The Neurobiology of Emotion–Cognition Interactions

2019 ◽  
pp. 171-182
Author(s):  
Thalia Richter ◽  
Alexander J. Shackman ◽  
Tatjana Aue ◽  
Hadas Okon-Singer
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Neural Connections ◽  
At Risk Populations ◽  
Bidirectional Interactions ◽  
Emotional Systems

Humans have long considered emotion and cognition as two separate mental capacities, depending on their subjective different emotional and cognitive experiences. However, evidence for the mutual modulatory relationships between emotional and cognitive functions, as well as for the neural circuits supporting these relationships, is growing substantially. In this chapter, we review the bidirectional interactions between the cognitive and emotional systems. We focus on threat-related cues and emotional states that influence a variety of attentional and executive functions, including working memory, cognitive control, and selective attention. We further elaborate on the flexibility of cognitive biases toward emotional information, as well as the plasticity of the neural connections supporting these biases. We discuss the influence of cognitive strategies on emotions. Finally, we highlight several limitations of existing research and suggest future scientific directions. Each of these themes is demonstrated among healthy individuals, at-risk populations, and patients with psychiatric disorders. Understanding the mutual influences between emotion and cognition is highly important for both theoretical and clinical knowledge. It may refine our expertise regarding the human mind, as well as contribute to the development of specific interventions for individuals with disorders involving disruption to emotional and cognitive systems.

scholarly journals Dogs can infer implicit information from human emotional expressions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Albuquerque ◽  
Daniel S. Mills ◽  
Kun Guo ◽  
Anna Wilkinson ◽  
Briseida Resende
Keyword(s):  
Emotional State ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Implicit Information ◽  
Emotional Display ◽  
Affective Information ◽  
Social Decision Making ◽  
Current Behaviour

AbstractThe ability to infer emotional states and their wider consequences requires the establishment of relationships between the emotional display and subsequent actions. These abilities, together with the use of emotional information from others in social decision making, are cognitively demanding and require inferential skills that extend beyond the immediate perception of the current behaviour of another individual. They may include predictions of the significance of the emotional states being expressed. These abilities were previously believed to be exclusive to primates. In this study, we presented adult domestic dogs with a social interaction between two unfamiliar people, which could be positive, negative or neutral. After passively witnessing the actors engaging silently with each other and with the environment, dogs were given the opportunity to approach a food resource that varied in accessibility. We found that the available emotional information was more relevant than the motivation of the actors (i.e. giving something or receiving something) in predicting the dogs’ responses. Thus, dogs were able to access implicit information from the actors’ emotional states and appropriately use the affective information to make context-dependent decisions. The findings demonstrate that a non-human animal can actively acquire information from emotional expressions, infer some form of emotional state and use this functionally to make decisions.

scholarly journals Mental models accurately predict emotion transitions

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (23) ◽  
pp. 5982-5987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Thornton ◽  
Diana I. Tamir
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
State Representation ◽  
Emotion Dynamics ◽  
Accuracy Study

Successful social interactions depend on people’s ability to predict others’ future actions and emotions. People possess many mechanisms for perceiving others’ current emotional states, but how might they use this information to predict others’ future states? We hypothesized that people might capitalize on an overlooked aspect of affective experience: current emotions predict future emotions. By attending to regularities in emotion transitions, perceivers might develop accurate mental models of others’ emotional dynamics. People could then use these mental models of emotion transitions to predict others’ future emotions from currently observable emotions. To test this hypothesis, studies 1–3 used data from three extant experience-sampling datasets to establish the actual rates of emotional transitions. We then collected three parallel datasets in which participants rated the transition likelihoods between the same set of emotions. Participants’ ratings of emotion transitions predicted others’ experienced transitional likelihoods with high accuracy. Study 4 demonstrated that four conceptual dimensions of mental state representation—valence, social impact, rationality, and human mind—inform participants’ mental models. Study 5 used 2 million emotion reports on the Experience Project to replicate both of these findings: again people reported accurate models of emotion transitions, and these models were informed by the same four conceptual dimensions. Importantly, neither these conceptual dimensions nor holistic similarity could fully explain participants’ accuracy, suggesting that their mental models contain accurate information about emotion dynamics above and beyond what might be predicted by static emotion knowledge alone.

scholarly journals Emotional information-processing correlates of mental health in adolescence: A network analysis approach

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Parsons ◽  
Charlotte Booth ◽  
Annabel Songco ◽  
Elaine Fox
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Cognitive Bias ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Positive Mental Health ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Interpretation Biases ◽  
Model Complex ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Emotional Information Processing

The Combined Cognitive Bias Hypothesis proposes that emotional information processing biases associate with each other and may interact to conjointly influence mental health. Yet, little is known about the interrelationships amongst cognitive biases, particularly in adolescence. We used data from the CogBIAS longitudinal study (Booth et al. 2017), including 451 adolescents who completed measures of interpretation bias, memory bias, and a validated measure of general mental health in a typical population. We used a moderated network modelling approach to examine positive mental health related moderation of the cognitive bias network. Mental health was directly connected to positive and negative memory biases, and positive interpretation biases, but not negative interpretation biases. Further, we observed some mental health related moderation of the network structure. Network connectivity decreased with higher positive mental health scores. Network approaches allow us to model complex relationships amongst cognitive biases and develop novel hypotheses for future research.

scholarly journals Symmetrization, Mirroring and External Reality: An ‘Inner’ Perspective

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Rosapia Lauro Grotto
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Clinical Evidence ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
External Reality ◽  
Psychoanalytic Literature ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Neuro Imaging ◽  
The Mind

In the last two decades, mirroring systems have been detected in the monkey and in the human brain. The mirroring mechanisms have been considered as the neural basis for social cognition and interpersonal reactivity, and they have been assumed to support imitation, sharing of emotional states and empathy. Here I would like to compare ‘mirroring phenomena’ to ‘symmetrization phenomena’. In psychoanalytic literature, the construct of symmetrization has been proposed in the context of the Bi-Logic theory by Matte Blanco in 1975, on the basis of clinical evidence obtained in the psychoanalytical setting and following a theoretical analysis derived from the Freudian distinction between Primary and Secondary Processes. I will consider two different types of behaviours, empathic social interactions and the creation of transitional objects and spaces as defined by Winnicott in order to argue that symmetrization, in Matte Blanco’s terms, cannot be reduced to mirroring. I will then sketch a hypothesis on the interplay between the symmetric aspects of the mind and external reality in the development of higher relational functions of humans, also taking playing, arts and creativity into account. Finally I will describe the paradigmatic shift in neuro-imaging studies that was introduced with the discovery of the ‘Default Mode Network’ and its potential relevance in the research on the symmetric and asymmetric aspects of the human mind.

scholarly journals The Mind-Brain Relationship as a Mathematical Problem

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio A. Ascoli
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Mathematical Problem ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Neural Connectivity ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽  
Scientific Phenomena ◽  
The Mind

This paper aims to frame certain fundamental aspects of the human mind (content and meaning of mental states) and foundational elements of brain computation (spatial and temporal patterns of neural activity) so as to enable at least in principle their integration within one and the same quantitative representation. Through the history of science, similar approaches have been instrumental to bridge other seemingly mysterious scientific phenomena, such as thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, optics and electromagnetism, or chemistry and quantum physics, among several other examples. Identifying the relevant levels of analysis is important to define proper mathematical formalisms for describing the brain and the mind, such that they could be mapped onto each other in order to explain their equivalence. Based on these premises, we overview the potential of neural connectivity to provide highly informative constraints on brain computational process. Moreover, we outline approaches for representing cognitive and emotional states geometrically with semantic maps. Next, we summarize leading theoretical framework that might serve as an explanatory bridge between neural connectivity and mental space. Furthermore, we discuss the implications of this framework for human communication and our view of reality. We conclude by analyzing the practical requirements to manage the necessary data for solving the mind-brain problem from this perspective.

The centrecephalon and thalamocortical integration

2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas F. Watt
Keyword(s):  
Current Level ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
State Variables ◽  
Global State ◽  
Consciousness Studies ◽  
Level Of Understanding ◽  
Emotional Systems ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

I have argued in other work that emotion, attentional functions, and executive functions are three interpenetrant global state variables, essentially differential slices of the consciousness pie. This paper will outline the columnar architecture and connectivities of the PAG (periaqueductal gray), its role in organizing prototype states of emotion, and the re-entry of PAG with the extended reticular thalamic activating system (“ERTAS”). At the end we will outline some potential implications of these connectivities for possible functional correlates of PAG networks that are just starting to be mapped. Overall, we will look at many lines of evidence that PAG should be conceptualized as a peri-reticular structure that has a foundational role in emotion, in generating the meaningful organization of behavior by the brain through prototype emotional states, and in allowing the various emotional systems to globally influence and tune both the forebrain and brainstem. Finally, we address implications of these concepts for what is currently understood about consciousness, underlining the need for somewhat more humility within consciousness studies about our current level of understanding of consciousness in the brain, combined with a deeper appreciation of the intrinsic connections between emotion and consciousness. One hopes that more concerted empirical interest in structures underneath the thalamus, combined with a deeper appreciation for the fundamental role that organismic and social value must have in bootstrapping awareness in the developing brain, would begin more widely to influence the fundamental lines of neuroscientific research in both emotion studies and consciousness studies.

A comparison of cognitive biases between schizophrenia patients with delusions and healthy individuals with delusion-like experiences

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 943-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ł. Gawęda ◽  
K. Prochwicz
Keyword(s):  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Stepwise Regression ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Cognitive Dimension ◽  
Emotional Reasoning

AbstractBackgroundThe role of psychosis-related cognitive biases (e.g. jumping to conclusions) in a delusion continuum is well-established. Little is known about the role of types of cognitive biases. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of psychosis-related and “Beckian” (i.e. anxiety- and depression-related) cognitive biases assessed with a clinical questionnaire in the delusion continuum and its dimensions.MethodsSchizophrenia patients with (n = 57) and without (n = 35) delusions were compared to healthy subjects who had a low (n = 53) and high (n = 57) level of delusion-like experiences (DLEs) on the Cognitive Biases Questionnaire for Psychosis (CBQp). Delusion dimensions in the clinical sample were assessed with the semi-structured interview PSYRATS. DLEs were measured with the Peters Delusion Inventory (PDI).ResultsHigh DLEs participants scored significantly higher than low DLEs, and patients with delusions scored higher than patients without delusions on the total scores of the CBQp. High DLEs participants scored significantly higher than low DLEs on catastrophisation and JTC. Schizophrenia patients with delusions scored significantly higher when compared to patients without delusions on intentionalising, dichotomous thinking, JTC and emotional reasoning. Patients with delusions and high DLEs participants scored similarly on JTC. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that catastrophising predicted total severity of clinical delusions and JTC predicted the cognitive dimension of clinical delusions. Both JTC and catastrophisation predicted the frequency and conviction associated with DLEs.ConclusionsBoth “Beckian” and psychosis-related cognitive biases may underlie delusions. Different aspects of clinical delusions and delusion-like experiences may be related to different cognitive biases.

scholarly journals Complementing Human Behavior Assessment by Leveraging Personal Ubiquitous Devices and Social Links: An Evaluation of the Peer-Ceived Momentary Assessment Method (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan Berrocal ◽  
Waldo Concepcion ◽  
Stefano De Dominicis ◽  
Katarzyna Wac
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Stress Fatigue ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Compulsive Disorders ◽  
Momentary Assessment

BACKGROUND Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) enables individuals to self-report their subjective momentary physical and emotional states. However, certain conditions, including routine observable behaviors (eg, moods, medication adherence) as well as behaviors that may suggest declines in physical or mental health (eg, memory losses, compulsive disorders) cannot be easily and reliably measured via self-reports. OBJECTIVE This study aims to examine a method complementary to EMA, denoted as <i>peer-ceived momentary assessment</i> (PeerMA), which enables the involvement of peers (eg, family members, friends) to report their perception of the individual’s subjective physical and emotional states. In this paper, we aim to report the feasibility results and identified human factors influencing the acceptance and reliability of the PeerMA METHODS We conducted two studies of 4 weeks each, collecting self-reports from 20 participants about their stress, fatigue, anxiety, and well-being, in addition to collecting peer-reported perceptions from 27 of their peers. RESULTS Preliminary results showed that some of the peers reported daily assessments for stress, fatigue, anxiety, and well-being statistically equal to those reported by the participant. We also showed how pairing assessments of participants and peers in time enables a qualitative and quantitative exploration of unique research questions not possible with EMA-only based assessments. We reported on the usability and implementation aspects based on the participants’ experience to guide the use of the PeerMA to complement the information obtained via self-reports for observable behaviors and physical and emotional states among healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS It is possible to leverage the PeerMA method as a complement to EMA to assess constructs that fall in the realm of observable behaviors and states in healthy individuals.

scholarly journals Universal Psychological Mechanisms of Guilt and Redemption: An Analysis of the Scarlet Letter and Raja Gidh

2018 ◽  
Vol III (I) ◽  
pp. 78-96
Author(s):  
Shumaila Mazhar ◽  
Azka Khan ◽  
Durdana Khosa
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Scarlet Letter ◽  
Freudian Psychoanalysis ◽  
The Scarlet Letter ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
The Social ◽  
Spatial Dimensions

Freud’s trifurcated concept of human nature asserts that unlike other emotional states, guilt is a quite complicated feeling which requires a differentiated and powerful brain. A human brain, being cognizant of this uniqueness, is capable of self-appraisal and self-censure. The present study penetrates the intricacies of human mind through the study of protagonists of The Scarlet Letter and Raja Gidh. The concept of Freudian superego is used to examine the two characters, Dimmesdale and Qayyum, set in completely different temporal and spatial dimensions of human society. The parameters of psychoanalytical interpretation describes the human psychological distress and fight against the mental chaos after crossing the ethical boundaries of morality. It postulates that Freudian psychoanalysis contributes effectively to research in literary criticism beyond the social, cultural and linguistic boundaries as it highlights the universality of unique human feelings.

scholarly journals Spontaneous thought and microstate activity modulation by social imitation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miralena I. Tomescu ◽  
Claudiu C. Papasteri ◽  
Alexandra Sofonea ◽  
Romina Boldasu ◽  
Valeria Kebets ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
The Past ◽  
Thought Patterns ◽  
Young Subjects ◽  
Microstate Analysis ◽  
Spontaneous Thought ◽  
Induced Changes

AbstractSocial imitation increases well-being and closeness by mechanisms that remain poorly understood. We propose that imitation impacts behavioural states in part by modulating post-imitation mind-wandering. The human mind wanders spontaneously and frequently, revisiting the past and imagining the future of self and of others. External and internal factors can influence wandering spontaneous thoughts, whose content predicts subsequent emotional states. In 43 young subjects, we find that imitating the arm movements of an actor alters the dynamics and the content of subsequent resting-state spontaneous thoughts. Imitation-sensitive features of spontaneous thoughts correlate with both behavioural states and salivary oxytocin levels. EEG microstate analysis reveals that global patterns of correlated neuronal activity predict imitation-induced changes in spontaneous thoughts. Thus, imitation can modulate ongoing activity in specific neural networks to change spontaneous thought patterns as a function of oxytocin levels, and to ultimately orchestrate behavioural states.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document