Get Dukespace.lib.duke.edu Dspace Bitstreamthe Biological Basis Of Emotion In Musical Tonality

Three Components of Emotion (i.e. Cognitive, Physiological, Behavioral) Emotions are subjective experiences that involve physiological arousal and cognitive appraisal. As we move through our daily lives, we experience a variety of emotions (which we often call “feelings”).

The limbic system, which includes the hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, and the hippocampus, is involved in mediating emotional response and memory.

The limbic system is a group of structures in your brain that regulate your emotions, behavior, motivation and memory. While small in size, your limbic system has a big job to help you interact with the world around you.

Chronic anger and anxiety can disrupt cardiac function by changing the heart's electrical stability, hasten- ing atherosclerosis, and increasing systemic inflammation. Long-term stress and negative moods alter biology in ways that, over time, add up to “wear and tear” on biological systems and, eventually, to illness.

The most obvious signs of emotional arousal involve changes in the activity of the visceral motor (autonomic) system (see Chapter 21). Thus, increases or decreases in heart rate, cutaneous blood flow (blushing or turning pale), pilo, sweating, and gastrointestinal motility can all accompany various emotions.

Summary: Emotions tag our experiences and act as signposts to steer our behavior. Avoiding danger and pursuing rewards is essential for successful navigation through a complex environment, and thus for survival.

Indeed, studies on neural correlates of music-evoked emotions have shown that music affects the functions implicated in emotion processing (i.e., amygdala, hippocampus, anterior congulate cortex, nucleus accumbens, and orbitofrontal cortex.

Emotions arise from activations of specialized neuronal populations in several parts of the cerebral cortex, notably the anterior cingulate, insula, ventromedial prefrontal, and subcortical structures, such as the amygdala, ventral striatum, putamen, caudate nucleus, and ventral tegmental area.