How the Brain Processes Emotions
The Anatomy of Emotions in our Brain
As we all know, emotions are complex. Psychologists say that we have
only 6 basic emotions, which are happiness, anger, sadness, fear,
surprise, and disgust. All of our other emotions are built from the 6
basic emotions. For example, jealousy stems from a combined feeling of
anger or sadness, while satisfaction can be a type of happiness. When it
comes to emotions, it turns out that there are regions in the brain,
specifically in the limbic system, that are associated with each of the
6 main emotions. Emotions are actually experiences that are associated
with the activation of certain regions in the brain.
Emotion structures in brain
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning and functional MRI studies
have shown that some emotions are more likely to be associated with
different regions of limbic system activity than other emotions.
Happiness activates several areas of the brain, including the right
frontal cortex, the precuneus, the left amygdala, and the left insula.
This activity involves connections between awareness (frontal cortex and
insula) and the “feeling center” (amygdala) of the brain. Fear activates
the bilateral amygdala, the hypothalamus and areas of the left frontal
cortex. This involves some thinking (frontal cortex), a “gut” feeling
(amygdala), and a sense of urgency typically associated with survival
(the hypothalamus.) Sadness is associated with increased activity of the
right occipital lobe, the left insula, the left thalamus the amygdala
and the hippocampus. The hippocampus is strongly linked with memory, and
it makes sense that awareness of certain memories is associated with
feeling sad. Sadness has been studied more than the other emotions
because depression may last for a long time; the effects of
antidepressants can be measured based on improved symptoms. Disgust is
an interesting feeling that is often associated with avoidance. This
emotion that is associated with activation and connections between the
left amygdala, the left inferior frontal cortex, and the insular cortex.
Anger is an important emotion that many people, adults and children
alike, try to control. Anger is associated with activation of the right
hippocampus, the amygdala, both sides of the prefrontal cortex and the
insular cortex. Surprise is an emotion that can either make you feel
good or it can make you feel bad. Surprise activates the bilateral
inferior frontal gyrus and the bilateral hippocampus. The hippocampus is
strongly associated with memory, and the element of surprise is, by
nature, associated with experiencing something that you do not remember
or do not expect. Localized disease in the brain can cause changes in
emotions. Similarly, diffuse disease, such as that seen in conditions
such as multiple sclerosis and small vessel disease, can also induce
changes in emotional status, which are often recognized clinically as
changes in a patients’ personality. How often do you see changes in a
patient’s ability to process emotion as a neurological disease
progresses over time?
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