1,721,199 research outputs found
The Cradle of Consciousness: A Periconscious Emotional Homunculus?: Commentary by Jaak Panksepp (Bowling Green)
On Preventing Another Century of Misunderstanding: Toward a Psychoethology of Human Experience and a Psychoneurology of Affect: Commentary by Jaak Panksepp (Bowling Green, Ohio)
Evolutionary aspects of self- and world consciousness in vertebrates
Although most aspects of world and self-consciousness are inherently subjective, neuroscience studies in humans and non-human animals provide correlational and causative indices of specific links between brain activity and representation of the self and the world. In this article we review neuroanatomic, neurophysiological and neuropsychological data supporting the hypothesis that different levels of self and world representation in vertebrates rely upon (i) a “basal” subcortical system that includes brainstem, hypothalamus and central thalamic nuclei and that may underpin the primary (or anoetic) consciousness likely present in all vertebrates; and (ii) a forebrain system that include the medial and lateral structures of the cerebral hemispheres and may sustain the most sophisticated forms of consciousness [e.g., noetic (knowledge based) and autonoetic, reflective knowledge]. We posit a mutual, bidirectional functional influence between these two major brain circuits. We conclude that basic aspects of consciousness like primary self and core self (based on anoetic and noetic consciousness) are present in many species of vertebrates and that, even self-consciousness (autonoetic consciousness) does not seem to be a prerogative of humans and of some non-human primates but may, to a certain extent, be present in some other mammals and bird
Animal Emotions
Animal Emotions: How They Drive Human Behavior gives a concise overview of ancient mammalian emotions deeply rooted in the human brain. Jaak Panksepp, a world-renowned neuroscientist, dedicated his life career to the study of mammalian emotions and he carved out seven distinct emotional systems he called seeking, lust, care, and play (positive emotions), and fear, anger, and sadness (negative emotions), all exerting a tremendous influence on human behavior.Christian Montag, a neuroscientist and psychologist, and a long-time collaborator of Jaak Panksepp, revisits together with Kenneth L. Davis, one of Jaak’s PhD students, Panksepp’s theories and provides the reader with new insights into the nature of emotions and their role as survival tools, both for animals and for humans. They also raise new questions about the background of the research field Jaak Panksepp coined "Affective Neuroscience." How are personality and psychopathology linked to animal emotions? Do animals feel the same way as we do? What are our emotional needs in a digital society, and what is key to a happy life
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