EMBODIED EMOTIONS

Embodied Emotion Weather you are eagerly anticipating a long awaited vacation, falling in love, or grieving the death of a loved one, you need little convincing that emotions involve the body. Feeling without a body is like breathing without lungs. Some physical reasons are easy to notice, others- many taking place at the level of neurons in your brain happen without your awareness. As you hear a motorcycle slowing down behind you on a dark street, your muscles tense, your stomach develops butterflies, your mouth becomes dry.

Autonomic Nervous System Controls

Emotions and the Autonomic Nervous System After your next crisis, think of this: without any conscious effort, your body responses to danger was wonderfully coordinated and adaptive preparing you to fight or flee. The autonomic nervous system controls our arousal. Its sympathetic division directs the adrenal glands atop the kidneys to release stress hormones epinephrine(adrenaline) and nor epinephrine(noradrenaline). This hormonal surge increase heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels. Even after the parasympathetic division inhibits further release of stress hormones, those already in the bloodstream linger awhile, so arousal diminishes gradually.

Arousal and Performance Performances peaks at lower levels of arousal for difficult task, and at higher levels for easy or well-learned tasks. Runners, who are performing a well-learned task, usually achieve their performances when highly aroused by competition. Basketball players shooting free- a less automotive skill- may not perform quiet as well if packed field house makes them hyper aroused. Like wise, students who feel great anxiety during exams perform poorly than those equally able but more confident. Teaching anxious students how to relax before an exam often enables them to perform better.

Physiological Similarities Among Specific Emotions Emotional Arousal Elated excitement and panicky fear involve similar physiological arousal. That allows us to flip rapidly between the two emotions. To you and me, Sexual arousal, fear, and anger nevertheless feel different. If sexually stimulated, you will experience a genital response if afraid, you may feel a clutching, sinking sensation in your chest and a knot in your stomach. If angry, you may feel “hot under the collar” and experience a pressing inner tension. And, despite similar arousal, fear, and anger not only different, they also look different. People may appear “paralyzed with fear” or “ ready to explode”. So, does research pinpoint any distinct physiological or brain pattern indicates of each emotion.

Congintion and Emotion We that our emotions affect our thinking. When we feel like singing “oh what a beautiful morning!” we see the world and the people around us as wonderful. In the following day we find ourselves singing the blues, we perceive the same world and the same people as less wonderful. Congintion Can Define Emotion The spillover effect Arousal from a basketball game or a political protest can fuel anger, which can descend into rioting or other violent confrontation. Sometimes our arousal response to one event spills over into our response to the event.