<p>You can glance at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anger#Physiology" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a> to get a first impression:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>According to Novaco, "Autonomic arousal is primarily engaged through
  adrenomedullary and adrenocortical hormonal activity. The secretion by
  the adrenal medulla of the catecholamines, epinephrine, and
  norepinephrine, and by the adrenal cortex of glucocorticoids provides
  a sympathetic system effect that mobilizes the body for immediate
  action (e.g. the release of glucose, stored in the liver and muscles
  as glycogen). In anger, the catecholamine activation is more strongly
  norepinephrine than epinephrine (the reverse being the case for fear).
  The adrenocortical effects, which have longer duration than the
  adrenomedullary ones, are mediated by secretions of the pituitary
  gland, which also influences testosterone levels. The
  pituitary-adrenocortical and pituitary-gonadal systems are thought to
  affect readiness or potentiation for anger responding.</p>
  
  <p>Neuroscience has shown that emotions are generated by multiple
  structures in the brain. The rapid, minimal, and evaluative processing
  of the emotional significance of the sensory data is done when the
  data passes through the amygdala in its travel from the sensory organs
  along certain neural pathways towards the limbic forebrain. Emotion
  caused by discrimination of stimulus features, thoughts, or memories
  however occurs when its information is relayed from the thalamus to
  the neocortex.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Anyhow I can't access the reference papers but this should be a good starting point..</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-18T09:30:36.223Z
2015-02-19T02:28:51.557Z
2015-02-19T02:28:51.557Z
CuriousIndeed
<p>This is actually a pretty complicated question. </p>

<p>In general, there isn't a lot of consistent evidence that would suggest that discrete emotions like anger have stereotyped response patterns. Anger is a fairly heterogeneous emotion category, meaning that it may not look the same (and have the same outcomes) in any given situation. Consequently, there may not be a good (or at least simple) answer to your question. This is the "psychological constructionist" argument (for a comprehensive overview, see Barrett &amp; Russell, 2014).</p>

<p>On the other hand "basic emotion" proponents (Ekman, Izard, Panksepp) would suggest that activation of an "anger circuit" in the brain reliably produces a particular response pattern (e.g., feelings of unpleasantness, high arousal, approach motivation, certain facial expressions, hormonal changes, etc.).  However, attempts to match these responses with specific emotions like anger have never quite worked out.  Also, recent meta-analyses looking at emotion in the brain don't seem to support this perspective (e.g., Lindquist et al., 2012).</p>

<p>Edit: I don't find Wikipedia's explanation (linked by Mike) to be particularly convincing since it cites an article published 15 years ago.  Emotion research has come a long way since then.</p>

<p>Edit2: Sources</p>

<ol>
<li><p>For general psychological constructionist arguments about the nature of emotion, see: <a href="http://pps.sagepub.com/content/1/1/28.short">Barrett 2006</a> and <a href="http://emr.sagepub.com/content/6/4/292.short">Barrett 2014</a></p></li>
<li><p>For basic emotion arguments, see: <a href="http://emr.sagepub.com/content/3/4/364.short">Ekman &amp; Cordaro 2011</a></p></li>
<li><p>For reviews on mapping physiological changes to emotions, see: <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=mxDzOSvivIkC&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PA173&amp;dq=cacioppo%202000%20physiology&amp;ots=o-owuuXE7q&amp;sig=hwXl0yAwvzMMMD2eJOkt3xU3-YA#v=onepage&amp;q=cacioppo%202000%20physiology&amp;f=false">Cacioppo et al. 2000</a>, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=czJ5AgAAQBAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PA35&amp;dq=stemmler%202004%20physiology&amp;ots=w8ITpWEvbd&amp;sig=DnEMmy7u7u4hXMlmymZX8T2dF6E#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false">Stemmler 2004</a>, and for a theory-driven review of reviews/meta-analyses see <a href="http://www.affective-science.org/pubs/2014/quigley-barrett-biological-physiology-2014.pdf">Quigley &amp; Barrett 2014</a> </p></li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-18T11:01:00.637Z
Welcome to Cognitive Sciences SE! Would you have some references to accompany your statements?
AliceD
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-19T03:54:36.760Z
@ArnonWeinberg  Just added links to sources. Thanks.
mrt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-19T03:57:08.167Z
+1 for making a great point about the interpretive nature of emotion. The bottom line is that emotions manifest differently for different people and in different situations, so a universal answer to the question is probably not realistic.
Arnon Weinberg
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-18T09:24:17.967Z
2015-02-19T03:53:32.423Z
2015-02-19T03:53:32.423Z
mrt
<p>Are there any side effects i.e. any hormonal changes , dopamine release when we get anger or while we shout or outburst in anger?</p>

<p>Because we feel satisfied getting anger in a situation than keeping our emotions shut!</p>

<cognitive-psychology><emotion>
What are the side effects of Anger?
Karthikeyan R
# What are the side effects of Anger?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-02-15)

Are there any side effects i.e. any hormonal changes , dopamine release when we get anger or while we shout or outburst in anger?

Because we feel satisfied getting anger in a situation than keeping our emotions shut!

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, emotion


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-02-18. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

This is actually a pretty complicated question.

In general, there isn't a lot of consistent evidence that would suggest that discrete emotions like anger have stereotyped response patterns. Anger is a fairly heterogeneous emotion category, meaning that it may not look the same (and have the same outcomes) in any given situation. Consequently, there may not be a good (or at least simple) answer to your question. This is the "psychological constructionist" argument (for a comprehensive overview, see Barrett & Russell, 2014).

On the other hand "basic emotion" proponents (Ekman, Izard, Panksepp) would suggest that activation of an "anger circuit" in the brain reliably produces a particular response pattern (e.g., feelings of unpleasantness, high arousal, approach motivation, certain facial expressions, hormonal changes, etc.). However, attempts to match these responses with specific emotions like anger have never quite worked out. Also, recent meta-analyses looking at emotion in the brain don't seem to support this perspective (e.g., Lindquist et al., 2012).

Edit: I don't find Wikipedia's explanation (linked by Mike) to be particularly convincing since it cites an article published 15 years ago. Emotion research has come a long way since then.

Edit2: Sources

1. For general psychological constructionist arguments about the nature of emotion, see: [Barrett 2006](http://pps.sagepub.com/content/1/1/28.short) and [Barrett 2014](http://emr.sagepub.com/content/6/4/292.short)
2. For basic emotion arguments, see: [Ekman & Cordaro 2011](http://emr.sagepub.com/content/3/4/364.short)
3. For reviews on mapping physiological changes to emotions, see: [Cacioppo et al. 2000](https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=mxDzOSvivIkC&oi=fnd&pg=PA173&dq=cacioppo%202000%20physiology&ots=o-owuuXE7q&sig=hwXl0yAwvzMMMD2eJOkt3xU3-YA#v=onepage&q=cacioppo%202000%20physiology&f=false), [Stemmler 2004](https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=czJ5AgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA35&dq=stemmler%202004%20physiology&ots=w8ITpWEvbd&sig=DnEMmy7u7u4hXMlmymZX8T2dF6E#v=onepage&q&f=false), and for a theory-driven review of reviews/meta-analyses see [Quigley & Barrett 2014](http://www.affective-science.org/pubs/2014/quigley-barrett-biological-physiology-2014.pdf)

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Welcome to Cognitive Sciences SE! Would you have some references to accompany your statements?  
> **username_2**: @ArnonWeinberg  Just added links to sources. Thanks.  
> **username_4**: +1 for making a great point about the interpretive nature of emotion. The bottom line is that emotions manifest differently for different people and in different situations, so a universal answer to the question is probably not realistic.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-02-18. Score: 2

You can glance at [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anger#Physiology) to get a first impression:

> According to Novaco, "Autonomic arousal is primarily engaged through
> adrenomedullary and adrenocortical hormonal activity. The secretion by
> the adrenal medulla of the catecholamines, epinephrine, and
> norepinephrine, and by the adrenal cortex of glucocorticoids provides
> a sympathetic system effect that mobilizes the body for immediate
> action (e.g. the release of glucose, stored in the liver and muscles
> as glycogen). In anger, the catecholamine activation is more strongly
> norepinephrine than epinephrine (the reverse being the case for fear).
> The adrenocortical effects, which have longer duration than the
> adrenomedullary ones, are mediated by secretions of the pituitary
> gland, which also influences testosterone levels. The
> pituitary-adrenocortical and pituitary-gonadal systems are thought to
> affect readiness or potentiation for anger responding.
>
> Neuroscience has shown that emotions are generated by multiple
> structures in the brain. The rapid, minimal, and evaluative processing
> of the emotional significance of the sensory data is done when the
> data passes through the amygdala in its travel from the sensory organs
> along certain neural pathways towards the limbic forebrain. Emotion
> caused by discrimination of stimulus features, thoughts, or memories
> however occurs when its information is relayed from the thalamus to
> the neocortex.

Anyhow I can't access the reference papers but this should be a good starting point..


---

