• Question: Why does your Behaviour Change When You Are Angry and Happy

    Asked by sherbu to Alastair, Emma, Hywel, Keith on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Alastair Sloan

      Alastair Sloan answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Hi Sherbu

      Good question! It is probably due to chemical messengers being released in your brain that tell your brain how to feel and act. When you are happy alot of chemical signals like serotonin are released and these continue to make you feel happy.

    • Photo: Keith Brain

      Keith Brain answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Changing your behavior depending on your mood signals to the rest of your community how you are feeling, and allows them to treat you differently. Behavior change in animals is very common and probably is related to mood very much like it is in humans.

      My work investigates the “Autonomic Nervous System”, and one of its key roles is to change the body’s activities depending on mood. For example, when you get angry, you activate what are called “Sympathetic” nerves, which signal to the outside world by dilating your pupils (you go “wide eyed”), get you ready to fight by making your heart pump faster and harder, and cause the release of energy stores in the body so that you’re ready for action.

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