Emotions Make the World Go Round

Emotions are a very powerful thing. They are what make us humans human. They capture our mood, feelings, and current state of mind. Imagine a world without joy, love, or even sadness. Without emotions our humanity would be lost. We're not robots, we need emotions! Usually a person shows emotion to show others how they feel in that moment. Laughing or crying are both normal emotional responses. But there are individuals that have very little to no control of these  responses. Looking at the seminar given by Dr. Koenigs, he spoke about how patients with damage to their ventralmedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) directly effects amygdala actitvity. Hypoactivity of the vmPFC leads to an inhibited activity of the amygdala and results in higher levels of abnormal emotional responses. It is observed that these patients showed potentiated amygdala responses to negative images and had elevated resting-state amygdala functional connectivity. The amygdala can be described as your brain's emotional control center. If you've ever seen the Pixar film Inside Out, it's a good example of how you could envision your amygdala. So if these patients have an elevated emotional state, they will have much more elaborate displays of emotion. This can lead to mood swings, anxiety, and other emotional disorders. Furthermore, in my article it discussed how there is a particular modification in the gene ADRA2b that is also involved in this process. This gene regulates how we encounter and respond to certain situations. What if these individuals respond to different situations the way they do because they see things much differently than the average person? In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers have found a that this certain modification in the gene ADRA2b relates to perceptual vividness. Not only does the individual have more concise recall of an experience, researchers discovered that they literally see things more clearly and vividly. Different themed pictures were shown to the subjects and their neurological activity was measured. Emotionally enhancing pictures such as desserts, pets, and erotica were ranked categorically as vivid and others were ranked as neutral. Participants who had this gene modification showed much more visual enhancements for this imagery. It was found that these participants had a deletion in the ADRA2b gene, which correlated to higher activity in the vmPFC. The reason being that individuals with this deletion lack some receptors to the neurotransmitter norepinephrine and therefore have a different exposure to it. This in turn leads to an enhanced perception and vividness of certains events or experiences, therefore leading to an extreme emotional response. This could be especially true for someone who has undergone a traumatic experience. People in the military for example, have trouble returning home and living a normal life because they have developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These individuals vividly remember whatever tragedy they have undergone. Often times if they encounter a stimulus that sparks their recall of the event, such as hearing a loud noise or seeing a violent movie, they will have an abnormal emotional response. This may be due to their vmPFC activity which is linked to elevated amygdala activity, therefore inducing this emotional response. It's fascinating to me how such a small part of your brain has so much control over you.

Works Cited

Locwin, B. (2015, November 20). How vividly do you see and feel the world? It's in your genes. Retrieved December 10, 2015, from http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/11/20/how-vividly-do-you-see-and-feel-the-world-its-in-your-genes/

Motzkin, J., Philippi, C., Wolf, R., Baskaya, M., & Koenigs, M. (n.d.). Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Is Critical for the Regulation of Amygdala Activity in Humans. Biological Psychiatry, 276-284.