Emotions and the Brain
- Science Holic
- Mar 31
- 4 min read
Author: Kayla Otoo
Editors: Louis Li, Angela Pan
Artist: Alvina Zheng
Can you imagine a world where each individual remained expressionless, no matter the circumstance? A world where no one could smile or cry? To test the possibilities of these inquiries, a group of researchers at a laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, conducted a study with an aged man sitting in front of a television screen. One after another, different films in varying genres were displayed on the screen. Nevertheless, the man’s expression remained the same. He had always laughed, finding each film just as amusing, despite the film being a comedy, romance, or thriller. Subsequently, it was concluded that the man suffered from frontotemporal dementia (bVFTD), also known as Pick’s disease, characterized by an abnormal formation of tau protein in the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes. Tau proteins serve as important factors in maintaining the overall stability of microtubules in the axons of a neuron. They are a key part of the neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). Thus, if grown abnormally, tangles may arise, making a cell susceptible to inflammation, which may then contribute to a degenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s disease. Similarly, Pick’s disease is a type of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and our temporal lobes, located near the frontal lobes on the left and right of our brain, are vastly responsible for actions related to language and emotions. As a result, this man was diagnosed with FTD, had a stabilizing emotional response, and could not set forth his true emotions. In addition, other neurological conditions such as Bipolar Disorder, Depression, and Schizophrenia can have a drastic effect on our overall ability to produce emotions. Without these expressions, we lose the fabric of who we are.
An emotion typically stems from the thalamus–the central part of the brain responsible for receiving sensory messages. Oftentimes, the thalamus is considered as a two-way communication pathway since sensory information is sent to the gray matter of the brain known as the cerebral cortex simultaneously when signals accompanying emotions are sent to the spinal cord. After a stimulus travels to the thalamus, it will rapidly proceed into the brain's limbic system, a network of many interwoven systems including the amygdala, the major regulator/processor of emotions; the orbitofrontal cortex, the processor of our rewards and punishments with aid from our five senses, and the ventral tegmental, where it will receive an emotional value. Based on this emotional value, a specific physiological response may arise.
For years, researchers, philosophers, and psychologists have theorized in hopes of understanding what physical, neurologic, and cognitive factors are involved with emotions. The top three theories of emotion include the Evolutionary, James-Lange, and Cannon-Bard theories. First and foremost, in 1859 through his book “On Origin of Species,” Charles Darwin suggested the adaptivity of emotions, which had allowed them to evolve and humans as well as animals to survive and reproduce. Second, the James-Lange Theory, 1880, dove into the physiological sector of emotions. James and Lange both agreed that an occurrence of a particular emotion was due to a physiological reaction to a certain event. Thus, a person experiencing nerves would not have nerves because they are scared, rather the opposite–because they are scared they would experience nerves. However, the Cannon-Bard theory (1920-1930) rejected the James-Lange theory, proposing that physiological responses weren’t necessarily related to certain emotions and that these physiological responses may occur simultaneously. Following these theories came the Schachter-Singer Theory, Cognitive Appraisal Theory, and Facial-Feedback Theory of Emotion. Yet, these theories don’t mark the end of discovery in the realm of emotion.
In today’s world, with the rise of AI, many companies have averted from the use of focus groups/surveys to determine people’s feelings and turned to AI technology, optimistic it would be a faster alternative. However, this was not the case. The AI didn’t fail to do basic tasks, such as decoding facial expressions and analyzing voice patterns, but instead introduced bias into the mix. Emotions have a subjective nature, meaning that people of different cultures often have different ways of expressing certain emotions. For instance, a smile in Canada may look different than a smile in France. Thus, AI fails to produce an accurate conclusion of a specific emotion and further reinforce stereotypes. In addition, the imbalance sex rate in the feeding source of AI may also lead to biased results. For example, in the US, 89% of civil engineers and 81% of first-line police/detective supervisors are male; thus, if AI is trained with this information, it may fail to recognize female emotional responses due to the larger representation of men in the field.
However, although bias is a huge deterrent in AI’s use to identify emotions, it has proven to have some benefits, such as an improvement in overall engagement rates, customer satisfaction, and a transformed learning experience. Affectiva Automotive AI, a smart eye company, has developed an adaptive platform that adapts a vehicle's environment based on a specific emotion detected. For instance, if a drowsy person sits in a car, surrounding microphones and cameras could detect that person's drowsiness, and AI would use that to create an environment more suitable for the person by measures like lowering the temperature. Similarly, other companies, including Cogito, a Boston-based start-up, have used AI to identify customers' emotions and have aided service agents by offering them appropriate responses to these emotions. AI can not only improve overall customer satisfaction, but it can also transform learning experiences by personalizing a teacher’s lesson plan based on students’ overall engagement levels at different times. On the flip side, AI has proven beneficial in enhancing precision treatments in the medical sector. Even so, we have a long way to go before AI can understand the psychology behind the unique emotions that lie intrinsically within each of us.
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