Anatomy of Emotions and Behavior

structures associated with recognition of emotion

• amygdala

• area 25 and mediodorsal nucleus of thalamus

• ventral striatum

• anterior insula

amygdala

detects emotional and social cues; generates feelings of fear and disgust

area 25 and mediodorsal nucleus of thalamus

generate sad mood and depression

ventral striatum

reward oriented behavior and responses to conditioned stimuli

anterior insula

awareness of emotions and of stimuli inside the body

recognition of emotion

recognize emotional stimuli; generate and perceive emotions; regulate autonomic aspects of emotion

automatic regulation of emotion

rewards to guide behavior; part of behavioral flexibility loop of basal ganglia

structures associated with automatic regulation of emotion

• rostral anterior cingulate cortex

• orbital cortex

• hippocampus

• parahippocampal gyrus

rostral anterior cingulate cortex

directs attention away from emotion; motivated behavior

orbital cortex

use of rewards to guide behavior; inhibits undesirable behavior

hippocampus

resolve goal conflicts (i.e. can’t do multiple things at once and need to pick one)

parahippocampal gyrus

detects novel stimuli

automatic and voluntary regulation of emotion

impulse control, personality, reactions to surroundings, perception of others' emotions

structures associated with automatic and voluntary regulation of emotion

• medial dorsal prefrontal cortex

• ventromedial prefrontal cortex

• ventrolateral prefrontal cortex

• dorsal anterior cingulate cortex

medial dorsal prefrontal cortex

perception of others’ emotions and infer others’ beliefs and intentions

ventromedial prefrontal cortex

sad mood, value assessment of objects, reward associations, elicits visceral responses

ventrolateral prefrontal cortex

guilt, recall of personal memories

dorsal anterior cingulate cortex

goal-directed behavior, expressing emotions, error monitoring

voluntary regulation of emotion

self-awareness, executive functions

structures associated with voluntary regulation of emotion

• dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

executive (goal-directed) function, self-awareness