Elena's Legacy. Texts written by Elena, excerpts from texts she liked, her artworks.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Social and Interpersonal Psychology: Happiness

Psychological studies have shown that basic facial emotional expressions tend to be recognized across cultures. Social psychologists tend to agree on the theory of five fundamental human emotions, usually drawn from joy, love, surprise, anger, hate, disgust, fear and sadness, likewise recognized worldwide. The present condensed essay aims at elucidating happiness and love from the physiological, neurobiological and psychological perspectives.

On the one hand, Researchers Hatfield, Bensman, & Rapson (2009) looked closely at love, which they reaffirm is an emotion. Interestingly, opinions in the community abound that ‘loving’ experiences correspond to internal narration. The authors offer a definite description of romantic love, maintaining that the main defining emotional feature consists of felt elation bordering on mania.

On the other hand, psychologist Robert Sternberg has identified love in a three-component model, with the three elements being intimacy, passion and commitment. Thus, according to the triangular theory of love, the different combinations produce seven types of potential relationship arrangements: liking, infatuation, empty, romantic, companionate, fatuous and consummate. Of course, evolutionary psychologists advance their own theories as to how intense focus on a unique partner, as well as lust, may have contributed to survival of the fittest.

Happiness is a calm state of mind. Photo by Elena

Furthermore, the mental state has often been compared to one of intoxication, which could be interpreted as plausible provided the evidence. For example, fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and other neuroimaging studies show greater activation in neural populations of the VTA (Ventral Tegmental Area) of subjects said to be experiencing the feeling. By the same token, these same neurons are also activated in nicotine and other addictions.

Neuroscientists show that looking at photographs of one’s beloved can trigger activity in brain regions associated with reward and euphoria, or the medial insula, anterior cingulate cortex, caudate nucleus and putamen (Bartels & Zeki, 2000). On the neurotransmitter side, dopamine (as expected, due to its role in reward anticipation), serotonin (mood regulation) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) have been designated as the messengers most involved in the experience of tender, as well as carnal, feelings. The three neurochemicals have been tied to romance by Fisher (2004). Likewise, oxytocin and vasopressin expression in the nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum have been linked to bonding by such evidence as studies with monogamous prairie voles. Moreover, Havlicek & Roberts (2009) discuss the proposition that the interplay of these neurohypophysial hormones brings down the level of attention towards theopposite sex, once one has fallen in love.

A graphical explanation of Sternberg’s triangular theory of love and how the three components interact to result in the several kinds of attraction, attachment and affection.

On a final note, the Passionate Love Scale (PLS), where score results assess how one feels about another person, covers a range of dispositions on a continuum between extremely passionate to extremely cool; it is a widely used psychometric instrument in related neuroscientific and psychological research. Given the importance of the matter, countless theories have been proposed, ranging from pheromones (such as those whose action is likely portrayed by the body spray Axe commercials) to idealistic perfect soul mates. However, due to the subjectivity and privacy of the subject, researchers face many obstacles. Still, despite the limitations of research, scientists have established some theoretical constructs about what remains the topic of an overwhelming array of songs.

References:

Bartels, A. & Zeki, S. (2000). The neural basis of romantic love. Neuroreport, 11, 3829-34.

Fisher, H. E. (2004). Why we love: The nature and chemistry of romantic love. New York: Henry Holt.

Hatfield, E., Bensman, L., & Rapson, R. L. (2009). Unmasking passionate love: the face and the brain. In A. Freitas-Magalhaes (Ed.). Emotional Expression: The Brain and The Face. Porto, Portugal: University Fernando Pessoa Press.

Havlicek, J. & Roberts, C. S. (2009). Towards a neuroscience of love: Olfaction, attention and a model of neurohypophysial hormone action. Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience, 1 (2): 1-2.

Cognition & Neuroscience

The purpose of the present essay is to briefly describe some of the fundamental concepts discussed in neuroscience and cognition. The human brain contains four lobes (frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital). On the one hand, the frontal lobe represents the seat of executive function. Executive function is defined as planning, decision-making, organizing, impulse inhibition and other personality traits. The frontal lobe’s neural connections mature up through adolescence, which is why teenagers may seem impulsive.

Conversely, executive dysfunction are deficits in this area. Executive dysfunction is diagnosed by the WCST (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) and relates to perseverative errors (perseveration is not to be confused with perseverance, the further carrying a negative connotation and the latter a positive one). In the test, perseverative errors lead subjects with executive dysfunction to persist in the chosen card sorting criterion, despite the administrator’s repeated clues to alter card sorting criteria.

Further, frontal lobe damage, as shown by lesion studies, results in executive dysfunction. One of the most famous cases in the executive dysfunction literature is the tragedy of Phineas Gage, a rail-road worker who got injured by a metal rod going through his skull during a horrible explosion accident. He survived, but underwent dramatic personality changes due to extensive frontal lobe damage.

Cognition. Photo by Elena

Alternatively, another very famous case in psychological research is that of patient H.M. (mistakenly interpreted as the ‘Hippocampus Man’). Patient’s H.M.’s story shed light on the dissociation between implicit and explicit types of memory. Memories can further be episodic and semantic, as well short term (such as working memory, which can hold up to 7 to 10 items at a time), and long term. Also, memories transfer from short term to long term memory storage through a process known as consolidation, during which they are malleable (McGill University).

Eyewitness testimony is likewise malleable through suggestion. For instance, in one study subjects reported cars going at different speeds after watching the same video, depending on which words the examiners used. Along these lines, the hyppocampus is the strcutre most closely linked with memory, while the amygdala plays a role in the formation of emotional memories. In relation to the hypppocampus, a study of taxicab drivers in London, UK, showed that they had larger hyppocampi than general controls. However, science remains unclear on the causality of such a correlation.

On the other hand, cognition is mainly associated with the parietal lobe and grey matter. However, myelin (the fatty substance covering axons) speeds up transmission, and thus communication, between neurons. Moreover, cognitive psychologists refer to several types of intelligences, namely spatial, verbal, kinaesthetic, interpersonal (social), intrapersonal (insight), mathematical, physical and musical. IQ or intelligence quotient were initially developed by Alfred Binet as school placement tests. The most widely used IQ tests today remain the Wechsler scales (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – WISC and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – WAIS). Mensa is an international association with people with much higher than average IQ scores. In contrast, mental retardation refers to IQ scores below 70 points. IQ variation in the general population follows a normal distribution or the bell curve, with most of the population clustering between 85 and 115 points.

IQ tends to remain stable throughout an individual’s lifespan, although tests may be inaccurate for different reasons, including but not limited to, repeated administration and experience, native vs. second language wording of questions, cultural biases and so on. As a general rule, such quantitative instruments test spatial, mathematical and verbal ability. Further, the left hemisphere is most closely associated with verbal and mathematical skills, while artistic ability is concentrated in the right hemisphere. The corpus callosum, is the central commissure facilitating communication between the two hemispheres, as evidenced by lesion studies treating epilepsy.

Conversely, another measure of ability and intelligence refers to EQ or emotional quotient. Nonetheless, numbers and scores may not necessarily be good and accurate predictors of later success in life, but studies do vary on the subject. Interestingly, the ability to delay gratification (by distracting oneself from coveted stimuli, for instance) appears a better predictor of educational/academic and occupational/vocational success. Thus, the purpose of the present essay was to outline the basic concepts in cognition and neuroscience, especially as they relate to psychology.

Theatre of Playing Games in Relationships

Shakespeare has been quoted as saying that the world is a theather and people are actors. Indeed, people often play games in their lives. Therefore, this article is about playing games in relationships. Why do people do it? Should you play games in your relationships? The answer is manyfold. For example, some people are of the opinion that it is better to play “hard-to-get” in relationships in order to attract and interest the other person. Thus, according to such opinion, it is preferable to appear aloof and uninterested while one actually wants the attention of the other person. Conversely, other people focus on trust and communication as crucial to building relationships. As a general rule, such opinions are considered more mature than playing mind games.

Manipulative Elf. A manipulative elf playing mind games. Image: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

So how should one proceed in novel relationships? Some people say it is best to lie and appear uninterested, perhaps even cold to attract the other person. In contrast, other people will pinpoint that playing games and remaining manipulative and distant on purpose, with the sole intention of somehow keeping power over the other individual, is a sure way to stay alone. But nobody wants to be alone, as the song says. So next time you want to tell your date you’re too busy to hook up because you need to go hang out by yourself, think twice, as she or he may find somebody who wants to be there for real. Again, as stated elsewhere on this Website, I do not provide any warranties as the advice I give on the Website. In fact, I do not even offer advice, I simply state my opinion.

Substance-Induced Psychosis or Drug-Induced Psychosis

Many mental disorders include psychotic features, such as bipolar depression, schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia. Aside from pharmacotherapy, therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may be used to treat psychosis. Alternatively, substance-induced psychosis, also known as toxic psychosis, is psychosis caused by certain substances or chemicals.

Several substances may produce substance-induced psychosis (SIP), including alcohol, cannabis and amphetamine. What is even more alarming is that SIP may eventually progress into schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a very serious mental illness often necessitating hospitalization. Schizophrenia is characterized by psychotic features, among other things. However, whether SIP evolves into a schizophrenia spectrum disorder depends on the substance which precipitated the psychosis diagnosis.

Naturally, the main difference between SIP and schizophrenia is that in SIP psychotic symptoms tend to go away after the substance has been eliminated by the body, whereas in schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar depression or other mental illnesses with psychotic features, the symptoms persist regardless of whether the person remains intoxicated or not.

Substance-Induced Psychosis or Drug-Induced Psychosis. Illustration by Elena

Further, from a neuroscience perspective, one may look at brain metabolism in relation to schizophrenia and SIP. Neuroscience, also called neurobiology, studies the nervous system, comprising the brain, the spinal cord and peripheral nerves. Also, neuroscience greatly relies on neuroimaging studies. For example, positron emission topography (PET) studies.

Alternatively, in terms of psychometric instruments and diagnostic tools, schizophrenia may be assessed using PANSS or the Positive and Negative Scale for Schizophrenia. Mental disorders often have comorbidity or co-occurence with other mental disorders. For example, most associations reflect the fact that mental illnesses are often accompanied by substance use, abuse and dependence (e.g. centres for addiction and mental health). Schizophrenia represents no exception, with substance abuse disorders often present in individuals with the mental disease.

Furthermore, some psychologists even go as far as to suggest that at times, persons attempt to self-medicate by abusing illicit substances such as patients with bipolar disorder using cannabis instead of lithium to cope with their symptoms. Clearly, it goes without saying that a person should only take medication prescribed by their psychiatrist or other doctor, follow the instructions and abstain from addictive substances.

Toronto Gay Village

Church and Wellesley

Toronto Gay Village - Church Street Mural Project

Curator’s statement and project history: The Church Street Mural Project connects public spaces with community organizations and visual artists to reinforce and invigorate the Church-Wellesley Village’s historic identity. More than a dozen artists met with LGBTQ leaders, historians and long-term activists to capture the people, moments and ideas that continue to animate the Village. In addition to beautifying one of Toronto’s most iconic neighbourhoods, the Church Street Mural Project serves as one of the largest LGBTQ public art exhibits in the world.

World Pride 2014, Church Street, in front of Progress Place. Proudly presented by BMO.