Emotional consciousness: a neural model of how cognitive appraisal and somatic perception interact to produce qualitative experience.

Full Abstract

This paper proposes a theory of how conscious emotional experience is produced by the brain as the result of many interacting brain areas coordinated in working memory. These brain areas integrate perceptions of bodily states of an organism with cognitive appraisals of its current situation. Emotions are neural processes that represent the overall cognitive and somatic state of the organism. Conscious experience arises when neural representations achieve high activation as part of working memory. This theory explains numerous phenomena concerning emotional consciousness, including differentiation, integration, intensity, valence, and change.

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Author information

Author/s: Thagard, Paul (P); Aubie, Brandon (B);

Affiliation: Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ont., Canada N2L 3G1. pthagard(-atsign-)uwaterloo.ca

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Consciousness and cognition (Conscious Cogn), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Sep; vol 17 (issue 3) : pp 811-34

Dates: Created 2008/07/21; Completed 2008/10/02;

PMID: 17627843, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Affect
Brain - physiology
Cognition - physiology
Consciousness
Humans

Memory - physiology
Memory, Short-Term - physiology
Models, Psychological
Nerve Net - physiology
Social Perception

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