Evolutionary explanations of emotions

Emotions can be explained as specialized states, shaped by natural selection, that increase fitness in specific situations. The physiological, psychological, and behavioral characteristics of a specific emotion can be analyzed as possible design features that increase the ability to cope with the threats and opportunities present in the corresponding situation. This approach to understanding the evolutionary functions of emotions is illustrated by the correspondence between (a) the subtypes of fear and the different kinds of threat; (b) the attributes of happiness and sadness and the changes that would be advantageous in propitious and unpropitious situations; and (c) the social emotions and the adaptive challenges of reciprocity relationships. In addition to addressing a core theoretical problem shared by evolutionary and cognitive psychology, explicit formulations of the evolutionary functions of specific emotions are of practical importance for understanding and treating emotional disorders.     

Thermodynamic view on decision-making process: emotions as a potential power vector of realization of the choice

This research is devoted to possible mechanisms of decision-making in frames of thermodynamic principles. It is also shown that the decision-making system in reply to emotion includes vector component which seems to be often a necessary condition to transfer system from one state to another. The phases of decision-making system can be described as supposed to be nonequilibrium and irreversible to which thermodynamics laws are applied. The mathematical model of a decision choice, proceeding from principles of the nonlinear dynamics considering instability of movement and bifurcation is offered. The thermodynamic component of decision-making process on the basis of vector transfer of energy induced by emotion at the given time is surveyed. It is proposed a three-modular model of decision making based on principles of thermodynamics. Here it is suggested that at entropy impact due to effect of emotion, on the closed system—the human brain,—initially arises chaos, then after fluctuations of possible alternatives which were going on—reactions of brain zones in reply to external influence, an order is forming and there is choice of alternatives, according to primary entrance conditions and a state of the closed system. Entropy calculation of a choice expectation of negative and positive emotion shows judgment possibility of existence of “the law of emotion conservation” in accordance with several experimental data.     

From Dust to Ashes: The Challenges of Difference

By attending to ways in which middle-class wives in Yogyakarta, Java, describe negotiating sentiments among family members (including children, maids and husbands), this article argues that domestic relations in middle-class homes in Java have been importantly inflected by state rhetoric on gender propriety and market ideas of work. As a result, both middle-class women and maids have come to conceive of emotion work as part of an array of domestic obligations central to social reproduction.     

Acoustical expression of arousal in conflict situations in tree shrews (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Tupaia belangeri)</Emphasis>

Empirical research on human and non-human primates suggests that communication sounds express the intensity of an emotional state of a signaller. In the present study, we have examined communication sounds during induced social interactions of a monogamous mammal, the tree shrew. To signal their unwillingness to mate, female tree shrews show defensive threat displays towards unfamiliar males paralleled by acoustically variable squeaks. We assumed that the distance between interacting partners as well as the behavior of the male towards the female indicates the intensity of perceived social threat and thereby the arousal state of a female. To explore this hypothesis we analyzed dynamic changes in communication sounds uttered during induced social interactions between a female and an unfamiliar male. Detailed videographic and sound analyzes revealed that the arousal state predicted variations in communication sound structure reliably. Both, a decrease of distance and a male approaching the female led to an increase in fundamental frequency and repetition rate of syllables. These findings support comparable results in human and non-human primates and suggest that common coding rules in communication sounds govern acoustic conflict regulation in mammals.     

认知风格、内外向和情绪对军人认知反应能力的影响

该文主要通过测评研究认知风格、内外向和情绪对军人认知反应能力的影响。结果表明,场独立性者对图形的认知反应能力比场依赖性者强。情绪稳定性高者的认知反应能力好于情绪稳定性低者,外向性格者的认知反应能力总体上要高于内向性格者。     

认知风格、内外向和情绪对军人认知反应能力的影响

该文主要通过测评研究认知风格、内外向和情绪对军人认知反应能力的影响。结果表明,场独立性者对图形的认知反应能力比场依赖性者强,情绪稳定性高者的认知反应能力好于情绪稳定性低者,外向性格者的认知反应能力总体上要高于内向性格者。     

Estrogen facilitates fear conditioning and increases corticotropin-releasing hormone mRNA expression in the central amygdala in female mice

Estrogens exert important actions on fear and anxiety-like behavior both in humans and non-human animals. Currently, the mechanisms underlying estrogenic modulation of fear are not known. However, evidence suggests that estrogens may exert their influence on fear within the amygdala. The purpose of the present study was to examine effects of estrogen on fear conditioning. Specifically, the present study examined whether long-term estrogen treatment in ovariectomized female mice via Silastic capsule implantation would facilitate both contextual and cued fear conditioning. In a separate set of experiments, we then examined whether estrogen treatment in ovariectomized female mice would modulate corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) gene expression within the amygdala. Long-term estrogen treatment facilitated both contextual and cued fear. Ovariectomized mice treated with estrogen froze significantly more to a context as well as to a discrete auditory cue. In addition, estrogen treatment significantly increased CRH mRNA expression within the central nucleus of the amygdala as measured by in situ hybridization and quantitative PCR. These data raise the possibility that estrogens could influence fear responses in females through their actions in the amygdala.     

Sex, hormones and affective arousal circuitry dysfunction in schizophrenia

Women with schizophrenia express affective disturbances disproportionately more than men. Brain regions implicated in the affective arousal circuitry also regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and -gonadal systems, which are dysfunctional in schizophrenia. This review will argue that understanding the etiology of affective arousal deficits in schizophrenia is intimately connected with characterizing the role of neuroendocrine dysfunction and sex effects in schizophrenia. Further, the etiology of these neuroendocrine deficits begins during fetal development, during a period of time that coincides with the sexual differentiation of the brain and the vulnerability for schizophrenia. Studying the links between deficits in neuroendocrine systems and the affective arousal system in schizophrenia will provide clues to understanding the development of sex differences in schizophrenia and thereby its etiology.     

On the role of emotion in biological and robotic autonomy

This paper reviews some of the differences between notions of biological and robotic autonomy, and how these differences have been reflected in discussions of embodiment, grounding and other concepts in AI and autonomous robotics. Furthermore, the relations between homeostasis, emotion and embodied cognition are discussed as well as recent proposals to model their interplay in robots, which reflects a commitment to a multi-tiered affectively/emotionally embodied view of mind that takes organismic embodiment more serious than usually done in biologically inspired robotics.