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What are emotions, and why do we have them? | HowStuffWorks
Reasons We Experience Emotions
Emotions are a basic response to change, both internal and external, sometimes simultaneously. While our mood lasts for hours or even days, emotions are fleeting, like waves.
Emotions are a spontaneous, motivating agent of change, making us act in our most natural, human way, before the mind comes in the picture, which looks at other signals before reacting.
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Naming Hurricanes
Hurricanes used to be tagged with random numbers, sometimes latitude and longitude numbers, and other times they were named after the place where they came ashore.
Now, the World Meteorolog...
Why hurricanes have names
Names are easier to remember than numbers and technical terms. It is easier for the media to report on, and for people to pay attention to, than if a hurricane was named, for example, Hurrican Two.
- The names come in alphabetical order from a set of six lists.
- The names used in 2020 (Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, etc.) will come around again in 2026.
- The letters beginning with Q, U, X, Y, Z are omitted.
- If forecasters run out of the alphabet, they turn to the Greek alphabet.
- If a storm was particularly devastating, then those names are retired, such as Hurrican Andrew, Hugo, and Katrina.
The placebo effect
The placebo effect happens when a person takes medication that he thinks will help, but the medication has not been proven to be effective for the specific condition.
The subject-expectancy effect
When people know what the result of taking a pill is supposed to be, they might unconsciously change their reaction to cause that result or report that result has taken place even if it hasn't.
However, studies show that a placebo doesn't trick the brain - the brain reacts differently to a drug than a placebo. A 2004 study showed that the expectation of pain relief causes the brain's relief system to activate.
Placebos in research
Placebos are often used in clinical drug trials to determine how well a potential medicine will work.
- There are two different groups of subjects in a placebo-controlled trial - one receives the experimental drug and the other the placebo. Neither researchers nor subjects know which group is receiving the real drug or the placebo.
- Some researchers are questioning the placebo-controlled trial. Not everyone thinks a drug is ineffective if the placebo performs better.
- Other critics of the placebo-controlled trial state it's wrong to attribute all positive outcomes to the placebo because many illnesses can resolve without any treatment.
- When a patient takes a placebo and experiences adverse side effects, it's called a nocebo effect. Patients taking active drugs have also been known to have side effects that can't be directly attributed to the drug.
Misophonia
Misophonia is characterized by strong negative emotions such as anger and anxiety in response to everyday sounds other people make. These sounds include humming, chewing, t...
Misophonia and brain particularities
Scientists do not fully understand misophonia but suspect it's caused by the way some people's brains process particular sounds and react to them.
Some studies found that the brains of people with misophonia showed hyperactivation of the salience network, a group of brain areas that direct our attention to important things in our surroundings. Trigger sounds send the salience network into an overdrive. Researchers found these brain areas are structurally more robust in people with misophonia.
Calming a misophonic brain
There's a lot of similarity between people who experience misophonia, but also a lot of diversity.
Therapists use a variety of techniques that is often based on the symptoms. Those who experience fear and anxiety may respond to exposure-based treatments. Those who experience anger can learn to manage their distress through distraction or relaxation techniques.