The Science of Emotions & Relationships

Vasopressin: suppresses urination made by the body. It causes water retention. It creates feelings of gitty love and can increases memory.

Pheromone: substance secreted from one member of a species acting on other members or other species. Oxytocin: released after sex, pair bonding, social bonding, touching. It increases syncing internal states and raises awareness for the emotional states of others. Vitamin D might increase levels of oxytocin.

Hormone: substance secreted from one area of the body acting on other areas of the body.

You only have so much attention, if you want to be effective in dynamic world, you should focus your attention outward.

Building social bonds: gaze, vocalization, affect, touch.

Kids:- Secure attached.- Avoidant.- Ambivalent: reactions are inconsistent, wanted to bond but annoyed.- Disorganized: avoided interaction and fearful upon return of caregiver.

Think about emotions as elements of the brain and body made of these three elements. Around these center most theories of emotion.

Emotions are mostly made up of three axis:- Autonomic arousal scale: alert to calm.- Valence: good to bad.- Focus: interoception to exteroception (making predictions about the outside world).

Babies lack exteroception and only experience different states of alertness like anxiety through interoception.

There probably are circuits that bias is towards alertness or interoception vs. exteroception.