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Concept
Affective neuroscience
Summary
Affective neuroscience is the study of how the brain processes emotions. This field combines neuroscience with the psychological study of personality, emotion, and mood. The basis of emotions and what emotions are remains an issue of debate within the field of affective neuroscience.
The term "affective neuroscience" was coined by neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp, at a time when cognitive neuroscience focused on parts of psychology that did not include emotion, such as attention or memory.
Emotions are thought to be related to activity in brain areas that direct our attention, motivate our behavior, and help us make decisions about our environment. Early stages of research on emotions and the brain was conducted by Paul Broca, James Papez, and Paul D. MacLean. Their work suggests that emotion is related to a group of structures in the center of the brain called the limbic system. The limbic system is made up of the following brain structures:
Amygdala – The amygdala is made up of two small, round structures located closer to the forehead (anterior) to the hippocampi near the temporal poles. The amygdalae are involved in detecting and learning which parts of our surroundings are important and have emotional significance. They are critical for the production of emotion. They are known to be very important for negative emotions, especially fear. Amygdala activation often happens when we see a potential threat. The amygdala uses our past, related memories to help us make decisions about what is currently happening.
Thalamus – The thalamus is involved in combining sensory and motor signals and then sending that information to the cerebral cortex. The thalamus plays an important role in regulating sleep and wakefulness.
Hypothalamus – The hypothalamus is involved in producing a physical response (for example, crying) with an emotion. The hypothalamus is also used in reward circuits which are associated with positive emotions.
Hippocampus – The hippocampus is a structure that is mainly involved in memory.
Official source
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