Question

Tessa and Noah are looking to buy their first house. Their real estate agent takes them to one house that strongly smells of cigarette smoke and cat urine. They both are disgusted by the smells and immediately exit the house. If the electrical activity of the brain were measured while they were having this negative emotion, then:

Answer 1

When Tessa and Noah were disgusted by the smells in the house, their negative emotion would have been associated with increased activation of the amygdala in their brains.

Step-by-step explanation:

When Tessa and Noah were disgusted by the smells of the house, their negative emotion would have been associated with increased activation of the amygdala in their brains. The amygdala is responsible for processing emotions, especially fear and aversion. This reaction is similar to what has been observed in animal research, where odor cues paired with negative experiences lead to aversion and increased amygdala activation. Therefore, in this situation, the electrical activity of Tessa and Noah's amygdala would have been heightened.

Answer 2

If the electrical activity of the brain were measured while they were having this negative emotion, then their right prefrontal cortex are more electrically active.

Step-by-step explanation:

The brain controls many of the actions that people do. It is regarded as the most important organ in a person. When it comes to the positive and negative emotions of a person, the "prefrontal" part of the brain plays a vital role. The right prefrontal cortex governs negative behaviors and feelings while the left prefrontal cortex governs positive behavior and feelings.

It is clearly stated that Tessa and Noah were immediately disappointed by the strong smell of cigarette smoke and cat urine in the house, that they decided to leave. This means that they were having a negative emotion, which in turn proves that the right prefrontal cortex is more electrically active at that moment.

It is common to have an unbalanced electrical activity between the right prefrontal cortex and the left prefrontal cortex. However, in some cases, one side is very active while the other is super inactive. An example of this is a depressed individual. A depressed person will have a super active right prefrontal cortex and a super inactive left prefrontal cortex.