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ORIGINAL: pearlearring

I don't know if there are any other science geeks here, but I found this very interesting and wanted to share it with people. I hope it sparks some intelligent discussion.

I was learning about emotion theory in my biopsychology course yesterday, and was interested to discover that some neuropsychologists have studied how our internal bodily environment can elicit emotion. Say you're running from a lion. You perceive danger in your surroundings and you parasympathetic nervous system reacts in a certain way. You heart rate increases, pupils dilate, you breathe heavily and your body releases norepinephrine and endorphins (pain inhibiting neurotransmitters). According to some psychologists your brain reacts to this internal state by experiencing emotion, in this case fear (associated with acetylcholine). Of course the opposing theory is that you see the lion, feel fear, and then your parasympathetic nervous system reacts, meaning that external stimuli directly elicit emotion. It is generally believed that both theories are partially true- both internal and external states contribute to emotion.

The important thing here is that lots of emotions correspond with the same internal environment. The 'fight or flight' reactions I described all occur as responses to danger, stress, pain and sexual stimulation. The last two are particularly interesting. Pain and sex elicit the same parasympathetic reaction, but different emotions because the external environment signals that shock and fear are not appropriate reactions to sex, and that sexual gratification is not an appropriate reaction to pain.

But what if your body didn't rely as heavily on the external signals, and more heavily on internal signals? The reflexive reaction of our parasympathetic nervous system to pain and sex is very similar, so is it possible that some unique wiring in our brains causes us to mix up pain and sex until both elicit the same mixture of emotions?

Or should we adopt the behaviorist approach, the idea that we mix up 'appropriate' reactions to pain and sex due to some kind of operant conditioning? I don't buy the behaviorist approach myself. I was never abused or raped so there's no deep-seated childhood disturbance that could cause me to be masochistic. I'm more in favor of the idea of an actual neurological disorder. Not because I want to be treated for it, hell no, but because it bases what we do in scientific theory rather than Freud, who was a misogynistic cocaine abuser.

I'm interested to see what everyone thinks about this idea.

And, I'm Rebecca by the way. Hi!

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ORIGINAL: pearlearring

Unfortunately, I do have this tendency to pick things apart and damn does it get me into trouble.

You guys have made some really awesome points. I agree, the nature-nurture dichotomy isn't something that needs to be picked apart for the billionth time. I think it's generally accepted that each play a role here. Along those lines, is it possible that experiences you have during your lifetime could actually cause this neurological phenomena (if it exists, there are no studies that I could find)? I mean, plasticity is a beautiful thing. That would be the ultimate nature-nurture interplay, if you could actually be taught (via operant conditioning) to desire pain on a biological level as opposed to just a mental level.

Yes, I guess disorder was the wrong term to use here. Sorry everyone, and thanks for bringing that up.

Now that some of you have me thinking along psycho-dynamic lines, I wonder if my incredibly controlling mother has anything to do with this. I like to think not.

Whip-me anonymous? I like that.