Biological Basis of Emotion

Wow, well this is an important subject, because knowing how emotions work gives us important insight into how we behave. 

Where Do Emotions Come From?

If you think about it.  Emotions, like all our other thinking, must come from the brain right?  That means there must be some biological part of it.  In addition, emotions are very intrinsic to our biology.  You don't have to learn to feel pain, or scared, or happy.  It is a natural, innate reaction to the outside world.  One study found that peoples facial expressions for happiness, sadness, anger are the same and recognizable by everyone across the world. 

Emotions were originally developed to serve a biological process.  Some are basic.  For example, we fear something because we are worried that something harmful might happen to us.  Or we get angry when we need to prepare for conflict.  But some are more confusing, for example love.  There is a new theory that is very helpful in explaining this question.

Limbic Regulation Theory.

This theory was published in the book "A General Theory of Love" by the psychologists Amini, Lewis, and Lannon in the year 2000.  And wow, what a book.  It makes connections between a lot of diverse phenomenon that occur in psychology.  Yes, it is a new theory, but it makes so much sense and is very important for understanding yourself.  That's why I explain some of its concepts right here through quick examples.   

First you need to know about the limbic system.  All mammals have a limbic system.  This limbic system regulates emotions and some other areas of the body.  Okay, have you ever been around someone who is happy or sad and then you notice that their emotion start affecting the way you feel?  It is such a common event that someone would think it strange if it didn't happen.  It turns out that the limbic system uses subconscious cues (for example dilation of eyes, or breathing rates) from those around you, and uses these cues to regulate your own biological processes.  It's kind of like setting your watch by looking at someone else's.  

It turns out that this is vital to health.  Have your limbic system in good balance with others helps you live longer and healthier.  It is thus as important as eating and sleeping.  Our biology has us gear to be social creatures.  This is why people need social interaction.  Preferably healthy interaction, but if that is lacking, they'll take what they can get.  

This explains some interesting phenomenon.  For example, why when one spouse of a happily married couple dies, it is not rare for the other spouse to die within a year or two.  It's because their main source for limbic has balance is gone.  That's why the end of a relationship can hurt so much.   There is also the fact that women who are close friends, eventually have their menstrual cycles come into sync.  The last example is especially important.  It deals with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).  It's been found the probability for an infant to die from SIDS is proportional to how far away from a parent the baby sleeps.  Limbic theory explains this with the idea that when a baby is born, it cannot regulate its own processes as efficiently, and thus needs external regulation.  But when the baby is sleeping in another room from the parents, then sometimes it cannot self-regulate and it's body just stops working and dies.  There's more evidence for this, but I don't have the time/space to list it here.

Emotions Combined with Environment.

As we grow up, a lot of us learn to associate certain things with emotions.  We can learn to love a country, hate a race, achieve ecstasy in church, or what love new material goods.  This is how our environment bends our emotions in certain directions.

In the limbic regulation theory who we are attracted to is determined by the "attractors" that we develop over the course of our lifetime.  For example, if you are in a family that others might consider abusive, then there is a good chance that you will subconsciously associate those abusive behavior patterns with how you find love.  Remember, biological love is regulating your self, so you look for those that will match what your brain looks for.  The result, you continually wind up in abusive relationships, either as the abuser or abusee.  

Reasonable Mind

This brings us to two sides of emotions to social relationships.  There is a deeply innate biological connection between two people.   This is the part that I believe can occur naturally between two people if given a chance.  The attractors are an environmental effect.  The other thing the emotional brain must deal with is the reasonable mind.  

Why, because things like love isn't just sitting around looking at each other and self-regulating.  Because the cerebrum has its own agenda, and that is learning, problem solving, stimulation of whatever sort.  So that's why most people need some interest in each other, share some thoughts, to fall in love with each other. (What most people define as modern love.)  Over time, if this interest maintains itself, the limbic regulation between the two will build, this is the more permanent side of love, and is more difficult to break. 

Misc.

Some expressions of emotion.  Well, I still can't explain crying, because it would convey your sadness to others, so it's good communication.  But when you cry alone, I can't understand it.  Though I know there must be a reason people do it that I can't find yet.

Laughter: There seems to be two general kinds of laughter.  One is a reaction to things that are absurd, unreasonable, or shocking to the person.  The other is a social regulation behavior.  This is where people laugh at inane or unfunny things, in order to subconsciously establish community or acceptance.  (Of course, there might be much more to laughter than this, but I don’t know it yet.)