Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T14:09:34.487Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The role of the amygdala in the appraising brain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2012

David Sander
Affiliation:
Laboratory for the Study of Emotion Elicitation and Expression, Department of Psychology, FPSE and Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland. [email protected]://www.unige.ch/fapse/EmotionLabhttp://www.affective-sciences.org/

Abstract

Lindquist et al. convincingly argue that the brain implements psychological operations that are constitutive of emotion rather than modules subserving discrete emotions. However, the nature of such psychological operations is open to debate. I argue that considering appraisal theories may provide alternative interpretations of the neuroimaging data with respect to the psychological operations involved.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Calder, A. J., Lawrence, A. D. & Young, A. W. (2001) Neuropsychology of fear and loathing. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2:352–63. Available at: http://jppsg.ac.uk/psych/resources/lawrence2001.pdf.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekman, P. (1999) Basic emotions. In: Handbook of cognition and emotion, ed. Dalgleish, T. & Powers, M. J., pp. 4560, John Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frijda, N. H. (1986) The emotions. (Studies in emotions and social interaction). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Grandjean, D. & Scherer, K. R. (2008) Unpacking the cognitive architecture of emotion processes. Emotion 8(3):341–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kringelbach, M. L. & Berridge, K. C. (2009) Towards a functional neuroanatomy of pleasure and happiness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 13(11):479–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moors, A. (2009) Theories of emotion causation: A review. Cognition and Emotion 23(4):625–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Öhman, A. & Mineka, S. (2001) Fears, phobias, and preparedness: Toward an evolved module of fear and fear learning. Psychological Review 108:483522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sander, D. (in press) Models of emotion: The affective neuroscience approach. In: Handbook of human affective neuroscience, ed. Armony, J. L. & Vuilleumier, P.. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sander, D., Grafman, J. & Zalla, T. (2003) The human amygdala: An evolved system for relevance detection. Reviews in the Neurosciences 14(4):303–16. Available at: http://www.affective-sciences.org/system/files/Sander_etal_RevNeuro.PDF.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sander, D., Grandjean, D, Kaiser, S., Wehrle, T. & Scherer, K. R. (2007) Interaction effects of perceived gaze direction and dynamic facial expression: Evidence for appraisal theories of emotion. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 19:470–80. Available at: http://www.lemanic-neuroscience.ch/PENSTrainingCenter/articles/dsdg_ejcp06.pdf.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sander, D., Grandjean, D. & Scherer, K. R. (2005) A systems approach to appraisal mechanisms in emotion. Neural Networks 18:317–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scherer, K. R. & Ellsworth, P. C. (2009) Appraisal theories. In: The Oxford Companion to emotion and the affective sciences, ed. Sander, D. & Scherer, K. R.. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Vytal, K. & Hamann, S. (2010) Neuroimaging support for discrete neural correlates of basic emotions: A voxel-based meta-analysis. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 22(12):2864–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed