Emotion: Circuit Level: Panksepp

Panksepp sees emotions circuits as 'translimbic' sensory-motor command (executive) systems, collecting sensory information and transmitting them to behavioral (brain stem, basal ganglia) and cognitive (cortical) systems. Reciprocally, they also convey cortical and motor information to sensory systems (Pankseep 1982; Panksepp 1992). Four primary circuits are:

  • Positive expectancies: Basal ganglia, orbito-frontal-basal forebrain.
  • Perceptual anger and rage: corticomedial amygdala and temporal lobe.
  • Fear: basolateral and central amygdala, and temporal-pyriform cortex
  • Social emotions (e.g. separation distress): bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, cigulate gyrus and association cortices.

    • Editor: Jean-Marc Fellous

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