Holidays and holiday celebrations can cause different emotions, from joy to sadness, and all of them, without exception, depend on brain activation. An exchange of gifts, for example, can awaken the reward circuit, which involves the release of dopamine. Certain unpleasant sensations are linked to the so-called social pain circuit.
Emotion processing in the brain occurs in a series of structures such as the hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, cerebral cortex regions, brainstem, and insula.
Professor Paulo Sérgio Boggio, who coordinates the Cognitive and Social Neuroscience Laboratory at the Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, emphasizes that emotions are built from multiple structures of the brain which, in turn, are involved in various functions.
In addition to the exchange of gifts, meetings with family members, food and typical New Year’s celebrations stimulate the reward circuit, which recruits structures such as the ventral striatum, located below the cerebral cortex, and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which acts, for example, to evaluate the relationship between effort and reward.
Boggio says that when research into reward circuit structures began, these were associated with basic survival needs, such as hydration and nutrition. With scientific advances, scientists have noticed that these structures also become activated when we receive or offer help. This helps explain how good deeds at Christmas can give a feeling of pleasure and how the human species has a physiological mechanism for cooperation.
The ventral tegmental area also participates in the reward circuit, which mediates the release of dopamine and is associated with the need for repetition, explains Professor Antonio Serafim, from the Department of Learning, Development and Personality Psychology at USP.
At Christmas and New Year, there may be overstimulation of the circuit and, in some people, the triggering of harmful behaviors, such as eating, drinking alcoholic beverages or buying excessively.
Family gatherings can lead to the release of oxytocin, known as the “love hormone.” Serafim explains that this will bring a sense of belonging and welcome, in addition to encouraging interaction with the group.
The social pain circuit
But the end of year celebrations are not always a harmonious encounter. Serafim points out that many families have gone through delicate post-pandemic situations, with the loss of members or even tensions born from the political polarization of the country. There are those who, even if they wish, cannot reach their family members.
As a result, other circuits will be activated, including that of social pain, recruited when people feel excluded, rejected or attacked. Research by Boggio’s study group, as well as other scientists, has indicated that social pain processing occurs along pathways typically associated with physical pain. “That kind of metaphorical ‘broke my heart’ thing makes sense,” he says.
“At Christmas, this often happens, with certain members of certain families who feel a little apart,” says the professor. One of the structures that is part of this circuit is the insula.
Stress
A tense family reunion, combined with holiday preparations and spending, can be stressful. When faced with the perception of a threat, the amygdala is activated, which will play an important role in activating the sympathetic system.
Professor Nelson Torro, from the Postgraduate Program in Cognitive Neuroscience and Behavior at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), explains that this system corresponds to fight or flight reactions and generates effects such as an acceleration of blood pumping, which can, for example, lead to an increase in pressure.
“You have to think faster, you have to run, you have to escape. But you can’t keep pumping blood quickly all the time, otherwise there comes a point when the body collapses,” emphasizes Torro.
Stress is also associated with the release of the hormone cortisol which, if prolonged, affects neurons in the hippocampus and can impair memory.
Memory
Family reunions can help bring back memories from the past, such as childhood, good or bad. The greater the emotional charge of an event, the more it will activate the amygdala, which will increase the consolidation of that moment as a long-term memory.
The hippocampus is one of the most important structures when it comes to memorizing something. When we look at the Christmas lights or smell the food prepared during the holidays, the hippocampus and the amygdala activate the memories and send them to the frontal lobe, which will associate and analyze the intensity of the situation experienced, explains Antonio Serafim. From there, the different circuits are activated.
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