The Chemistry Behind Our Emotions

What makes us human? The fact that we have a conscience, morals, or passions and feelings? I think that one thing that separates us from robots is that we feel a broad range of emotions, from happiness to sadness, anger, and fear. Emotions are a big part of our lives and influences how we act and make decisions and fuel our daily lives. But without the work of chemistry and neurotransmitters in our body, we would not be able to feel the range of emotions that make life worth living.

What Are Emotions?

Before we get into how chemistry creates our emotions, we must understand what emotions are.

Emotions are physiological states that are generated subconsciously in our brains in response to internal or external events in our lives. While emotions and feelings are connected, feelings depend on emotions and are not interchangeable. Feelings are subjective and driven by conscious thought and reflection. An example of this when we feel the emotion of anger, we can feel frustrated or confused.

There are six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust. Positive emotions such as happiness can lead one to feel good and satisfied and can lead to an increase in motivation or concentration. Negative emotions, on the other hand, such as anger, can sap your energy and undermine your effectiveness.

The six basic emotions

The two parts of emotion are the physical aspect and the chemical aspect. The physical component is our body language, facial expressions, tendencies, actions, cognitive appraisal, and feelings. The chemical component is the neurotransmitters produced by our brains.

The Brain of Emotions

The human brain is the most complex part of the human anatomy. It not only controls our emotions but runs every other aspect of our bodies and the other necessary chemical reactions for survival. There are over a billion neurons and a quadrillion connection in a brain, running everything. The limbic system is the part of our brain that deals with our memory and emotions. The parts of the limbic system include:

• the hypothalamus: located near the pituitary gland and plays a crucial role in releasing hormones and regulating body temperature, among other things
• the thalamus: often described as a relay station for all sensory information (except smell)
• the hippocampus: plays a major role in learning, memory, and emotional responses
• the pituitary gland: produces several hormones and controls several other hormone glands such as the thyroid, adrenals, ovaries, and testicles
• the amygdala: the part of the brain where emotions are given

The parts of the limbic system.

The Heavy Lifters: Neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitters are considered the chemical messengers of the body. These neurotransmitters convey “messages” or chemical signals from one neuron to another through chemical synapse. Chemical synapse is when a presynaptic neuron releases neurotransmitter chemicals into the synapse (the space between two neurons) so that it will bind with another neuron’s receptors.

A diagram of two neurotransmitters sending chemical signals through chemical synapse.

This process controls our pain, pleasure, and emotional response. The main neurotransmitters that contribute to our emotions are dopamine, serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), noradrenaline, adrenaline, acetylcholine, glutamic acid, and histamine.

The key neurotransmitters and their structures.

Happiness

“Happiness is not out there, it’s in you” — Anonymous

It’s true. Happiness is not something we can obtain from the outside but something we find within ourselves. While this quote is probably not talking about the neurotransmitters in our brain, it still applies. The neurotransmitter chemicals that help us feel the emotion of happiness and joy are dopamine (C8H11NO2), serotonin (C10H12N2O), and norepinephrine (C8H11NO3).

Dopamine is often known as the feel-good chemical. This chemical is released when doing something that makes us happy, whether eating good food, watching a funny movie, playing sports, and other things we find enjoyable. The dopamine neurotransmitter triggers the reward and pleasure system in our brains. Dopamine makes us feel good, motivated, increase movement, memory, and focus, it also and urges us to continue doing the activity that is releasing this chemical. While this can be a good thing, it can also be a bad thing. Too much dopamine can lead to addiction because it will continually make us feel good. Excess dopamine can also lead to Parkinson’s or schizophrenia.

Serotonin is another neurotransmitter that controls satisfaction, happiness, optimism, and helps ease tension in our bodies. It also regulates our sleep cycles, body temperature, mood, and pain. Low levels of serotonin can be a factor in depression and other mood disorders.

Norepinephrine or noradrenaline is the cousin of epinephrine. Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter that controls our mood. Bursts of norepinephrine can lead to feelings of euphoria and help improve mood and ability to concentrate. In stressful situations, paired with epinephrine can also trigger your fight or flight reaction.

Endorphins (C158H251N39O46S) and dopamine are the two chemicals that are involved in laughter. Laughter helps boost your immune system, betters mental health, and other benefits. How it does this is with endorphins, which are a group of hormones known as a natural happy drug. They increase pain tolerance and well-being and are released during exercise.

How chemicals such as dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin are released during exercise and can improve mood and reduce anxiety.

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Sadness & Depression

Sadness is a part of life, a natural reaction to emotional upset or pain. We’ve all felt this emotion some time or another, and it eventually passes. Depression, on the other hand, is a mood disorder that affects a person’s daily life. It is sometimes described as sadness, anger, and loss and overwhelms a person’s life. According to the World Health Organization, more than 264 million people all over the world suffer from depression. People with clinical depression often have an increased level of an enzyme named monoamine oxide A (MAO-A). Monamine oxidase-A is made of Flavin (C14H14N3), Adenosine (C10H13N5O4), and Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (C21H29N7O14P2). This enzyme breaks up the very key transmitters that help us feel the emotion of happiness, dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.

On the far right are the working neurotransmitters of dopamine and serotonin. In the middle we have when MAO-A, breaks down these neurotransmitters, leading to decreased levels of these chemicals. Although with treatment, these levels can come back up.

While chemical imbalances do impact depression, they are not the only cause. Other factors of depression include stress, environment, medications, trauma, and genetics.

Anger

Think of a time you have felt that blood boiling, ready to explode and punch someone kind of anger. The strong emotions we feel when someone has caused us physical or emotional pain. The two chemicals that play a large role in the chemistry of anger are epinephrine and its cousin norepinephrine.

Epinephrine (C₉H₁₃NO₃), also known as adrenaline, allows us to engage in the fight or flight reaction. The fight or flight reaction allows us to either turn away from the situation (flight) or engage in the situation (fight). Adrenaline is produced from the adrenal gland located above the kidney. When the brain sends signals of anger or fear to the adrenal gland, adrenaline is produced. This causes the body to speed up heart rate, cause sweaty palms, flushed cheeks, and other signs of anger.

The fight or flight response is triggered by epinephrine and norepinephrine.

Norepinephrine, the same chemical from happiness, is also involved in anger. It is the rush we feel when angry, and it gives us the strength to defend ourselves in dangerous situations. It also is responsible for us handling situations in positive or negative responses.

Fear

Your heart is racing, muscles tense, shallow breathing, sweating are all symptoms of fear. A loud noise or a scary horror movie scene can sometimes scare us. Fear is a chain reaction that happens in the brain when a stressful situation arises.

The main parts of the body that are responsible for the fear chain reaction.

The amygdala receives a lot of information about our environment, including sights, smells, and sounds. When a dangerous situation arises, the amygdala is responsible for signaling the hypothalamus to produce the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol (C21H30O5) increases the amount of glucose in your bloodstream and when in fight or flight response, shuts down non-essential organs and alters the immune system. Cortisol is not only released when afraid but when minor stresses such as a due date or a huge workload, which can be detrimental to your health.

Two other chemicals released during fear are vasopressin (C46H65N15O12S2) and oxytocin(C40H60N10O12S2). When the alarm system for danger is triggered, the amygdala also releases oxytocin and vasopressin. When more oxytocin than vasopressin is released into the body, the person is calmer in a dangerous situation. On the other hand, when more vasopressin is released than oxytocin, it increases anxiety, uncertainty, and the overall sense of fear.

Love

Most people think that love comes from the heart, but actually, it comes from the brain and causes the rest of the brain to go crazy. The stammering, the sweaty palms, heart pounding out of your chest, the daydreams, and constant thinking of them is all part of love. According to Dr.Helen Fisher at Rutgers, romantic love is broken down into three categories: lust, attraction, and attachment.

The three categories of love. Lust, attraction and attachment and the chemicals that are associated with each.

Lust is driven by the male and female hormones of testosterone(C19H28O2) and estrogen(C18H24O2). Lust is the desire for sexual gratification. When you find someone attractive, the hypothalamus in the brain signals the testes and ovaries to produce testosterone and estrogen, creating sexual desires.

Attraction involves the reward pathways in our brains and involves the same chemicals from happiness, dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. When two people are attracted to each other, these chemicals are released, making us feel giddy, euphoric, energetic, and the symptom of always thinking about them. Attraction leads to a reduction of serotonin, which controls our sleep and appetite. The phrase, “can’t eat or sleep,” when people are in love isn’t an exaggeration.

Attachment, unlike the other two, is not only reserved for romantic love but can apply to other types of love that can form between friends, siblings, and parent-infant love. Oxytocin and vasopressin, the same chemicals that are involved in fear, are also known as the cuddling hormones. Oxytocin is released from the hypothalamus in large quantities during skin to skin contact. An example of this is when a baby is born, and they place the baby on the mother’s chest so that they can bond, and oxytocin is produced.

Mother and newborn bonding together, releasing large quantities of oxytocin in both mother and child.

Vasopressin is also known as the monogamy chemical. Scientists believe that it is responsible for keeping love alive over a long time and also progress relationships from lust and attraction to attachment and long-term relationships. This chemical brings a feeling of calmness, security, desire to protect one another, and emotional union.

Too Long; Didn’t Read

• Emotions are physiological states that are generated subconsciously. There are two parts of an emotion: the physical aspect and the chemical aspect
• The neurotransmitters in our brain produce the chemicals that influence our emotions, and the limbic system is the system in our brain that is responsible for our emotions
• The emotion of happiness comes from the chemicals dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and endorphins
• the enzyme monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) breaks down neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin, leading to a chemical imbalance and depression
• When angry, epinephrine and norepinephrine cause a flight or fight reaction and helps us either defend ourselves or leave the situation
• Fear is a chain reaction that releases cortisol, the stress hormone, vasopressin, and oxytocin
• There are three categories of love: lust (estrogen and testosterone), attraction(dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine), and attachment(oxytocin and vasopressin)

In our bodies, there are millions of chemical reactions, not only controlling our emotions but performing life-sustaining reactions such as digestion and cellular respiration. Without these chemical reactions and the chemistry at work in our bodies, we would not have our emotions. So for every emotion and feeling you have, you can thank the chemistry at work in your body!