TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding emotions
T2 - Origins and roles of the amygdala
AU - Šimić, Goran
AU - Tkalčić, Mladenka
AU - Vukić, Vana
AU - Mulc, Damir
AU - Španić, Ena
AU - Šagud, Marina
AU - Olucha-Bordonau, Francisco E.
AU - Vukšić, Mario
AU - Hof, Patrick R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Emotions arise from activations of specialized neuronal populations in several parts of the cerebral cortex, notably the anterior cingulate, insula, ventromedial prefrontal, and subcortical structures, such as the amygdala, ventral striatum, putamen, caudate nucleus, and ventral tegmen-tal area. Feelings are conscious, emotional experiences of these activations that contribute to neuronal networks mediating thoughts, language, and behavior, thus enhancing the ability to predict, learn, and reappraise stimuli and situations in the environment based on previous experiences. Contemporary theories of emotion converge around the key role of the amygdala as the central subcortical emotional brain structure that constantly evaluates and integrates a variety of sensory information from the surroundings and assigns them appropriate values of emotional dimensions, such as valence, intensity, and approachability. The amygdala participates in the regulation of autonomic and endocrine functions, decision-making and adaptations of instinctive and motivational behaviors to changes in the environment through implicit associative learning, changes in short-and long-term synaptic plasticity, and activation of the fight-or-flight response via efferent projections from its central nucleus to cortical and subcortical structures.
AB - Emotions arise from activations of specialized neuronal populations in several parts of the cerebral cortex, notably the anterior cingulate, insula, ventromedial prefrontal, and subcortical structures, such as the amygdala, ventral striatum, putamen, caudate nucleus, and ventral tegmen-tal area. Feelings are conscious, emotional experiences of these activations that contribute to neuronal networks mediating thoughts, language, and behavior, thus enhancing the ability to predict, learn, and reappraise stimuli and situations in the environment based on previous experiences. Contemporary theories of emotion converge around the key role of the amygdala as the central subcortical emotional brain structure that constantly evaluates and integrates a variety of sensory information from the surroundings and assigns them appropriate values of emotional dimensions, such as valence, intensity, and approachability. The amygdala participates in the regulation of autonomic and endocrine functions, decision-making and adaptations of instinctive and motivational behaviors to changes in the environment through implicit associative learning, changes in short-and long-term synaptic plasticity, and activation of the fight-or-flight response via efferent projections from its central nucleus to cortical and subcortical structures.
KW - Amygdala
KW - Anxiety
KW - Emotion
KW - Evolution
KW - Fear
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106672553&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/biom11060823
DO - 10.3390/biom11060823
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34072960
AN - SCOPUS:85106672553
SN - 2218-273X
VL - 11
JO - Biomolecules
JF - Biomolecules
IS - 6
M1 - 823
ER -