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EMOTIONS

A common emotional response for many animals is sometimes referred to as "fight or flight."

Think about a time you may have been startled or surprised. For many individuals, a natural emotional reaction to this would be either one of fear with the desire to escape or an aggressive response with a readiness to defend oneself.

Human responses are more complex.

Emotions

An emotion is a state of mind based on someone's circumstances, mood, or connection with others.

Some emotions may be very specific, such as feeling happy or angry toward a particular person or situation. Other emotions may be more general, such as feeling joyful or sad.

Emotions may even come and go over the course of hours, days, or even years.

Where do these emotions come from?

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What Are They?

The limbic system is a set of structures in the brain that deal with emotions and memory. The four main parts of the limbic system are:

-hypothalamus
-amygdala
-thalamus
-hippocampus​

Limbic System

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Within the limbic system, the hypothalamus impacts the fight or flight response within an organism.

​​The amygdala is sometimes known as the aggression center. Feelings of anger, violence, fear, and anxiety originate from the amygdala.

The thalamus is located above the hypothalamus. The thalamus acts as a relay station for sensory signals. Everything that you see, hear, taste, and touch all move through the thalamus.

The hippocampus plays an important role in forming new memories. Specifically, the hippocampus converts short-term memory to long-term memory.

There cerebral cortex is the outer layers of the cerebrum. The cerebral cortex is divided into two halves, called hemispheres.

Neurobiologists have found that each of these hemispheres experiences emotions differently.

Positive Emotions = left

Negative Emotions = right

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Left vs Right Brain