Physiological bases
of behavior:
attention,
memory,emotions,
thinking,
consciousness
Emotion
• Emotion is a reaction, both psychological
and physical, subjectively experienced as
strong feelings, many of which prepare
the body for immediate action.
• In contrast to moods, which are generally
longerlasting, emotions are transitory,
with relatively well-defined beginnings and
endings. They also have valence, meaning
that they are either positive or negative.
• Subjectively, emotions are experienced as
passive phenomena.
Emotional experience
• Areas of the
brain that
play an
important role
in the
production of
emotions
include the
reticular
formation, the
limbic
system, and
the cerebral
cortex.
Nervous structures
and emotional
reactions
• The reticular
formation,
within the
brain stem,
receives and
filters
sensory
information
before
passing it on
the limbic
system and
cortex.
The reticular
formation
• The limbic system
includes the
hypothalamus,
which produces
most of the
peripheral responses
to emotion through
its control of the
endocrine and
autonomic nervous
systems; the
amygdala, the
hippocampus; and
parts of the
thalamus.
• The frontal lobes of
the cerebral cortex
receive nerve
impulses from the
thalamus and play
an active role in the
experience and
expression of
emotions.
The limbic
system
The brain and emotional
learning
• The amygdala, a structure of the limbic system
(the behavioral center of the brain) located near
the brainstem, is thought to be responsible for
emotional learning and emotional memory.
• Studies have shown that damage to the
amygdala can impair the ability to judge fear and
other emotions in facial expressions (to “read”
the emotions of others), a skill which is critical to
effective social interaction. The amygdala serves
as an emotional scrapbook that the brain refers
to in interpreting and reacting to new
experiences. It is also associated with emotional
arousal.
The prefrontal cortex
• The ability to understand the thoughts
and feelings of others is also regulated by
the prefrontal cortex of the brain,
sometimes called “the executive center.”
This brain structure and its components
store emotional memories that an
individual draws on when interacting
socially.
• Research studies have demonstrated that
individuals with brain lesions in the
prefrontal cortex area have difficulties in
social interactions and problem-solving
and tend to make poor choices, probably
because they have lost the ability to
access past experiences and emotions.
The physiological changes
associated with emotions
• While the physiological changes associated
with emotions are triggered by the brain,
they are carried out by the endocrine and
autonomic nervous systems.
• In response to fear or anger, for example,
the brain signals the pituitary gland to
release a hormone called ACTH, which in
turn causes the adrenal glands to secrete
cortisol, another hormone that triggers
what is known as the fight-or-flight
response, a combination of physical
changes that prepare the body for action
in dangerous situations.
The autonomic response to
emotional excitation
• The heart beats faster, respiration is more rapid,
the liver releases glucose into the bloodstream to
supply added energy, fuels are mobilized from
the body’s stored fat, and the body generally
goes into a state of high arousal. The pupils
dilate, perspiration increases while secretion of
saliva and mucous decreases, hairs on the body
become erect, causing “goose pimples,” and the
digestive system slows down as blood is diverted
to the brain and skeletal muscles.
• These changes are carried out with the aid of the
sympathetic nervous system, one of two divisions
of the autonomic nervous system. When the
crisis is over, the parasympathetic nervous
system, which conserves the body’s energy and
resources, returns things to their normal state.
Autonomic reaction to
ideferent information
Autonomic reaction to
important information
Ways of expressing emotions
• Ways of expressing emotion may be either innate or
culturally acquired. Certain facial expressions, such
as smiling, have been found to be universal, even
among blind persons, who have no means of
imitating them. Other expressions vary across
cultures.
• In addition to the ways of communicating various
emotions, people within a culture also learn certain
unwritten codes governing emotional expression
itself—what emotions can be openly expressed and
under what circumstances. Cultural forces also
influence how people describe and categorize what
they are feeling.
• An emotion that is commonly recognized in one
society may be subsumed under another emotion in
a different one. Some cultures, for example, do not
distinguish between anger and sadness. Tahitians,
who have no word for either sadness or guilt, have
46 words for various types of anger.
Importance of emotions for
bechavior
• In daily life, emotional arousal may have
beneficial or disruptive effects, depending on the
situation and the intensity of the emotion.
Moderate levels of arousal increase efficiency
levels by making people more alert.
• However, intense emotions—either positive or
egative— interfere with performance because
central nervous system responses are channeled
in too many directions at once. The effects of
arousal on performance also depend on the
difficulty of the task at hand; emotions interfere
less with simple tasks than with more
complicated ones.
Negative emotions
Emotional intelligence
• Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive
and constructively act on both one’s own
emotions and the feelings of others.
• Emotional intelligence (EI) is sometimes
referred to as emotional quotient or emotional
literacy. Individuals with emotional intelligence
are able to relate to others with compassion and
empathy, have well-developed social skills, and
use this emotional awareness to direct their
actions and behavior.
Applications
• The concept of emotional intelligence has found a
number of different applications outside of the
psychological research and therapy arenas.
• Professional, educational, and community
institutions have integrated different aspects of
the emotional intelligence philosophy into their
organizations to promote more productive
working relationships, better outcomes, and
enhanced personal satisfaction.
• In the workplace and in other organizational
settings, the concept of emotional intelligence
has spawned an entire industry of EI consultants,
testing materials, and workshops.
The four areas of emotional
intelligence, as identified by Mayer and
Salovey, are as follows:
• Identifying emotions. The ability to recognize
one’s own feelings and the feelings of those
around them.
• Using emotions. The ability to access an emotion
and reason with it (use it to assist thought and
decisions).
• Understanding emotions. Emotional knowledge;
the ability to identify and comprehend what
Mayer and Salovey term “emotional chains”—the
transition of one emotion to another.
• Managing emotions. The ability to self-regulate
emotions and manage them in others.
Tests or assessments
• A number of tests or assessments have been
developed to “measure” emotional intelligence,
although their validity is questioned by some
researchers.
• These include the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso
Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), the
Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS),
the Emotional Competence Inventory 360 (ECI
360), the Work Profile Questionnaire-emotional
intelligence version (WPQ-ei), and the Baron
Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i). Other
psychometric measures, or tests, such as the
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Revised
(WISC-R), a standard intelligence test, are
sometimes useful in measuring the social aptitude
features of emotional intelligence.
Emotional development
• Emotional development is the
process by which infants and children
begin developing the capacity to
experience, express, and interpret
emotions.
• To formulate theories about the
development of human emotions,
researchers focus on observable
display of emotion, such as facial
expressions and public behavior.
Emotional development
• Between six and ten weeks, a social smile
emerges, usually accompanied by other pleasureindicative actions and sounds, including cooing
and mouthing.
• During the last half of the first year, infants begin
expressing fear, disgust, and anger because of
the maturation of cognitive abilities.
• Caregivers supply infants with a secure base from
which to explore their world.
• During the second year, infants express emotions
of shame or embarrassment and pride. During
this stage of development, toddlers acquire
language and are learning to verbally express
their feelings. This ability, is the first step in the
development of emotional self-regulation skills.
Toddlerhood (1-2 years)
Emotional expressivity
• In toddlerhood,children begin to develop skills to
regulate their emotions with the emergence of
language providing an important tool to assist in
this process.
• Empathy, a complex emotional response to a
situation, also appears in toddlerhood, usually by
age two.
• The development of empathy requires that
children read others’ emotional cues, understand
that other people are entities distinct from
themselves, and take the respective of another
person (put themselves in the position of
another).
Preschool (3-6 years)
Emotional expressivity
• Parents help preschoolers acquire skills to cope
with negative emotional states by teaching and
modeling use of verbal reasoning and
explanation.
• Beginning at about age four, children acquire the
ability to alter their emotional expressions. For
example, in Western culture, we teach children
that they should smile and say thankyou when
receiving a gift, even if they really do not like
the present.
• It is thought that in the preschool years, parents
are the primary socializing force, teaching
appropriate emotional expression in children.
Middle childhood
(7-11 years)
• Children ages seven to eleven display a wider
variety of self-regulation skills. Sophistication in
understanding and enacting cultural display rules
has increased dramatically by this stage, such
that by now children begin to know when to
control emotional expressivity as well as have a
sufficient repertoire of behavioral regulation skills
allowing them to effectively mask emotions in
socially appropriate ways.
• During middle childhood, children begin to
understand that the emotional states of others
are not as simple as they imagined in earlier
years, and that they are often the result of
complex causes, some of which are not externally
obvious.
Adolescence
(12-18 years)
• Adolescents have become sophisticated at
regulating their emotions. They have developed a
wide vocabulary with which to discuss, and thus
influence, emotional states of themselves and
others.
• Research in this area has found that in early
adolescence, children begin breaking the
emotionally intimate ties with their parents and
begin forming them with peers. Another factor
that plays a significant role in the ways
adolescents regulate emotional displays is their
heightened sensitivity to others’ evaluations of
them, a sensitivity which can result in acute selfawareness and self-consciousness as they try to
blend into the dominant social structure.
Coping With Stress
CBS News Online
• http://www.cbsnews.com/secti
ons/i_video/main500251.shtml?
id=2379111n
• Coping With Stress CBS News Online
• How Your Brain Handles Stress
Stress
• Stress is the physiological and psychological
responses to situations or events that disturb the
equilibrium of an organism.
• Stress results when demands placed on an
organism cause unusual physical, psychological,
or emotional responses. In humans, stress
originates from a multitude of sources and causes
a wide variety of responses, both positive and
negative.
• Despite its negative connotation, many experts
believe some level of stress is essential for wellbeing and mental health.
Person’s needs
Stressors
• Stressors—events or situations that cause
stress— can range from everyday hassles such as
traffic jams to chronic sources such as the threat
of nuclear war or overpopulation.
• Much research has studied how people respond
to the stresses of major life changes. The Life
Events Scale lists these events as the top ten
stressors: death of spouse, divorce, marital
separation, jail term, death of close family
member, personal injury or illness, marriage, loss
of job through firing, marital reconciliation, and
retirement.
• It is obvious from this list that even good
things—marriage, retirement, and marital
reconciliation— can cause substantial stress.
Fazes of stress reaction
TOP TEN STRESSFUL
EVENTS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Death of spouse
Divorce
Marital separation
Jail term or death of close family member
Personal injury or illness
Marriage
Loss of job due to termination
Marital reconciliation or retirement
Pregnancy
Change in financial state
Reactions to stress
• Reactions to stress vary by individual and the
perceived threat presented by it.
• Psychological responses may include cognitive
impairment—as in test anxiety, feelings of anxiety,
anger, apathy, depression, and aggression.
• Behavioral responses may include a change in
eating or drinking habits.
• The “fight or flight” response involves a complex
pattern of innate responses that occur in reaction to
emergency situations. The body prepares to handle
the emergency by releasing extra sugar for quick
energy; heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing
increase; muscles tense; infection-preventing
systems activate; and hormones are secreted to
assist in garnering energy. The hypothalamus,
often called the stress center of the brain, controls
these emergency responses to perceived lifethreatening situations.
Stress and pathology
• A relatively new area of behavioral medicine,
psychoimmunology, has been developed to study
how the body’s immune system is affected by
psychological causes like stress.
• While it is widely recognized that heart disease
and ulcers may result from excess stress,
psychoimmunologists believe many other types
of illness also result from impaired immune
capabilities due to stress. Cancer, allergies, and
arthritis all may result from the body’s weakened
ability to defend itself because of stress.
Coping with stress
• Coping with stress is a subject of great interest
and is the subject of many popular books and
media coverage.
• One method focuses on eliminating or mitigating
the effects of the stressor itself. For example,
people who experience extreme stress when they
encounter daily traffic jams along their route to
work may decide to change their route to avoid
the traffic, or change their schedule to less busy
hours.
• Instead of trying to modify their response to the
stressor, they attempt to alleviate the problem
itself. Generally, this problem-focused strategy is
considered the most effective way to battle
stress.
Biological feedback for
coping stress
Emotion-focused methods
• Another method, dealing with the effects of the
stressor, is used most often in cases in which the
stress is serious and difficult to change. Major
illnesses, deaths, and catastrophes like
hurricanes or airplane crashes cannot be
changed, so people use emotion-focused
methods in their attempts to cope. Examples of
emotion-focused coping include exercise,
drinking, and seeking support from emotional
confidants.
• Defense mechanisms are unconscious coping
methods that help to bury, but not cure, the
stress. Sigmund Freud considered repression—
pushing the source of stress to the unconscious—
one way of coping with stress. Rationalization
and denial are other common emotional
responses to stress.
Discovering of stress in
experiment
Type of nervous system
• Type of nervous system determines
rate of creation of new conditioned
reflexes, strength and stability of
these reflexes, intensity of external
and internal inhibition, rate of
irradiation and concentration of
nervous processes, the capacity for
induction and less or grater
possibility for development of
abnormalities of higher nervous
activity.
Type of nervous system
after I.P. Pavlov
•
•
•
•
I.P. Pavlov classifies types of higher nervous activity
according to several attributes that considered as most
reliable indices of higher nervous activity. These were
intensity of the excitation and inhibition, the ratio of these
processes in central nervous system and their mobility, that
is rate at which excitation was replaced by inhibition and
wise versa. In experimental practice the following four
principle types of higher nervous activity are met:
1) strong unbalanced type, characterized by predominance
of excitation over inhibition;
2) strong well-balanced active type, characterized by high
mobility of nerve processes;
3) strong well-balanced passive type, characterized by low
mobility of nerve processes;
4) weak type, characterized by extremely weak
development of both excitation and inhibition, which cause
fatigue and low workability.
The first and second
signaling system
• The analysis and synthesis of the direct stimuli from
surroundings first signal system performs. This includes
impressions, sensations. This functional mechanism is common
in human and animals. In the course of his social development
and labor activity second signal system, which based on using
verbal signals, develop. This system includes perception of
words, reading and speech.
• The development of the second signaling system was incredibly
broadened and changed quality of higher nervous activity of
cerebral hemispheres. Words are signals of other signals. Man
uses verbal signals for everything he perceives through the
receptors. Words are abstraction of reality and allow
generalization, processing of surrounding primary information.
This gives the first general human empiricism and finally
science, the instrument of man's higher orientation in the
environment and its own self.
• So, second signaling system is socially determined. Outside the
society, without association with other people second signaling
system is not developed.
•
Nerve
substrate
of
speech
There are two aspects of communication: sensory, involving reading,
hearing of speech, and second, the motor aspect, involving
vocalization and its control. It is known, that lesion of posterior
portion of the superior temporal gyrus, which is called Wernicke's
area, and is part of auditory associative cortex, make impossible to
the person to interpret the meanings of words. This Wernicke's area is
located in dominant hemisphere, which is usually the left. The process
of speech includes two principle stages of mentation: formation of
thoughts to be expressed and motor control of vocalization. The
formation of thoughts is the function of associative areas in the brain.
Wernicke's area in the posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus is
most important for this ability. Broca's speech area lies in prefrontal
and premotor facial region in the left hemisphere. The skilled motor
patterns for control of the larynx, lips, mouth, respiratory system and
other accessory muscles of speech are all initiated from this area.
Articulation means movements of mouth, tongue, larynx, vocal cords,
and so forth that are responsible for the intonations, timing, and rapid
changes in intensities of the sequential sounds. The facial and
laryngeal regions of the motor cortex activate these muscles, and the
cerebellum, basal ganglia, and sensory cortex all help control the
sequences and intensities of muscle contractions. Transmitters such
as dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin and certain neuropeptides
transmit their signals by what is referred to as slow synaptic
transmission. The resulting change in the function of the nerve cell
may last from seconds to hours. This type of signal transmission is
responsible for a number of basal functions in the nervous system and
is of importance for e.g. alertness and mood. Slow synaptic
Development of signaling
systems in children
• The ability of a full-term baby to develop
temporary connections of the first signaling
system arises in a few days after the birth.. In
the first six months of life speech sounds mean
little to a child. They are simply stimuli to the
auditory analyzer like any other sounds.
• The first signs of development of the second
signaling system appear during the second half of
the first year of life. If a person or an object is
named and shown to a child many times, reaction
to this name develops.
• Later after leaning a few words, a child begins to
name objects itself. Finally, at a later time he
uses a stock of words to communicate with other
people.
Functions of speech
• Main functions of speech are communicative, regulatory,
programming and gives general notion about surroundings.
Communicative function permits exchange of information between
people. Such a function is also present in animals, which use for
this aim vocalization of different intensity to warn about danger or
express positive and negative emotions. People use verbal signals
for everything he perceives through the receptors. Words are
abstraction of reality and allow generalization, processing of
surrounding primary information.
• Verbal instructions may direct human activity, give suggestion
about proper mode of behavior. This is programming function of
speech. Programming function of speech involves emotional
component also, which may influence to emotional status of a
person. As limbic system, which controls emotions, has direct
connection with autonomic nervous system.
• So speech through emotions may influence to functions of visceral
organs. Physician may use this effect for psychotherapy. It is
necessary remember about jatrogenic disorders also.
Attention as psychical
function
• Attention is selectiveness of psychical
processes or any kind of mental activity,
which helps in getting and processing the
information. There are sensory, motor,
intellectual and emotional forms of
attention, depending to kind of activity of
a person.
• There are voluntary and involuntary levels
of attention. Involuntary attention is
present from the birth of man. Voluntary
attention develops in life course, due to
mental activity, formation of speech
function and studying languages.
Physiological mechanisms of
attention
• Involuntary attention is controlled by lower
portion of brain stem and midbrain, where
centers of roof reflexes are locates. Voluntary
attention appears as a result of higher cortical
activity in visual, auditory, motor areas and so
on.
• Lesion of these cortical areas leads to such
disturbances in processing special sensory
information as ignore of stimuli of different
modality. Intellectual attention appears because
of function of prefrontal associative cortical area.
The limbic system of the brain is responsible for
emotional attention.
Memory as psychical
function
• Memory function helps fixing of perceived
information, keeping it in verbal form or as
traces of percept stimuli and recognizing of this
information in proper time. Genetic memory
keeps information about body structure and
forms of its behavior. Biological memory is
presented in both philogenetic and ontogenetic
forms. The immune memory and psychical
memory for instance, belong to ontogenetic
memory.
• General characteristics of memory are duration,
strength of keeping the information and
exactness of its recognizing. In man
mechanisms of perception and keeping the
information are developed better, comparing to
other mammalians.
• According to duration is concerned short-time
Thinking process as
psychical function
• The prefrontal association area is essential to carrying out
thought processes in the mind. This presumably results
from some of the same capabilities of the prefrontal
cortex that allow it to plan motor activities.
• The prefrontal association area is frequently described
as important for elaboration of thoughts to store on a
short-term basis “working memories” that are used to
analyze each new thought while it is entering the braine.
The somatic, visual, and auditory association areas all
meet one another in the posterior part of the superior
temporal lobe. This area is especially highly developed in
the dominant side of the brain – the left side in almost all
right-handed people.
• It plays the greatest single role of any part of cerebral
cortex in the higher comprehensive levels of brain
function that we call intelligence. This zone is also called
general interpretative area, the gnostic area, the knowing
area, tertiary association area. It is best known as
Wernike’s area in honor of the neurologist who first
Nerve substrate of memory
• It’s discovered the nervous substrate of
long-term memory is mostly cerebral
cortex. The most important regions are
temporal lobes, prefrontal area and
hippocampus. Experimental researches
revealed that some thalamic nuclei and
reticular formation take part in memory
function.
• Reticular formation gives ascending
stimulatory influences to cerebral cortex,
which help in keeping awake condition of
cortex and provides voluntary attention.
Physiological mechanisms of
memory
• At the molecular level, the habitation effect in the sensory
terminal results from progressive closure of calcium
channels through the presynaptic terminal membrane.
• In case of facilitation, the molecular mechanism is
believed to be following. Facilitated synapse releases
serotonin that activates adenylyl cyclase in postsynaptic
cell. Then cyclic AMP activates proteinkinase that then
causes phosphorylation of proteins. This blocks potassium
channels for minutes or even weeks. Lack of potassium
causes prolonged action potential in the presynaptic
terminal that leads to activation of calcium pores,
allowing tremendous quantities of calcium ions to enter
the sensory terminal. This causes greatly increased
transmitter release, thereby markedly facilitating synaptic
transmission.
• Thus in a very indirect way, the associative effect of
stimulation the facilitator neuron at the same time that
the sensory neuron is stimulated causes prolonged
increase in excitatory sensitivity of the sensory terminal,
Short and long term
memory
• Eric Kandel showed initially that weaker stimuli give rise to a
form of short term memory, which lasts from minutes to hours.
The mechanism for this "short term memory" is that particular
ion channels are affected in such a manner that more calcium
ions will enter the nerve terminal. This leads to an increased
amount of transmitter release at the synapse, and thereby to an
amplification of the reflex. This change is due to a
phosphorylation of certain ion channel proteins, that is utilizing
the molecular mechanism described by Paul Greengard.
• A more powerful and long lasting stimulus will result in a form
of long term memory that can remain for weeks. The stronger
stimulus will give rise to increased levels of the messenger
molecule cAMP and thereby protein kinase A. These signals will
reach the cell nucleus and cause a change in a number of
proteins in the synapse. The formation of certain proteins will
increase, while others will decrease. The final result is that the
shape of the synapse can increase and thereby create a long
lasting increase of synaptic function.
• In contrast to short term memory, long term memory requires
that new proteins are formed. If this synthesis of new proteins
is prevented, the long term memory will be blocked but not the
short term memory.
Consciousness and its
mechanisms
• Consciousness is special form of perceiving
surroundings and goal-orientated activity of
person with interrelation to surroundings. Only
social life forms consciousness. It involves life
experience of entire society.
• This ability of prefrontal areas to keep track of
many bits of information could well explain
abilities to prognosticate, do plan for the future,
delay action in response to incoming sensory
signals, consider the consequences of motor
actions even before they are performed, solve
complicated mathematical, legal, or
philosophical problems, correlate all avenues of
information in diagnosing rare diseases and
control our activities in accord with moral laws.
Notion “emotions”
• Emotions are aspect of higher
nervous activity that characterize
subjective attitude of person to
various stimuli arousal in
surroundings.
• Emotional status reflects actual
needs of man and helps in its
realization.
Classification of emotions
• According to subjective status there are positive
and negative emotions. Negative emotions are
sthenic (aggression, affect) that stimulate human
activity and asthenia (horror, sadness,
depression) that inhibit behaviour. Lower or
elementary emotions are caused by organic
needs of man or animal as hanger, thirst and
survival, so on).
• In humans even lover emotions undergo to
cortical control and are brining up. Social,
historical and cultural customs cause also
formation of higher emotions that regulates
public and private relations in society. Higher
emotions appear due to consciousness and may
inhibit lower emotions.
Appearance of emotions in
ontogenesis
• In newborns emotions of horror, anger,
pleasure, are revealed just after birth.
Hunger, pain, getting cool, wet bedclothes
cause in newborn child negative emotions
with grimace of suffering and crying.
Sudden new sound or loss equilibrium
causes horror and loss of free movement
causes anger.
• Final formation of human emotions
develops gradually with maturation of
nervous and endocrine regulatory systems
and needs up brining.
Biological importance of
emotions
• Emotions are important element of human
behaviour, creation of conditioned reflexes
and mentation.
• Negative emotions give fusty evaluation of
current situation does it useful or not.
Mobilizing of efforts helps then to satisfy
current needs of person.
• Positive emotions help to put in memory
scheme of behaviour, which was useful
and have lead to success.
External manifestations of
emotions
• Motor manifestations of emotions are mimic,
gesticulation, body posture and walk.
• Emotional excitation usually is followed by
autonomic reactions as blush, dilation of pupils;
increase of arterial pressure, rate of heartbeat
and breathing. Level of catecholamines in blood
and 17-oxycetosteroides in urine rises also.
• Positive emotion may activate parasympathetic
division of autonomic nervous system. Severe
emotional excitation may result in visceral
disorders because of circulatory disturbances and
excess hormones in blood.
Nerve substrate of emotions
• Several limbic structures are particularly concerned with
the affective nature of sensory sensations – that is
whether the sensations are pleasant or unpleasant. The
major rew3ard centres have been found to be located
along the course of the medial forebrain bundle,
especially in the lateral and ventromedial nuclei of the
hypothalamus.
• Less potent reward centres are found in the septum,
amygdala, certain areas of the thalamus, basal ganglia,
and extending downward into the basal tegmentum of the
mesencephalon. The most potent areas for punishment
and escape tendencies have been found in the central
grey area surrounding the aqueduct of Sylvius in the
mesencephalon and extending upward into the
periventricular zones of the hypothalamus and thalamus.
• Less potent punishment areas are found in some locations
in the amygdala and the hippocampus. Electrical
recording from the brain show that newly experienced
types of sensory stimuli almost excite areas in the
Theories of emotions
• Biological theory of emotions (P.K. Anochkin) considers that
life course includes two main stages of behavioural act: 1)
formation of needs and motivations that results from
negative emotions and 2) satisfaction of needs that leads to
positive emotions it case of complete accordance of image
and result of action. Incomplete compliance of suspected
and real result of action cause negative emotions and
continues behavioural act.
• Information theory of emotions (P.V. Simonov)considers
that emotions reflect strength human of need and
possibility of its satisfaction in current moment. In absence
of needs emotions can’t arise. There is also not emotional
excitation, if getting excess information about mode of
satisfaction this need. Lac of information already causes
negative emotions that help to recall to mind life experience
and to gather information about current situation.
Neurotransmission of
emotional excitation
• Emotional excitation is spread in the brain due to
variety of neurotransmitters (noradrenalin,
acetylcholine, serotonin, dopamine and
neuropeptides including opioides.
• Positive emotions may be explained by revealing
catecholamines and negative emotions,
aggression result from production acetylcholine in
the brain. Serotonin inhibits both kinds of
emotions.
• Decrease of serotonin in blood is followed by
groundless anxiety and inhibition of
noradrenergic transmission results in sadness.
Structure
of behavioural act
•
•
•
•
•
•
According to theory of functional systems
(Anochking) there are such stages of behavioural
act:
1) afferent synthesis; 2) taking of decision;
3) acceptor of result of action;
4) efferent synthesis (or programming of action);
5) performing of action;
6) evaluation of final result of action.
Due to converging and processing of both
sensory information and memory traces afferent
synthesis in the brain is performed. Taking of
decision is based on afferent synthesis by
choosing optimal variant of action.
Neuronal mechanisms of
behaviour
• In the very lowest animals olfactory cortex plays essential
roles in determining whether the animal eats a particular
food, whether the smell of a particular object suggest
danger, and whether the odour is sexually inviting, thus
making decisions that are of life-or-death importance. The
hippocampus originated as part of olfactory cortex.
• Very early in the evolutionary development of the brain,
the hippocampus presumably becomes a critical decisionmaking neuronal mechanism, determining the importance
of the incoming sensory signals. Once this critical
decision-making capability had been established,
presumably the remainder of the brain began to call on it
for the same decision making. Therefore, if the
hippocampus says that a neuronal signal is important, the
information is likely to be committed to memory.
• Thus, a person rapidly become habituated to indifferent
stimuli but learns assiduously any sensory experience that
causes either pleasure or pain. It has been suggested that
hippocampus provides the drive that causes translation of
short-term memory into long-term memory.