Abstract
Emotion or emotional state is recognized as a state of mind deviating from a calm, intellectually controlled state of a person in response to external and/or internal stimuli. Emotion usually implies two conditions : a way of feeling and a way of acting (Papez). In other words, it means emotional experiences such as anger, anxiety or depression and emotional expressions or behaviors such , as palpitation, dilatation of pupil, sweating, running and clenching hands. Neuronal mechanisms of these two functions of emotions are not clear, especially neuronal connections of emotional experiences to emotional expressions or behaviors. It is well known that involuntary movements are usually influenced through emotional changes. Emotional effects on spasmodic torticollis were analysed by neurophysiological studies. The state of spasmodic torticollis were altered by somatic stimuli and also psychic tension. One third of the total cases showed enhancement of torticollis through psychic tension. As for the pharmacological effects on spasmodic torticollis, improvement was obtained in 9 out of 12 cases by diazepam, in 6 out of 7 by clonazepam and in 5 out of 12 by L-DOPA. In contrast to these findings, 10 out of 12 cases grew worse by haloperidol. β-adrenergic blocking agents were also effective for essential tremor and so forth. Recent advances made it clear that the involuntary movements were caused or enhanced through the actions of dopamine, acetylcholine, GABA, and so on known as neurotransmitters. From these facts mentioned above, it can be suggested that changes of emotion come to fire the neurotransmitters in the brain. This is very important for interpreting psychosomatic disorders. In the future, a pharmacological trial through influencing the neurotransmitters in the brain will bring a new trend to the treatment of psychosomatic disordcrs.
