Physiology of Emotions

Presented by : Vipul and Virti

Subject : Introduction to Psychology
Presented to : Miss. Priyanka Samuel
Specialization : M.A. Criminology with Specialization in Forensic Psychology
University : National Forensic Sciences University
Table of Content
• What is Emotion?
• Components of Emotion
• Physiology of Emotions
• James – Lange Theory of Emotion
• Cannon – Bard Theory of Emotion
• Facial Feedback Hypothesis
• Schachter – Singer Theory of Emotion
What are Emotions?
• Emotions are often defined as a complex state of feeling that results
in physical and psychological changes that influence behavior.

• Human emotions include “….physiological arousal, expressive

behaviors and conscious experience.” according to David G Myers.

• Emotions are often associated with a number of psychological

phenomena like mood, temperament, personality, disposition,
creativity and motivation.
Components of Emotions
• Don Hockenbury and Sandra E. Hockenbury, in their book, Discovering Psychology
said that an emotion is a complex psychological state that involves three distinct
components: a subjective experience, a physiological one, a behavioral one or
expressive response.
• The Subjective Experience: While it is true that there are some basic emotions that
are experienced by people all over the world regardless of background or culture,
researchers also believe that experiencing of emotions can be highly subjective.
• The Physiological Response: Emotions cause a strong physiological response.
• The Behavioral Response: The final component is the actual expression of emotions.
Psychologists call our ability to interpret emotional expressions as Emotional
Intelligence. And these expressions play a significant role in our body language.
Physiology of Emotions
• Physically, when a person experiences an emotion, an arousal is
created by the sympathetic nervous system, which is a part of the
autonomic nervous system. The heart rate increases, blood pressure
rises, the pupils dilate, and the mouth becomes dry.
• The Autonomic Nervous System controls involuntary body responses,
such as the blood flow. The Sympathetic Nervous System controls the
body’s fight-and-flight responses.
• While early researches of physiology of emotions tended to focus on
autonomic responses, recent researches have targeted the brain’s
role in emotions.
• The amygdala, that is a small area
located in the limbic system on
each side of the brain, is
associated with emotions such as
fear and pleasure in both humans
and animals and is also involved in
the facial expressions of human
emotions.
• It is a tiny, almond-shaped
structure that has been linked to
motivational states like hunger
and thirst as well as memory and
emotion.
• Researches done using brain
imagining show that when people
are shown threatening images, the
amygdala becomes activated.
Damage to the amygdala has also
been shown to impair the fear
response.
• Research suggests that emotions may work differently depending on
which side of the brain is involved. Researchers have found that
positive emotions are associated with the left frontal lobe of the
brain, whereas negative feelings such as sadness, anxiety, and
depression seem to be a function of the right frontal lobe. 
• In studies in which the electrical activity of the brain has been tracked
using an electroencephalograph, left frontal lobe activation has been
associated with pleasant emotions, while right frontal lobe activity
has been associated with negative emotional states. Different brain
areas take primary roles based on the different ways you try to
control your emotions, but there is a degree of overlap across several
of the strategies.
• For example, some common strategies for regulating one’s emotions
include distraction, reappraisal, and controlling the influence of
emotions on decision making.
James – Lange Theory of Emotion
• William James, who was the father of functionalist perspective of
psychology, believed that the order of components of emotions was quite
different.
• Carl Lange, a physiologist and psychologist in Denmark, came up with an
explanation similar to that of James, so they named the theory : James –
Lange Theory of Emotion.
• This theory asserts that emotions arise as a result of physical arousal i.e. the
physiological reaction leads to the labelling of emotion.
• According to this theory, we experience emotions (such as fear, sadness and
happiness) only after physiological arousal (such as the fight-and-flight
response) has occurred. For example, “I am afraid because I am aroused.”
James – Lange Theory of Emotion
Criticism of James – Lange Theory of
Emotion
• According to this, the people who have spinal cord injuries that
prevent their sympathetic nervous system from functioning, would
show decreased emotion because the arousal that causes emotion is
no longer there.
• But that does not happen. Studies of these people have reported that
these people are capable of experiencing the same emotions after
their injury, sometimes even more intensely.
Cannon – Bard Theory of Emotion
• Physiologists Walter Cannon and Philip Bard theorized that the emotion and
the physiological response occurs at the same time.
• Cannon who was an expert in sympathetic arousal mechanisms, did not feel
that the physical changes caused by various emotions were distinct enough
to allow them to be perceived as different mechanisms.
• Bard expanded on this idea by stating that the sensory information that
comes into the brain is sent simultaneously (by the thalamus) to both the
cortex and the organs of the sympathetic nervous system.
• Therefore, the fear and the bodily responses are experienced at the same
time – not one after the other. For example, “I am afraid and running and
aroused!”
Cannon - Bard Theory of Emotion
Criticism of Cannon – Bard Theory
• Lashley stated that the thalamus would have to be pretty
sophisticated to make sense of all the possible human emotions and
relay them to the proper areas of the cortex and body.
• The studies of people with spinal cord injuries, which appear to
suggest that emotions can be experienced without feedback from the
sympathetic organs to the cortex and were cited as a criticism of the
James-Lange theory, seem at first to support the Cannon-Bard version
of emotions: People do not need feedback from those organs to
experience emotion.
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
• Charles Darwin, in his 1898 book, The Expression of Emotions in Man
and Animals, said that facial expressions evolved as a way of
communicating intentions, such as anger or fear, and these
expressions are universal within a species rather than specific to a
culture.
• So, psychologists proposed a theory, calling it the Facial Feedback
Hypothesis, according to which, facial expressions are not only the
results of our emotions but are also capable of influencing our
emotions.
• If you smile, that action itself will make you feel happier.
• Research looking into the facial feedback hypothesis says that
suppressing facial expressions of emotion may decrease how intensely
those emotions are experienced.
• Emotion is displayed not only through facial expression but also
through tone of voice, behavior, and body language.
• Children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder have difficulty
recognizing the emotional states of others. Research has shown that
this may stem from an inability to identify facial expressions and other
nonverbal expressions of emotions.
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Criticism of Facial Feedback Hypothesis
• If this theory is correct, then the people who have facial paralysis on
both sides of the face should have problems expressing emotions in
the normal way.
• But a study conducted on such a person revealed that although she
was unable to express emotions on her paralyzed face, she could
respond emotionally to slides meant to stimulate emotional
reactions, just like anyone else.
Schachter – Singer Theory of Emotion
(Two – Factor Theory)

• According to this theory, emotions are the result of interaction

between two factors : physiological arousal and cognition.
• This theory claims that physiological arousal is cognitively interpreted
within the context of each situation, which ultimately produces
emotional experience.
• These cognitive interpretations – how a person labels and
understands what they are experiencing – are formed based on the
person’s past experiences.
• It is also known as the Cognitive Arousal Theory or the Two – Factor
Theory.
Schachter – Singer
Theory of Emotion
References
• wikipedia
• verywellmind.com
• courses.lumenlearning.com
• Psychology, Global Edition by Saundra Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Thank You