Brain Science Podcast 65: Affective Neuroscience with Jaak Panksepp

Affective neuroscience, much like interpersonal neurobiology, is one of the hottest fields these days - and this episode of the Brain Science Podcast talks with one of the main researchers, Jaak Panksepp, PhD, author of Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions.

BSP 65: Affective Neuroscience with Jaak Panksepp

Posted on January 13th, 2010 by Ginger Campbell, MD

Episode 65 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Jaak Panksepp, PhD, author of Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions. Dr. Panksepp has done pioneering work on the neural origins of emotions. In this interview we discuss how his work challenges some of the common assumptions about emotions and some of the important implications of his discoveries. New listeners may want to go back and listen to Episode 11 for an introduction to the neuroscience of emotion.

Listen to Episode 65 [Play]

Episode Transcript (Download PDF)

References:

• Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions by Jaak Panksepp.
• “How to Undress the Affective Mind: An Interview with Jaak Panksepp,” S Gallagher, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 15, Number 2, 2008 , pp. 89-119(31).
• “Affective consciousness: Core emotional feelings in animals and humans,”J Panksepp, Consciousness and Cognition 14 (2005)30-80. Elsevier. (available on-line via ScienceDirect.com)
• Visit Dr. Panksepp’s faculty page for more references.

Scientists Mentioned in this Episode:

• John Bowlby: studied the effects of maternal deprivation, helped develop attachment theory
• John Cacioppo: developed the concept of social neuroscience.
• Antonio Damasio: neurologist and author of several books including The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness.
• Walter Hess: work in the 1930’s showed that stimulation of the cat hypothalamus led to anger. He shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1949.
• Tom Insel: Director of the National Institutes for Mental Health (NIMH)
• William James: early pioneer of scientific psychology. The James-Lange Theory of emotion is an outdated theory that emotion result from the brain’s interpretation of signals coming from the body.
• Eric Kandel: won the Nobel Prize in 2000 for his work with memory in the Aplysia.
• Brian Knutson: former student of Panksepp
• Joseph Ledoux: well-known for his work with fear and memory
• Endel Tulving: memory researcher at the University of Toronto
• For all the scientists mentioned see the episode transcript.

Tags: Brain Science Podcast, episode 65, Affective Neuroscience, Jaak Panksepp, brain, Psychology, emotions, evolution, consciousness, Ginger Campbell