the kidneys. This activates cells in the adrenal medulla to release norepineprhine and epinephrine (now called noradrenalin and adrenalin because they are acting as hormones here) into your blood stream. Circulating adreniline prepares the body for flght or flight by increasing your heart rate and blood pressure, dilating the bronchial tubes of the lungs, and providing more energy to the muscle cells needed for whatever action you take in response to the threat at hand. Because these hormones continue to circulate for a while in the blood, this provides a sustained effect. Other axons of the sympathetic nervous system are directly and more quickly, affecting the heart, bronchii, pupils, etc., for an immediate (but not sustained) ability to react to the threat.

The brain has two major pathways

the autonomic nervous system and the hypothalmus.

allostatoiss

the body's ability to achieve stability through change.

the adrenal glands have two parts:

the cortex, which is part of the HPA axis, and the medulla which is part of the SAM pathway

implicit memories involve

the internal feeling of a particular situation

males and females have had different evolutionary pressures on them, including

the manner in which they respond to various challenges.

Females under stress seek contact with their social group which is also protective in survival terms.

true

Oxytocin is seen to lie at the basis of these responses for females—the tend-and-befriend response.

true

Selye also reported that repeated exposure to a particular stress situation could also increase the organism's ability to withstand that same stress in greater amounts.

true

males are seen to produce more sympathetic-like responses to stress, females show more parasympathetic-like responses.

true

unlike the amygdala, damage to the prefrontal cortex does not result in a loss of emotional reactions

true

traditional pathogens

which are involved in infection, and can be either viruses or bacteria.

stress response is accomplished by a variety of interacting systems

which include the amygdala, hippocampus, and some cortical systems. When faced with a threat, these brain regions activate the hypothalamus to begin the HPA axis of the stress response. This results in the hypothalamus activating the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis.

If negative emotions can suppress the immune system, is the opposite also true?

yes Factors such as close friendships which reduce negative emotions also enhance immune system functioning. It has also become apparent that not only does experience influence the immune system, but that the immune system also influences the brain and thus, influences behavior.

Basically.......

your brain, through the hypothalamus, releases a neurohormone referred to as CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone) directly to the pituitary gland, which in response releases the hormone ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) into your blood vessels. ACTH in your blood, in turn, results in the adrenal glands releasing the steroid hormone cortisol.