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Cited by 58Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesMemory and Neural MechanismsFunctional Brain Connectivity Studies

Emotion and the Interactive Brain: Insights From Comparative Neuroanatomy and Complex Systems

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Pessoa, Luiz·2018·Emotion Review
DOI 10.1177/1754073918765675PMC PMC6752744
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Abstract

Although emotion is closely associated with motivation, and interacts with perception, cognition, and action, many conceptualizations still treat emotion as separate from these domains. Here, a comparative/evolutionary anatomy framework is presented to motivate the idea that long-range, distributed circuits involving the midbrain, thalamus, and forebrain are central to emotional processing. It is proposed that emotion can be understood in terms of large-scale network interactions spanning the neuroaxis that form “functionally integrated systems.” At the broadest level, the argument is made that we need to move beyond a Newtonian view of causation to one involving complex systems where bidirectional influences and nonlinearities abound. Therefore, understanding interactions between subsystems and signal integration becomes central to unraveling the organization of the emotional brain.

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Authors
Pessoa, L.
Affiliations
Department of Psychology and Maryland Neuroimaging Center, University of Maryland, USA
Corresponding author
Pessoa, Luiz
ORCID
Pessoa, Luiz
Venue
Emotion Review
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2018-07
Volume
10
Issue
3
Pages
204-216
ISSN
  • 1754-0739 (ISSN-L)
  • 1754-0747
DOI
10.1177/1754073918765675
PMC
PMC6752744
OpenAlex
W2883277121
Cited by
58
References
14
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1
FWCI
3.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Emotion Review (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (MH071589, MH112517)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
Keywords
emotions, emotional brain, comparative neuroanatomy, evolutionary anatomy, midbrain, thalamus, forebrain, complex systems, signal integration, motivation, emotion-cognition interaction

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