PSYC18H3 Chapter 5: Chapter 5.docx
Document Summary
Until 1884 with william james, most argued that experience of emotion follows perception of emotionally exciting event and emotional experience generates emotion related bodily changes emotion originates in mind. James said origins of emotional experience is in body. James contended that emotionally exciting fact provokes bodily responses, which lead to experience of emotion. Thesis is that bodily changes follow directly perception of exciting fact, and that feeling of same changes as they occur is emotion . If took away physiological sensations like heart palpitations, tensions, warmth, churning, argued that be left with purely intellectual state, emotion absent. Autonomic nervous system (cortex limbic system + hypothalamus) Neural signals from cortex communicate with limbic system and hypothalamus. Brain regions send signals through clusters of neurons of autonomic nervous system to target organs, glands muscles and blood vessels. Structures send signals back via autonomic nervous system to hypothalamus, limbic system, and cortex. Most general function is to maintain internal condition of body.
