What is emotion? How do our brains create emotions. In this lecture, I explain the three core components of emotions: subjective feelings, internal physiology, and expressed behavior. We learn that there are distinct brain circuits that control emotion, all the way down to our smile. I also discuss in detail the amygdala, which is a critical regulator of emotion, especially fear and anxiety. We discuss results from studies in humans and rodents that show the amygdala is a critical regulator of fear. The amygdala is a complex structure that takes in sensory information and processes it to shape behavioral output via changes in the sympathetic nervous system, the endocrine system, and instinctual reflexes regulated by the brain stem.
15 ноя 2020
