Chapter 8: THE HEXADYAD PRIMARY EMOTIONS: PRODUCTS OF THE LIMBIC AND BRAIN CORE SYSTEMS

From a manuscript of the unpublished book, "Neurorealism: A Transformational Context for Existence Bridging Brain and Mind, Science and Religion", by Bruce E. Morton, University of Hawaii School of Medicine, Honolulu, HI 96822

CHAPTER SUMMARY

In the hexadyad primary emotions model, six evolutionarily selected, survival-oriented emotion pairs exist in higher organisms. Each of these primary emotion pairs produces a single output ranging between the rewarding and punishing extreme of that pair. The output of each primary pair is a response to ongoing analysis of incoming stimuli in terms of their survival significance, based in part upon past experience. The summation of the output of the six pairs produces the total emotional experience of the individual and has the capacity to produce the entire spectrum of human feeling.

The following are the primary emotion pairs of the hexadyad primary emotion model. (Please note their inverse, rotated position above and below the middle lines in the Summary Table I.)

1. certainty-expectancy vs. confusion-surprise

2. confidence vs. fear

3. pleasure vs. disgust

4. gratitude vs. anger

5. elation vs. grief

6. satisfaction vs. desire

In this chapter, the specific environmental assessments and limbic conclusions required for primary emotion production are delineated in detail. At the everyday level, the motivational significance of the primary emotion pairs are linked to very familiar value- judgments, such as right-wrong, strong-weak, accept-reject, friend-enemy, win-lose, have-want.

On another level, much behavior appears to be the output of a feedback mechanism driven by the primary emotions to maximize short-term survival. However, it is possible to transcend short-term survival in favor of the long-term big picture. In individuals who accomplish this, positive emotions predominate.

The Hexadyad primary emotions model has several interesting applications to mood and personality analysis. It also predicts personality extremes, along with associated behaviors toward oneself and others. Furthermore, it appears that the terms used to describe personal deity, such as omniscient or omnipotent, are among the conceptual extremes of the positive primary emotions.

Since specific brain systems should produce each primary pair, localizing these anatomically would be of value. Such work is underway (later chapters). Specific neurotransmitter receptors appear to mediate the actions of not only each primary emotion pair, but also each Quadrimental brain element. Further identification of these is becoming very useful (later chapters). Thus, the Hexadyad Primary Emotion model would appear to provide a useful framework within which to investigate the emotions, moods and personality.

Chapter begins:

THE DEFINITION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EMOTIONS

Emotions are psychological rewards and punishments. They constitute part of the feedback provided by the brain to motivate us to optimize our survival by acting to correct inner deviations from cellular homeostasis. In reptiles, injury, restraint, or blockage of ancient survival drives, such as air-hunger, cause powerful alarm responses and associated reactions. These are part of the ancient pleasure-pain drives ascribed to our brain core system Dragon. In the early mammals, these reptilian drives were extended or amplified by the limbic system to become a larger number of distinct emotions. Thus, the limbic-Caretaker has many behavioral properties overlapping those of Freud's Ego.

For most individuals, limbic emotions are more important than their intellect in determining what their attitudes and actions are going to be. That is, one's Ego-Caretaker-driven actions speak louder than do one's left hemisphere-generated words. Never the less, the Caretaker continually directs left hemispheric intellect to try to figure out how to improve survival in order to prevent or eliminate further alarms caused by homeostatic imbalance. Thus, it can be said that in many people the Ego-Caretaker is the "being of human beings". As some people mature, they master many of the elements of survival. One of several reasons this is desirable is because it leaves them free to transcend their Caretaker-based feelings and thoughts regarding survival. These can then be replaced by the intuitive wisdom of their neocerebellar Higher Source with its larger long-term creative perspective. The emotional response of these individuals is quite different than that of those in a chronic survival crisis.

PRIMARY EMOTIONS

What specific emotions exist has been a controversial topic for a long time. There are almost as many lists of basic emotions as there are authors proposing them. People of different cultures and speaking different languages may categorize emotions somewhat differently than each other. While over 350 words for emotions are present in dictionaries of the English language, dictionaries of other languages may contain as few as ten such words. Even words for such basic emotions as anger or sadness are not universal. Yet, there is a great similarity in emotion categories across different cultures and languages.

Plutchik first proposed the concept of primary emotions as an organizing concept. This concept works on a principle similar to that of primary colors in physics. That is, by the proper combination of three primary colors, an infinity of color can be produced. Similarly, any and all emotions that have ever been experienced can be produced by the combination of only the few primary emotions produced by the brain. Earlier lack of this concept accounts for some of the disagreement between authors as to the identity of the basic emotions. Although the identification of the true primary emotions will require behavioral, physiologic, pharmacologic, and anatomic confirmation, the hexadyad primary emotions model presented here is a second approximation in that direction.

THE HEXADYAD PRIMARY EMOTIONS MODEL:

In organisms whose brain includes a limbic system, there appear to be six independent primary emotion-generating systems. The function of these separately regulated primary emotion systems appears to be based upon the activity of several different limbic-brain core structural elements. This is supported by measurements of regional brain glucose uptake. In these observations, only the brain core system and the limbic system have shown shifts in regional brain activity during the production of emotion‑associated behaviors. In general, each of these emotion-associated structures receive separable neural inputs, and produce different neurotransmitter outputs most likely leading to production of a primary emotion.

Inherent in the hexadyad primary emotions model is the concept that each primary emotion-generating system produces an output ranging between two polar extremes. For each primary pair, one extreme is rewarding (appetitive) and generates approach behavior, while the other is punishing (aversive) and produces avoidance behavior. In keeping with this proposal, certain observed regional brain activity outputs occurred in opposite directions, depending on whether the emotion was rewarding or alarming. This binary, dichotomous situation is not to be confused with the dualism of mind and body, an obsolete concept to be discarded. (See: Solution of the Mind-Body Problem).

Furthermore, in this primary emotions model, the output of a primary pair can reside at only one point within its range at a given time. That is, while rapid oscillations are possible across the entire range of a primary pair, it is not possible to have fear and confidence produced simultaneously in response to the same stimulus. It is the continual summation of the output of each of the six primary emotion systems that constitutes the sum-total of the ongoing emotional experience of the individual at any time. In theory, the possible combinations of these six primary pairs can produce the entire range of human emotional experience.

Although proof of the existence of any primary emotion pair will require anatomical and neurochemical confirmation, the selection of the proposed six primary emotion pairs is based upon fairly extensive indirect evidence. In addition, it was necessary that each primary pair provided survival value and thus made evolutionary sense. It was also required that each primary pair contained a reward-punishment polarity to minimize the number of pairs required to produce the range of human emotion.

The following are the primary emotion pairs of the hexadyad primary emotion model. (Please note their positions above and below the middle line in the Summary Table I.)

1. certainty-expectancy vs. confusion-surprise

2. confidence vs. fear

3. pleasure vs. disgust

4. gratitude vs. anger

5. elation vs. grief

6. satisfaction vs. desire

The term, positive emotions, refers to rewarding, pleasant, and appetitive feelings or affects that motivate approach behavior. In contrast, the punishing, unpleasant, and aversive motivators that drive avoidance behaviors are called negative emotions. Obviously, the term, negative, as used here does not mean bad, any more than negative means bad when used in electronics. In fact, the negative emotional extremes have been selected and retained by evolution to maximize survival. They are just as important as the positive emotions are.

Each primary emotion pair is capable of producing a wide gradient of emotion output, ranging from any single point between its extremes. For example: in the confidence-fear pair, the emotional spectrum begins at one extreme, defecating terror, and moves across a very broad range to "suicidal" foolhardiness at the other.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS REQUIRED FOR PRIMARY EMOTION PRODUCTION

The following assessments (listed in Summary Table I, beside both BIOLOGICAL STATUS lines) produce the conclusions required to generate the primary emotions.

1. Properties known vs. Properties unknown

2. Safe to act vs. Time to escape

3. Resource available vs. Source of harm or waste

4. Ally found vs. Competitor identified

5. Positive reinforcement vs. Negative reinforcement

6. Free to act vs. Get supplies

Properties Known vs. Unknown: To produce the Certainty-expectancy vs. the Confusion-surprise primary emotion pair requires the assessment of whether the properties of the stimulus object are known or unknown. When something occurs or appears as planned or predicted, this evidence of control produces positive emotions such as certainty and expectancy. If the present object is novel so that no matching memory data are found, surprise and confusion are produced. Even the appearance of a known object produces surprise and confusion if it is unexpected. This response indicates such a lack of control of one's environment that one literally does not know what to expect. This is potentially dangerous, and leads directly to the production of fear by the next primary pair. Loss of control produces not only surprise and confusion, but also upsets the Dragon. This is because without control, the organism's intentions are thwarted, expectations are unfulfilled, and communications are undelivered. Such an upset from loss of control may recruit angry, aggressive attempts to regain control, or if unsuccessful, grief, fear, desire, disgust, resignation, and apathy.

Safe to Act vs. Time to Escape: To produce the Confidence vs. Fear primary emotion pair requires the assessment of whether it is safe to act or necessary to escape. Confidence is produced by feeling more powerful than the object in question. Then, it is safe to relax, or to attend to other survival needs while in the presence of the harmless object in question. When an organism confronts something unknown, not only do surprise and confusion (above) result, but also fear is produced. Obviously, because some unknown things indeed can harm survival, this is a useful, conservative biological response. Fear is also produced when an organism confronts something perceived to be bigger or stronger than itself. Bigger, stronger things can harm one's survival. Fear promotes the avoidance behavioral gradient: freezing to avoid detection, fleeing to escape, or fighting to avoid capture. Clearly, the latter is not aggressive behavior. Rather, it is fear-based defensive behavior, where it is better to strike first than to be killed. Fear is what makes animals wild. Without fear they would not survive in the natural environment. Fearless animals can be killed and eaten, domesticated, made to be dependent on others for survival, or even worked as slaves.

Resource Available vs. Source of Harm or Waste: To produce the Pleasure vs. Disgust primary emotion pair, the assessment required is whether the sensory object is a resource, or is a source of harm or waste. Objects of survival benefit are accepted with pleasure. Objects harmful to survival are rejected with disgust. Suckling or Vomiting are the extreme forms of acceptance or rejection.

Ally Found vs. Competitor Identified: To produce the Gratitude vs. Anger primary emotion pair the assessment required is whether the sensory object is a Leader-Ally, or an Enemy-Competitor. Normally, the ally is appreciated and approached while the enemy is feared and avoided.

In predatory attack, as opposed to defensive attack, one concludes that one has the power to conquer a competitor. Then, one mounts a fearless angry attack that will risk or result in dangerous-frightening wounds to oneself while in the process of winning the battle. On the other hand, if one concludes that the competitor is more powerful (bigger), one becomes afraid, withdraws, and escapes injury. This reptilian conclusion is based upon striatal same-different (self-other) comparisons including relative threat-display size and frequency. Thus, one is usually afraid, not angry, if a Lion, or a tidal wave invades their property.

However, under specific conditions, there is a neural switch turning off the fear-confidence primary emotion pair and turning on the anger-gratitude pair. Specific changes in the levels of certain neurotransmitters are required to throw this Fear to Anger Switch (later chapter). The switch turns off stress-based fear and replaces it with stress-based reward and converts avoidance-escape to approach-attack. The conditions required to convert fear to anger are situations where fear is no longer useful and anger-aggression might enhance survival. The activation of the fear to anger switch is illustrated in defensive attack. If the fleeing animal is cornered and about to be killed, it will be rewarded to fearlessly turn and angrily-aggressively fight for its life. Since it is as good as dead anyway, the only way survival can be gained is by rewarding it to fight for its life. The manifestation of this anger is the production of reptilian aggressive behavior. This is tied to a powerful physiological activation, called arousal, to support intense physical bursts of action. In another example, although anger-aggression dominates maternal defense of young, fear-flight predominates that organism's behavior at other times.

In humans, being cornered may also mean being made wrong, losing, or being dominated, events which predictably produce a fearless angry response. The fear to anger switch can be activated in dominance-competition for food, territory, or reproductive rewards (i.e. for any limited resource). If the source of the threat is inanimate or is a lower animal, then aggressive evasive, retaliatory-destructive, corrective, controlling action is attempted. Example of such are smashing an insect, or a snake, running through a fire, jumping overboard, or grabbing the reins of runaway horses in order to stop them.

The fear to anger-aggression switch also appears to be activated to suppress punishment while working for deferred gratification reward: territory, food, or reproduction. Rats replace fear with aggression and willingly cross-electrified grids to obtain a rewarding brain electrical stimulation. If they think the reward is great enough and that it is possible to obtain, humans and other animals willingly and fearlessly "steel themselves" and are internally rewarded to endure hardships they would normally fear and avoid. This sometimes includes working for a living. The pleasure of vigorous activity and the reward of completing a segment of a task contribute to getting the job done. In some cases, this can literally lead to workaholism.

Perhaps this is why dangerous effort itself can be rewarding, for example in the sayings of "the thrill of danger", or "stolen fruits are the sweetest". This, and the observation that overt fear and anger do not coexist, led Plutchik to truncate fear-confidence and anger‑gratitude into his fear-anger pair. At the time he did so, neurochemical data supporting the existence of a Fear-Anger Switch were absent. However, by pairing fear to anger two positive emotions are unnecessarily left out. The existence of confidence and its associated behaviors cannot properly be ignored. Nor can the existence of gratitude be omitted without deleting other important biological responses. Furthermore, the strength of the feeling of gratitude for being allowed or assisted to survive is what powers reptilian affiliative behavior (earlier chapter). That is, if a competitor accepts our surrender and does not kill us, or in other ways enhances our survival status, gratitude and appreciation overwhelm us. Then a potential ally or even a leader is identified. The desire to cooperate and repay the debt often automatically appears. This drives many important behaviors by subservient members of hierarchies (later chapter).

Often anger-induced plotting of aggressive vengeful behavior against other humans continues well beyond anger itself. The violence done while in anger are called crimes of passion. These are said to be justifiable, or at least uncontrollable, and thus punished more lightly. These violent attacks are directed by the Dragon alone and as a result often are stereotyped and mindless. If, however, such a plot is initiated some time after the anger is gone, it is said to be an act of premeditated violence. Such is antithetical to civilized group existence and is suppressed by society as either a predatory criminal attack or an act of insanity. This is because once the intellect has become operational again; it should have provided both the resources and the responsibility to make antisocial acts inappropriate. Instead of using it to calculate and plot for revenge or destruction, one can plan an intelligent nonviolent solution to the conflict. Thus, society is furthered and the persons acting in the interest of society are rewarded.

Positive vs. Negative Reinforcement: To produce the Elation vs. Grief primary emotion pair, one must assess whether one's survival status is either being increased or reduced. This pair is often associated with gain or loss of an object of survival value. For example, loss of an ally (family or friend), gaining some possession (land, home, or auto), loss of a body element (arm or eye), or gaining some form of control (winning a battle, a cause, or other elevations of one's status in competition). If there is a loss, cries of anguish, tears, and sobbing are produced. If there is a gain or a win, elation, joy, and sometimes tears of joy (and also sobs) are produced. This is repeatedly seen in Olympic competition and at Olympic award ceremonies. Apparently, in either case, the neural activation of either primary extreme in humans may spread to nearby lacrimation (tear producing) and diaphragm control centers.

Free to Act vs. Need to Get Supplies: To produce the Satisfaction vs. Desire primary emotion pair requires the assessment of whether one is free to act, or needs to get supplies first. This emotion pair results from the generalization of the primary drives such as for air, water, food, and sex. If something is perceived to be needed to enhance one's survival, it is wanted, desired, or intensely lusted after. If something perceived to enhance one's survival is obtained, one feels satisfaction in that regard. At this level, however, satisfaction may only be momentary and relative. As part of a continuing drive to further enhance ones survival status, one soon decides what is needed next. This creates a new desire for that goal. Thus, in some highly ambitious individuals, satisfaction is very short lived. Furthermore, in certain pathologic conditions, such as depression or drug abuse, the reward system is "depressed" or inhibited and does not provide adequate satisfaction. This leads to behavioral abuses of social significance: including the intense and insatiable seeking of sex and drugs, which have often led to the anguished cry, "I can't get no satisfaction!”

CARETAKER DATA ANALYSIS STEPS REQUIRED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF EMOTIONS:

As mentioned in early chapters, when lower vertebrate animals, including reptiles, receive sensory input, they attempt to match it with earlier-similar memories for identification purposes. However, when animals with a limbic system receive inputs, they appear not only to match it with memory for identification, but also to note the survival outcome of the incident. Then, they immediately jump to the conclusion that the same will happen again, whether good or bad. This is illustrated by certain animals, children, and by some adults whom we consider unsophisticated as a consequence.

Jumping to the conclusion that the past will repeat itself can be life saving. Indeed, the past often does repeat itself. That is, a stone repeatedly rolls downhill, sinks in water, and hurts ones foot if kicked hard enough. A female bear with cubs will attack. Bees will sting intruders when enraged. This learning property of the limbic system has given significant survival advantages to the mammals. It results in the production of powerful emotions to motivate more rapid approach or escape. Furthermore, physiological adaptations are also produced to enhance survival, such as flight or fight hormone responses, which strengthen heart and muscle physiologic reactions.

The following is a summary of the limbic conclusions which result from the preceding environmental assessments used to produce the primary emotions (Summary Table I, LIMBIC CONCLUSION):

1. I know vs. I don't know

2. I am stronger vs. I am weaker

3. I accept vs. I reject

4. I am helped vs. I am harmed

5. I win vs. I lose

6. I have vs. I want

MOTIVATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRIMARY EMOTIONS

The emotions are reward-punishment feedback motivators that assist in maximizing the survival of one's self or one's group. The primary emotion motives, which appear to drive daily behavior, are very familiar. They are (Summary Table I, EVERYDAY MOTIVATORS):

1. right, smart vs. wrong, stupid

2. strong vs. weak

3. accept, yes, good vs. reject, no, bad

4. friend vs. enemy

5. win vs. lose

6. have vs. want

Primary emotion motives are the source of the following common antisocial expansions of Dragon self- survival drives:

1. Must be right vs. Must make the other wrong

2. Must be strongest vs. Must take advantage of other's weakness

3. Must not change vs. Must change the other

4. Must dominate vs. Must avoid domination by the other

5. Must win vs. Must make the other lose

6. Must have vs. Must take away from the other

These motives are at the heart of all conflict. They are inherently antisocial goals because for one to achieve them, all other persons are forced to be wrong, weak, changed over, dominated, losers, and taken away from.

PRIMARY EMOTIONS AND MOODS

While emotions are short-term responses to stimuli in the present, moods are more prolonged emotional responses, lasting for hours or days. Moods based upon the hexadyad primary emotions are (Table I, MOOD):

1. clear vs. uncertain

2. calm vs. anxious

3. happy vs. negating

4. thankful vs. irritated

5. joyful vs. sad

6. contented vs. dissatisfied

Anxiety is a mood. Although the term, anxiety, has been used by some as a polite way to refer to the mild to moderate levels of the emotion fear, it is here arbitrarily defined as fear or dread sustained for more than ten minutes. Anxiety can be produced by fear of a harm that is not immediate, but that is believed to be possible in the near future. Thus, anxiety has great survival value by maintaining vigilance and readiness to escape danger, which could come soon. For example, the anxiety produced from having been seen by a predator aggressively coming this way, but who is now out of sight. Anxiety can also be produce by a sustained fear that an action one has taken may result in later dangerous consequences. For example, taking a short cut through an area known to be occupied by predators, or by buying an attractively priced house on an earthquake fault or on the flanks of a volcano.

In non-specific anxiety, conscious awareness of the original survival threatening, fear-inducing stimulus that one was anticipating is lost or forgotten. Often, the time between the first perception of threatened danger and the present time may be very long. Here, an anxiety response to a known threat is replaced by the emergence of periodic attacks of non-specific anxiety, ranging from disturbing feelings of impending doom, to incapacitating panic attacks. In paranoia, the source of anxiety has not only been forgotten, but also has been later displaced and misdirected. For example, a person in mild paranoia might declare, "Why are you always trying to take 33advantage of me" ("or trying to make me wrong"), while someone experiencing severe paranoia might say, "I am so afraid! I know there is a man just outside that door who wants to kill me!”

PRIMARY EMOTIONS AND PERSONALITY

Personality traits include emotions that are prolonged beyond moods to become habitual states of mind. Personality traits based upon the hexadyad primary emotions are (Summary Table I, PERSONALITY):

1. Knowing vs. Ambivalent

2. Secure vs. Insecure

3. Accepting vs. Rejecting

4. Supportive vs. Hostile

5. Enthusiastic vs. Gloomy

6. Peaceful vs. Demanding

A personality circumplex based upon the hexadyad primary emotions (Figure 1) was generated from the semantic analysis of 171 personality trait terms. A relational logic which emerged from this circumplex can be rationalized as follows: One must decide if the object is known, dangerous, a resource, or an ally. One must then win resources, and remove need.

It is here proposed that prominent negative primary emotion‑based personality traits originate from trauma produced during arrest and fixation of specific critical periods of psychosocial brain development (later chapter). The extension of the primary emotions model to personality provides a sound theoretical basis for the description of personality traits that many other systems lack.

EXTREMES OF HEXADYAD PRIMARY EMOTIONS IN PERSONALITY TRAITS AND BEHAVIOR

It is useful to characterize the personality traits at the primary emotion extreme. These extremes appear to be how we sometimes define traits in ourselves and others as good or bad. This requires two orientations: the manifestation of that extreme towards one's self, and the manifestation of the extreme towards others.

Hexadyad primary emotion-based behavioral extremes of personality directed to one's self and toward others are (Summary Table I, BEHAVIORAL EXTREME):

1. to self: at cause vs. lies to self

2. to self: tells truth vs. afraid of the truth

3. to self: accepts vs. suicidal

4. to self: gives of vs. accident prone, ill

5. to self: joyful vs. hopeless

6. to self: at peace vs. self and drug abuse

1. to others: responsible vs. blames

2. to others: ethical vs. unethical

3. to others: loves vs. hates

4. to others: gives to vs. harms

5. to others: enthusiastic vs. apathetic

6. to others: at peace vs. lies, cheats, steals

DEITY AS THE CONCEPTUAL POSITIVE EXTREMES OF THE HEXADYAD EMOTION PAIRS

The conceptual extremes of the primary emotions produce terms, which are commonly used to describe deity. Although this is to be expected if gods are human anthropomorphic projections, the descriptors of deity mirror appetitive conceptual extreme derivatives of the hexadyad primary emotions as applied to personality. These are as follows (Table I, CONCEPT EXTREME):

1. From knowing: Omniscient, creator

2. From secure: Omnipotent

3. from accepting: God is love (acceptance)

4. from supportive: Heavenly father, Omnipresent

5. from enthusiastic (winner): King of kings

6. from peaceful: Prince of peace

Again, it must be pointed out that individuals who have become directed by their Higher Source have implicitly dealt with their existential crisis. As a result their feelings are dominated by the positive emotions.

THE NEED FOR IDENTIFYING THE BRAIN ELEMENTS PRODUCING AND SUMMATING EACH PRIMARY EMOTION PAIR

It is becoming possible to identify brain anatomical areas producing emotions. Although some of the areas that have been identified are brain core, most are limbic. In theory, there should be a limited number of specific, separable brain systems responsible for the output of each primary emotion pair. The chemical or electrical activation or inhibition of sub-elements of these systems should adjust the output range of the primary pair between its emotional extremes.

THE NEED TO IDENTIFY THE NEUROTRANSMITTER SYSTEMS EMPLOYED BY THE PRIMARY EMOTION GENERATORS

Psychoactive substances have been used for millennia to modify emotions. These include tobacco, alcoholic spirits, coffee, marijuana, cocaine containing substances, and opium. Most of these are now known to act by binding specific neurotransmitter receptor subclasses. With over 100 receptor subclasses, it is theoretically possible to manipulate each primary emotion pair separably. Beyond this, some psychoactive substances, such as LSD or PCP, appear to modify the relative balance between individual Dual Quadbrain elements to alter major personality dynamics. Thus, in theory it should be possible to manipulate each Dual Quadbrain system independently, by both natural and unnatural means. The next chapter begins to address this important topic.