https://www.npr.org/2021/05/22/99949...oo-study-shows
MARTIN: That is a kea, a species of parrot native to New Zealand. And what we heard was its way of saying, relax, we're only playing around.
SASHA WINKLER: The main reason why you need play signals is that this helps disambiguate, saying this is play versus I'm actually biting you in the neck.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/01/h...ess/index.html
"Laughter is thought to have evolved as a form of social bonding in animals and as a way to express playful intention. Many mammals laugh when they are tickled and when they engage in physical play."
An Introduction to Brain and Behavior (by Bryan Kolb, Ian Whishaw and G Campbell Teskey):
"It seems that the amount of dopamine released somehow determines how rewarding an event is."
------
This explains why dopamine (and drugs) are directly linked to euphoria.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6650377/
"Work from our laboratory suggests that 5-HT release in the NAc may have a particularly important role in promoting sociability and nonaggressive social explorations. Using a social conditioned place preference assay to assess the reinforcing component of social interactions, previous work suggested that oxytocin action in the NAc was required for social reward (Dölen et al. 2013). Surprisingly, oxytocin appeared to act by promoting the release of 5-HT in the NAc by activating presynaptic oxytocin receptors on the terminals of dorsal raphe 5-HT inputs in the NAc (Fig.3). Consistent with a critical role of 5-HT in the NAc in social behaviors, bidirectional optogenetic manipulation of 5-HT input activity in the NAc bidirectionally influenced sociability in two different assays (Fig. 4; Walsh et al. 2018). Furthermore, 5-HT release in the NAc rescued sociability deficits in an autism mouse model via the activation of 5-HT1b receptors, the activation of which depresses excitatory transmission at unknown inputs onto NAc D1 and D2 MSNs (Fig. 3; Dölen et al. 2013; Walsh et al. 2018)."
------
happy brain chemicals.jpeg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_ganglia
The main components of the basal ganglia – as defined functionally – are the striatum, consisting of both the dorsal striatum (caudate nucleus and putamen) and the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercle), the globus pallidus, the ventral pallidum, the substantia nigra, and the subthalamic nucleus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudate_nucleus
The caudate nucleus has been implicated in responses to visual beauty, and has been suggested as one of the "neural correlates of romantic love".
Approach-attachment behavior and affect are also controlled by the caudate nucleus. Cats with bilateral removal of the caudate nuclei persistently approached and followed objects, attempting to contact the target, while exhibiting a friendly disposition by the elicitation of treading of the forelimbs and purring. The magnitude of the behavioral responses was correlated to the extent of the removal of the nuclei.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putamen
"The putamen and caudate nucleus together form the dorsal striatum."
"putamen plays a role in the perception of contempt and disgust"
------
neurotransmitters (mainly DA, NA and 5-HT) + a component of the basal ganglia = a basic emotion (?)
1. excitement ---> enjoyment ---> satisfaction/relaxedness (nucleus accumbens)
2. fear ---> distress ---> tiredness (nucleus accumbens)
3. love/like (caudate nucleus)
4. hate/dislike (putamen)
sadness = a lack of enjoyment/satisfaction
depression = sadness + tiredness
happiness/bliss = a lack of fear (?)
1 and 2 (post #165)https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...52289521000734 (Dissociable roles of the nucleus accumbens core and shell subregions in the expression and extinction of conditioned fear)
The nucleus accumbens (NAc), consisting of core (NAcC) and shell (NAcS) sub-regions, has primarily been studied as a locus mediating the effects of drug reward and addiction. However, there is ample evidence that this region is also involved in regulating aversive responses, but the exact role of the NAc and its subregions in regulating associative fear processing remains unclear. Here, we investigated the specific contribution of the NAcC and NAcS in regulating both fear expression and fear extinction in C57BL/6J mice. Using Arc expression as an indicator of neuronal activity, we first show that the NAcC is specifically active only in response to an associative fear cue during an expression test. In contrast, the NAcS is specifically active during fear extinction. We next inactivated each subregion using lidocaine and demonstrated that the NAcC is necessary for fear expression, but not for extinction learning or consolidation of extinction. In contrast, we demonstrate that the NAcS is necessary for the consolidation of extinction, but not fear expression or extinction learning. Further, inactivation of mGluR1 or ERK signaling specifically in the NAcS disrupted the consolidation of extinction but had no effect on fear expression or extinction learning itself. Our data provide the first evidence for the importance of the ERK/MAPK pathway as the underlying neural mechanism facilitating extinction consolidation within the NAcS. These findings suggest that the NAc subregions play dissociable roles in regulating fear recall and the consolidation of fear extinction, and potentially implicate them as critical regions within the canonical fear circuit.
https://elifesciences.org/articles/56694
Our decisions often balance what we observe and what we desire. A prime candidate for implementing this complex balancing act is the basal ganglia pathway, but its roles have not yet been examined experimentally in detail. Here, we show that a major input station of the basal ganglia, the caudate nucleus, plays a causal role in integrating uncertain visual evidence and reward context to guide adaptive decision-making. In monkeys making saccadic decisions based on motion cues and asymmetric reward-choice associations, single caudate neurons encoded both sources of information. Electrical microstimulation at caudate sites during motion viewing affected the monkeys’ decisions. These microstimulation effects included coordinated changes in multiple computational components of the decision process that mimicked the monkeys’ similarly coordinated voluntary strategies for balancing visual and reward information. These results imply that the caudate nucleus plays causal roles in coordinating decision processes that balance external evidence and internal preferences.
https://mindrenewal.us/page13.html
"When NE, DA, and SE are low and acetylcholine is high, the result is simply depression."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putamen
"It employs GABA, acetylcholine, and enkephalin to perform its functions."
------
"Hostility is inhibited by serotonin, while acetylcholine may be the trigger for anger, as the abilities of cholinergic drugs to elicit rage in cats and of cholinergic blockers to decrease marital conflict illustrate. Anger and depression (Freud's anger turned inward) may share the same chemical modulation. [...] Thus, depression and anger might be both triggered by acetylcholine and inhibited by serotonin."
self-hatred <--> depression
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reward...easure_centers
Pleasure is a component of reward, but not all rewards are pleasurable (e.g., money does not elicit pleasure unless this response is conditioned). Stimuli that are naturally pleasurable, and therefore attractive, are known as intrinsic rewards, whereas stimuli that are attractive and motivate approach behavior, but are not inherently pleasurable, are termed extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards (e.g., money) are rewarding as a result of a learned association with an intrinsic reward. In other words, extrinsic rewards function as motivational magnets that elicit "wanting", but not "liking" reactions once they have been acquired.
The reward system contains pleasure centers or hedonic hotspots – i.e., brain structures that mediate pleasure or "liking" reactions from intrinsic rewards. As of October 2017, hedonic hotspots have been identified in subcompartments within the nucleus accumbens shell, ventral pallidum, parabrachial nucleus, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and insular cortex. The hotspot within the nucleus accumbens shell is located in the rostrodorsal quadrant of the medial shell, while the hedonic coldspot is located in a more posterior region. The posterior ventral pallidum also contains a hedonic hotspot, while the anterior ventral pallidum contains a hedonic coldspot. In rats, microinjections of opioids, endocannabinoids, and orexin are capable of enhancing liking reactions in these hotspots. The hedonic hotspots located in the anterior OFC and posterior insula have been demonstrated to respond to orexin and opioids in rats, as has the overlapping hedonic coldspot in the anterior insula and posterior OFC. On the other hand, the parabrachial nucleus hotspot has only been demonstrated to respond to benzodiazepine receptor agonists.
Hedonic hotspots are functionally linked, in that activation of one hotspot results in the recruitment of the others, as indexed by the induced expression of c-Fos, an immediate early gene. Furthermore, inhibition of one hotspot results in the blunting of the effects of activating another hotspot. Therefore, the simultaneous activation of every hedonic hotspot within the reward system is believed to be necessary for generating the sensation of an intense euphoria.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reward...ing_and_liking
Activation of the dorsorostral region of the nucleus accumbens correlates with increases in wanting without concurrent increases in liking. However, dopaminergic neurotransmission into the nucleus accumbens shell is responsible not only for appetitive motivational salience (i.e., incentive salience) towards rewarding stimuli, but also for aversive motivational salience, which directs behavior away from undesirable stimuli. In the dorsal striatum, activation of D1 expressing MSNs produces appetitive incentive salience, while activation of D2 expressing MSNs produces aversion. In the NAcc, such a dichotomy is not as clear cut, and activation of both D1 and D2 MSNs is sufficient to enhance motivation, likely via disinhibiting the VTA through inhibiting the ventral pallidum.
[...]
The wanting component is thought to be controlled by dopaminergic pathways, whereas the liking component is thought to be controlled by opiate-benzodiazepine systems.
happiness/euphoria <--> pleasure/liking (?)https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/p...ppiness-244002
"What makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide?
The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown. Now though, for the first time in humans, scientists at UCLA have measured the release of a specific peptide, a neurotransmitter called hypocretin, that greatly increased when subjects were happy but decreased when they were sad."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3423791/
"The hypocretins/orexins are comprised of two neuroexcitatory peptides that are synthesized exclusively within a circumscribed region of the lateral hypothalamus. These peptides project widely throughout the brain and interact with a variety of regions involved in the regulation of arousal-related processes including those associated with motivated behavior. The current review focuses on emerging evidence indicating that the hypocretins influence reward and reinforcement processing via actions on the mesolimbic dopamine system. We discuss contemporary perspectives of hypocretin regulation of mesolimbic dopamine signaling in both drug free and drug states, as well as hypocretin regulation of behavioral responses to drugs of abuse, particularly as it relates to cocaine."
"Orexin A probably affects pleasure experiences of food and drugs" (Wikipedia, Bing translator)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_hypothalamus
"The neurotransmitter glutamate and the endocannabinoids (e.g., anandamide) and the orexin neuropeptides orexin-A and orexin-B are the primary signaling neurochemicals in orexin neurons..."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3008353/
"A hypothesis of how pleasure and happiness are linked. Default networks are fundamental to human brain function and have been linked to self awareness, remembering the past and prospecting the future (a-c). It is clear that these networks are partly overlapping the pleasure networks. We have hypothesized that happiness might include a role for the default network, or for related neural circuits that contribute to computing relations between self and others, in evaluating eudaimonic meaning and interacting with hedonic circuits of positive affect." (Figure 3)
more pleasure and less pain (self and others) ---> more meaningful life ---> eudaimonic happiness
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles...015.00090/full
Ho and Berridge compared the effects of orexin microinjections at sites distributed in VP and in anterior LH, and found that only at sites in caudal VP did orexin increase hedonic “liking” reactions (Figure 1; Ho and Berridge, 2013). In that posterior VP hotspot, orexin stimulation selectively increased positive “liking” reactions to sucrose, without altering negative “disgust” reactions elicited by quinine. Orexin microinjections in nearby LH or extended amygdala failed to alter orofacial responses to either sucrose or quinine. These results collectively show that the hotspot of posterior VP can use either orexin or opioid signals to similarly increase the positive hedonic impact of a sweet taste.
MESOCORTICOLIMBIC-HYPOTHALAMIC CIRCUITRY AND FUNCTIONS.jpg
https://academic.oup.com/brain/artic.../6/1446/271845
"Furthermore, perception of disgusted but not fearful facial expressions has consistently been associated with activations of the insula and putamen..."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5935264/
Neural Circuitry of Aggression (Figure 1)
"Here we present a summary of various studies that show how brain reward regions, including the NAc, promotes aggression-seeking behavior via negative modulation of the activity of the LHb."
------
neurotransmitters 3 e.png
Last edited by Petter; 05-20-2023 at 08:26 PM.
reckless impulsivity <--> anger (unfairness)
appetitive impulsivity <--> aggression
(?)
https://positivepsychology.com/hedon...nic-wellbeing/
"An interesting alternative definition of eudemonia has been proposed by Keyes (2002), who argues that eudemonia necessarily entails a combination of psychological and social wellbeing. He emphasizes that eudemonia is not just about personal growth and value-led living, but also about relationships and community contribution. In other words, Keyes proposes that there needs to be an altruistic dimension to our lives if we want to live well.
Seligman (2011) and Peterson et al. (2005) similarly argue that eudemonia should not just entail identifying our unique virtues and developing them. Crucially, we also have to put these strengths to work for the greater good and the welfare of humanity at large.
At the face of it, then, eudaimonics in the Aristotelian vein seem to make more sensible choices for flourishing in the long run than do hedonists. However, it is important to note that lives completely devoid of hedonic pleasures are also not worth living.
Such lives become sterile, frigid, and joyless. Anhedonia is not a condition anyone wishes to aspire to. Schotanus-Dijkstra et al. (2016) found that people who truly flourish have high levels of both eudaimonic and hedonic wellbeing."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_P
"In 2014, it was found that substance P played a role in male fruit fly aggression."
basic emotions Jaak Panksepp.png
"Tachykinin / Substance P plays an evolutionarily conserved role in inducing aggressive behaviors. In rodents and cats, activation of hypothalamic neurons which release Substance P induces aggressive behaviors (defensive biting and predatory attack). Similarly, in fruit flies, tachykinin-releasing neurons have been implicated in aggressive behaviors (lunging). In this context, male-specific tachykinin neurons control lunging behaviors that can be modulated by the amount of tachykinin release."
lateral hypothalamus and nucleus accumbens:
1. reward, 'wanting'
2. punishment (poisonous plants etc)
medial hypothalamus and amygdala:
1. anger
2. fear
dorsal striatum (caudate nucleus and putamen):
1. like
2. dislike, disgust
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalamus
"The thalamus is a large mass of gray matter located in the dorsal part of the diencephalon."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9210742/ (Neuroanatomical correlates of happiness, sadness, and disgust)
"Happiness, sadness, and disgust were each associated with increases in activity in the thalamus and medial prefrontal cortex (Brodmann's area 9). These three emotions were also associated with activation of anterior and posterior temporal structures, primarily when induced by film. Recalled sadness was associated with increased activation in the anterior insula. Happiness was distinguished from sadness by greater activity in the vicinity of ventral mesial frontal cortex."
Thalamic nuclei
"Derivatives of the diencephalon include the dorsally-located epithalamus (essentially the habenula and annexes) and the perithalamus (prethalamus) containing the zona incerta and the thalamic reticular nucleus."
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles...016.00539/full
"Apart from bidirectional connectivity with the hippocampal complex, this route can also be considered to be an output channel as the fornix connects the hippocampus with the medial septum, which is the most important input structure of the medial habenula. The medial habenula regulates the activity of midbrain structures adjusting the intensity of the misery-fleeing response. Within the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis the human homolog of the ancient lateral habenula-projecting globus pallidus may exist; this structure is important for the evaluation of efficacy of the reward-seeking response."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epithalamus
"Some functions of its components include the secretion of melatonin..."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16399907/
"In all mammalian species, melatonin production is regulated by norepinephrine, which is released from sympathetic nerve fibers exclusively at night."
(NA/energy <--> happiness/elation)
"... regulation of motor pathways and emotions, and how energy is conserved in the body."https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epithalamus
"Some functions of its components include the secretion of melatonin..."
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles...21.815700/full
The LHb is an evolutionarily conserved epithalamic structure (Bianco and Wilson, 2009; Hikosaka, 2010), most investigated for its role as an “anti-reward” centre (Shabel et al., 2012) with anatomical connections allowing it to exert inhibitory control over midbrain monoaminergic centres (Hu et al., 2020). In part, it is these network connections which make the LHb an interesting candidate for depression research (Sartorius and Henn, 2007). Recently, rodent studies have further implicated the epithalamus in depression (Hu et al., 2020). More specifically, elevated neural activity in the rodent LHb has been associated with various depression models including learned helplessness (Li et al., 2011; Cui et al., 2018), chronic stress (Cerniauskas et al., 2019) and chronic pain (Zhuo et al., 2019). A landmark paper has also implicated the LHb in the antidepressant mechanism of ketamine (Yang et al., 2018a), although this utilised supra-clinical doses. In addition, human fMRI studies show differing LHb activity, and functional connectivity, between depressed and healthy individuals (Lawson et al., 2017; Zhu et al., 2019; Rivas-Garajales et al., 2021). From this evidence, it is implied that the LHb is an epicentre for depression's mechanistic underpinnings.
[...]
Alongside PK2 and AVP, LHb neurones are responsive to orexin (Flanigan et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2021). Orexin is a major output molecule of the LH (Aston-Jones et al., 2009; Richardson and Aston-Jones, 2012; Ferrari et al., 2018), and orexinergic neurones undergo circadian regulation from the SCN (Deboer et al., 2004; Marston et al., 2008; Kalsbeek et al., 2011). It is therefore possible that LHb dependent behaviours, driven by orexin, are under circadian control and that orexin is another mechanism by which daily variations in the LHb are extrinsically regulated. This is particularly relevant when considering the role of LH orexinergic neurones in driving appetitive drug seeking, a behaviour associated with reward dysfunction typical of aberrant LHb activity (James et al., 2019; Yeoh et al., 2019).
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14986306/
These findings, supported by previous studies on rodents, suggest a hypothalamic regulation of the pineal gland via central orexinergic nervous inputs.
Last edited by Petter; 05-22-2023 at 05:51 AM.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4425246/
"discovery that nucleus accumbens (NAc) hotspot and coldspot mechanisms..."
"However, evidence from animal studies is revealing a network of hedonic hotspots that causally enhance ‘liking’ reactions to pleasant stimuli, and coldspots that diminish the ‘liking’ reactions."
coldspots <--> satisfaction (?) ... not punishment/fear
positive approach: excitement ('wanting')
positive avoidance: satisfaction ('not wanting')
negative approach: anger
negative avoidance: fear
happiness
sadness ... I think the purpose of sadness is to preserve energy when there is a small chance of getting a reward or avoiding a threat.
https://www.humorthatworks.com/learn...-and-laughing/
Smiling and laughing are often associated together, and while they often occur together, there is a distinct difference between smiling and laughing. Research by Alleen Pace Nilsen and Don L.F. Nilsen explores the difference between smiling and laughing in more detail:
“Smiles are more likely to express feelings of satisfaction or good will, while laughter comes from surprise or a recognition of an incongruity.”
... or "a negative reward" (poisonous plants etc) ---> avoidancepositive avoidance: satisfaction ('not wanting')
... or "a positive threat" ---> approachnegative approach: anger
http://www.tomkins.org/what-tomkins-...d-personality/
"Dissmell: The avoidance signal"
"a positive reward": excitement/interest
"a negative reward": vigilance
dopamine <--> mental alertness
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote