Perception In the Pygmies of the Congo

            Colin Turnball was a British Anthropologist who in 1959 traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to learn more about the indigenous tribe living there, the BaMbuti Pygmies. This tribe got its name from their small stature.Because the deep in the forest with hardly any visibility, being small is especially  helpful in climbing trees. Tunballs' main goal of his exhibition was to bring back items from the tribes' daily lives to contribute tot the Museum of Natural History in England. 

           While there, he discovered something he didn't expect to. While he and a Pygmie he had befriend were driving into an open field with Buffalo grazing, the Pygmie asked what kind of insects those where. In his mind, he couldn't see that the Buffalo were small because they were far away. Upon driving closer, and the animals getting bigger, Kenge, the Pygmie, thought that it was witchcraft how somehow the buffalo were shrunk then grew. This happens again at a large lake where Kenge can't see the figure how so many people can fit onto one boat the size a floating piece of wood where in reality its a quite large boat, just far out on the lake. Turnball discovered that size consistency was the problem. Kenge couldn't see that the herd was smaller because they were far, and bigger because they were closer. In conclusion, distance and perception is learned over a period of time in your early childhood. 
             A limitation for this experiment could possibly be that it was just one individual. Maybe it was just Kenge that was affected by this. Because this wasn't experimented on any other Pygmie, we won't know for sure if this is a continued occurrence in the tribe. 

Emotions Chart

Emotions Chart

Regions of the Brain Involving Emotion

The Limbic System

The Limbic System is a complex brain structure that lies on either side of the thalamus, a section of the brain under the cerebrum. It supports many different functions like behavior, emotion, motivation and memory. Its main importance is for the well being of the emotional life of the individual, and with the formation of memories. Several parts of the brain connected to this system are the hypothalamus, amygdala, and the hippocampus.

Hypothalamus

 The Hyothalamus is a region in the brain that has a lot to do with motivation, emotion, learning and memory located on the lower end of the top top pat of the brain stem. It is the main region that releases hormones into the brain that controls hunger, thirst, sex drive, mood and others. This is the part of the brain that can show your emotions based on facial expressions and body posture. In animals, stimulation of the hypothalamus can lead to aggression indicating emotions such as anger or fear.  

Hippocampus

The hippocampus is a region of the brain backwards facing and shaped like a “U” inside the temporal lobes and adjacent to the amygdala. It’s mainly responsible for the consolidation of new memoires, emotional responses, navigation, and spatial orientation. The amygdala stimulates the hippocampus by releasing several different neurotransmitters.

Amygdala

Located in the temporal lobes, the amygdala mainly controls the formation and storage of memories associated with emotionally relevant events. Inside the amygdala,distinct neurons respond to positive and negative stimuli in different ways. Similar to the Hippocampus, stimulating the amygdala appears to increase both sexual and aggressive behavior.

Neurotransmitters

Assignment: Research to determine the relationship between these biological components and emotion

AND

Give a thorough explanation of how each works and what areas of the brain are affected.

Norepinephrine

Norpinephrine is neurotransmitter that the brain from the sympathetic neurons that activates because of a stressful event. It affects parts of the brains such as the amygdala, where responses and attention is controlled. When released, it affects your emotion in creating a sense of well-being and a feeling of euphoria.

Serotonin

Serotonin is neurotransmitter that when released into the brain at a proper regulation, can relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression. Its mainly found in the hippocampus, a region of the brain that is primarily associated with memory and spatial navigation. This hormone is mainly linked to emotional and motivational aspect of human behavior. Because of its influence affect of emotions, it is often called the “feel-good” neurotransmitter. It also plays an important role in leaning and in memory, because of its linkage to the hippocampus.

Dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is responsible for movement and emotional response to situations. It can enable us to see rewards and to take action to move towards them. It also affects the ability to experience pleasure and pain. This hormone is linked to depression in the way that a shortage of it, can cause depression. It is mostly found in the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental area and is released from the hypothalamus.