Human emotions

Each emotion is very complex and hence evolutionarily stable. It entails visceral adjustments, motoric responses, an affect, and extensive representation in the ancient subcortex. It is bound to be slow to evolve, hence Ekman s claim (1994, p. 16) that humans are unlikely to have evolved new emotions not found in other primates. Therefore, another useful criterion is presence in other primates. However, since every species has some unique characteristics, it is possible that some human emotions are absent from our primate relatives. For example, defecation may be purely reflexive in the arboreal primates but partly voluntary and hence emotional in our own species. Also, pair bonding is seen in humans but not chimpanzees. 

In summary I would suggest that the basic human emotions be identified by all of these criteria in proportion to their utility, but especially by their affects and functions. How, then, should emotion be defined I would define a human emotion in affective... 

In contrast to the evidence for primers, signalers, and modulators, there is no decent evidence to suggest that there are human releaser pheromones. That is not to argue that there are none but to state that there is no evidence for them at present. Nonetheless, products purported to be human releaser pheromones—specifically sex attractants—are widely available on the Internet. They go by such suggestive names as Scent of Eros, The Edge, Alter-ego, and Pheromone Additive. Many of these products contain either androstenone or androstenol, steroids of unknown influence on the human emotional state. 

Mayeux R. Emotional changes associated with basal ganglia disorders. In Heilman KM, Satz P, eds. Neuropsychoiogy of human emotion. New York Guilford, 1983. 

There are Limits to what animal studies can tell us about human behavior. There are also limits on what we can learn from laboratory experiments with human subjects. Because of financial constraints one may not be able to create high-stake situations in the laboratory/ unless one uses first-world research grants to study third-world subjects (Cameron 1995). Because of ethical constraints that were set up in the wake of Stanley Milgram s (1974) work, one cannot place subjects in situations that will induce strong negative emotions. Also, many of these studies rely on self-reports, which are a pretty fragile instrument. I believe, therefore, that to understand the subtler human emotions one has to turn to the last four sources, which is not to say that the first three have no value. 

To address the question of cultural variation in the emotions themselves, I need to consider two aspects of the relation between emotion and cognition that have been neglected so far. Earlier in the chapter, 1 argued that (1) complex human emotions are caused by cognition. In addition, (2) emotion may be the object of cognition, and (3) cognition may be the effect of emotion. It will turn out that in many important cases, all three relations obtain simultaneously and interact with each other. 

History events and time periods such as World War II, the Great Depression, treatment of Native Americans, and America s break from British rule. Historical events may be written about from many perspectives, and can be used to make points about a variety of subjects. The Depression, for example, was an economic event that had many factors, including human emotion (fear). 

In addition to modifying the structures of successful antidepressants, it would be useful to investigate novel therapeutic approaches using nonhuman models. However, how does one study depression and actions of antidepressants in laboratory animals Depression is based on human emotions and subjective reports of mood states. Can this be modeled in animals ... 

Why Giro snapped, in his first sign of human emotion. What has that to do with Nostradamus and his crystal ball ... 

In 1976, psychiatrist Mardi Horowitz published a book entitled Stress Response Syndromes. In this landmark publication. Dr. Horowitz carved out a very useful model for understanding what appears to be a common pattern of human emotional... 

Emotions differ from other visceral factors, such as pain, bodily plea sures, thirst, or hunger in two respects. Emotions have cognitive antecedents, the latter do not emotions have intentional objects, the latter do not.23 Otherwise, the other visceral motivations share or may share the four other features that I use to characterize the emotions. Thus emotion and cognition are intimately connected. That is, in fact, why emotion can distort cognition in the ways to be discussed in IV.3 and V.2. Here, I shall only explore the causal link from cognition to emotion. As this relation is the central issue in the study of human emotions, I discuss it at some length. 

As mentioned in II. 1, human emotions differ from animals emotions by the complexity of the beliefs that may trigger them. In particular, their cognitive antecedents include... 

Novels and plays may be invaluable sources for the understanding of human emotions, but this is not the only way in which the arts are relevant for the study of emotion. The experience of a work of art may trigger emotional experiences in the reader, viewer, or listener. The work may generate emotional experiences that are similar to those we may have in the ordinary walks of life, although both weaker (because nothing is at stake) and stronger (because more concentrated and purified). Moreover, the formal properties of a work of art are capable of generating specifically aesthetic emotions such as wonder or surprise. 

Whereas all animals of a given species have pretty much the same emotions, human emotions vary heavily with local culture. (Here, "culture" is only shorthand for the shared beliefs and values held by individual members of a society or a subculture within the society, including the belief that these beliefs and values are widely... 

Note The practice of applying human emotions to inanimate objects is called "anthropomorphizing". 

Rosenman RH. Do environmental effects on human emotions cause cardiovascular disorders Acta Physiol Scand 1997 640(Suppl) 133-136. 

Depression and elation are normal human emotions. Disorder is when it gets too long-term or too extreme. 

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