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The affective neuroeconomics of social brains: One man's cruelty is another's suffering

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2006

Jaak Panksepp*
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Animal Well-Being, College of Veterinary Medicine (VCAPP), Washington State University, Pullman, WA99164-6520

Abstract:

Cruelty does not emerge from a single emotional system of the brain. Its many cognitive aspects are intermeshed inextricably with the nature of negative affects ranging from fear to suffering. The rewards of cruelty may be counteracted by a variety of neurochemical factors as well as novel social policies.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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References

Note

1. My practice of using capitalizations for emotional primes (Panksepp 1998) is to highlight that specific circuits are referents for these vernacular terms, so as to minimize mereological (part–whole) confusions. These are circuits that are critically important for certain emotions, with no implication that I am talking about all aspects of the emotional term. None is a single-chemistry system. For example, the SEEKING system is strongly aroused by dopaminergic arousal, but there are many other neural components.