The feeling of anger: From brain networks to linguistic expressions.

This review of the neuroscience of anger is part of The Human Affectome Project, where we attempt to map anger and its components (i.e., physiological, cognitive, experiential) to the neuroscience literature (i.e., genetic markers, functional imaging of human brain networks) and to linguistic expressions used to describe anger feelings. Given the ubiquity of anger in both its normative and chronic states, specific language is used in humans to express states of anger. Following a review of the neuroscience literature, we explore the language that is used to convey angry feelings, as well as metaphors reflecting inner states of anger experience. We then discuss whether these linguistic expressions can be mapped on to the neural circuits during anger experience and to distinct components of anger. We also identify relationships between anger components, brain networks, and other affective research relevant to motivational states of dominance and basic needs for safety

Hostility, Anger, Psycho-emotional Factors and Cardiovascular Disease

The review presents the main aspects of the relationship between psychoemotional factors, hostility, anger and cardiovascular diseases. The first chapter describes the main historical stages in the study of this problem, starting from the Middle Ages and ending with fundamental research of the 19-20 centuries. In the second part, the authors demonstrated that hostility/anger are a risk factor for the CVD development and affect the prognosis and course of CVD (hypertension, ischemic heart disease, various cardiac arrhythmias, etc.). In the third chapter, there were studies that found that high rates of hostility/ anger reduced the effectiveness of cardiovascular therapy. In the fourth part, there are the main correlation mechanisms of negative emotions, hostility/anger and the cardiovascular system, carried out through the relationships with the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, autonomic nervous system, platelet activation, with the changes in the risk factors characteristics etc. In the final chapter, the authors suggested prospects for further study of the problem, probably associated with the assessment of behavioral interventions, pharmacological or complex effects on the severity of hostility/anger to reduce CVD mortality in individuals with high rates of hostility / anger

Somatics Research Bibliography: A Working Tool for Somatics and Somatic Psychology

Many years ago when Somatics magazine was young, it occurred to me that it would be valuable to collect and publish research article references in Somatics magazine that were relevant to the different somatics disciplines to encourage the development of the field. There were next to no studies devoted to Somatics itself, but there were many studies devoted to the elements of somatic practices. Somatics is a multidisciplinary field. It builds on the research findings from many fields, such as anatomy, physiology, neurophysiology, psychology, dance, biomechanics, and education. The references are selected to be suggestive to the interested researcher and practitioner for their purposes and of the many possible research avenues that are yet to be explored. I have collected these research references for more than four decades. I worked originally with Psychological Abstracts, then PsychInfo, and finally, PubMed. Over that time there has been more research done on the somatic disciplines themselves. The greatest amount of research has been done on yoga (the oldest and largest of the somatic disciplines) and yoga therapy. These studies are examples of the research that can be done with the other somatics disciplines as well. We are in an era that appreciates evidence-based practice and practice-based evidence. This is evidence. These research articles are selected according to the following criteria: The article combines both body and mind either in its research design or theoretical perspective; the research design incorporates convergent measures—that is, it includes physiological, behavioral, and psychological measures; subjective and objective measures; and the research focuses on the whole organism (human) from a somatic perspective—that is, the effect of a body therapy on a psychological state. Topics addressed include biofeedback, body psychotherapy, consciousness states, electrophysiology, kinesiology, mind and body, motor processes, neural basis of motor control, neuroscience, posture and emotion, psychophysiology, and yoga/yoga therapy

Social perception, empathy for pain and attachment

The purpose of this study was to investigate how attachment anxiety and empathy for experimentally stimulated pain influenced participants’ attention to negative social stimuli as measured with the Event-Related Potentials technique. Participants underwent a cold-bottle pain stimulation task, after which they were given a manipulated empathy rating from a falsified unfamiliar observer. Participants then completed an oddball discrimination task wherein they were expected to select a button for rare angry-faced pictures and ignore more frequent neutral-faced pictures. Neural correlates of attention, as measured by the P300 component for angry-faced images, were then analyzed. While no group differences were observed for participants with low attachment anxiety, among those with high attachment anxiety, participants who were given high empathy demonstrated lower P300 amplitudes, suggestive of less attention for the angry-faced images, than participants given low empathy. Accordingly, participants with high attachment anxiety appeared to benefit from the empathy of the falsified unfamiliar observer in modulating their own attention to the unpleasant social stimuli. There are clinical implications of the findings that can be useful for psychologists treating patients with attachment anxiety who are coping with chronic pain.Department of Counseling Psychology, Social Psychology, and CounselingThesis (Ph. D.

Gender and Emotion

Women express more emotion than men, but do they also experience more emotion than men? Are emotions represented differently in men and women’s brains? What are the origins of gender differences in emotions – are we born different or is it socialization that renders us different? What are the implications of gender differences in emotion for general well-being, insomnia, depression, antisocial behavior, and alexithymia? What are the most appropriate methodologies for the empirical study of gender differences in emotional experiences? In the current book, coordinated by The Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, these questions are answered by reviewing research on general emotional expression and experience, but also on specific emotions and affective experiences such as shame, empathy, and impulsivity. We propose an interdisciplinary contribution to the field of gender and emotions, with works authored by specialists in the fields of psychology, neuroscience, psychiatry, economics, philosophy, and anthropology

Mental-State Estimation, 1987

Reports on the measurement and evaluation of the physiological and mental state of operators are presented

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia in posttraumatic growth and PTSD.

Most the human population will experience a traumatic event during their lifespan and will then cope with such trauma in a wide variety of ways. It is well documented that traumatic events are associated with both short and long-term psychological distress and that a small number of those trauma-exposed individuals will even develop a mental health disorder such as PTSD. In more recent empirical studies, some trauma-exposed individuals have been found to experience what has been labeled posttraumatic growth (PTG), or positive personal and psychological changes after experiencing trauma. However, there is significant controversy regarding PTG and its relationship with posttraumatic stress. This project attempts to provide clarity to one area of research about posttraumatic growth: how the physiological response of cardiac vagal regulation differs between those with PTSD and those with reported PTG. It was expected that individuals with PTG will not statistically differ from healthy controls on mean RSA. The findings confirm the proposed relationship between cardiac vagal tone, measured through RSA, and PTG. This study exemplifies that PTG is not an adaptive response to traumatic experiences, but instead a predictor of cardiac vagal rigidity. In each phase, RSA and heart period are lower in the PTG group, signifying less parasympathetic control over respiration and heart activity. More importantly, absence of cardiac vagal regulation post-aversive image task accompanied by lower RSA in PTG during this period strongly suggests that this construct is characterized by extreme affect dysregulation. A limitation in this study is that the sample was homogenous and only females participated in the laboratory portion of the study, which hinders the generalizability. Future research should investigate cardiac vagal activity with a stronger experimental manipulation, which can be done by using specific trauma centered memories or cues to examine the autonomic activity between those with reported PTG and PTSD

Gender and Emotion

Women express more emotion than men, but do they also experience more emotion than men? Are emotions represented differently in men and women’s brains? What are the origins of gender differences in emotions – are we born different or is it socialization that renders us different? What are the implications of gender differences in emotion for general well-being, insomnia, depression, antisocial behavior, and alexithymia? What are the most appropriate methodologies for the empirical study of gender differences in emotional experiences? In the current book, coordinated by The Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, these questions are answered by reviewing research on general emotional expression and experience, but also on specific emotions and affective experiences such as shame, empathy, and impulsivity. We propose an interdisciplinary contribution to the field of gender and emotions, with works authored by specialists in the fields of psychology, neuroscience, psychiatry, economics, philosophy, and anthropology