Brain Science Podcast - The Origin of Emotions with Jaak Panksepp (BSP 91)

In Episode 91 of the Brain Science Podcast, Dr. Ginger Campbell speaks with noted neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp on the origin of emotions, and his new book, The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions (part of the Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology). Here is the description of the book offered by Norton:

A look at the seven emotional systems of the brain by the researcher who discovered them.

What makes us happy? What makes us sad? How do we come to feel a sense of enthusiasm? What fills us with lust, anger, fear, or tenderness? Traditional behavioral and cognitive neuroscience have yet to provide satisfactory answers. The Archaeology of Mind presents an affective neuroscience approach—which takes into consideration basic mental processes, brain functions, and emotional behaviors that all mammals share—to locate the neural mechanisms of emotional expression. It reveals—for the first time—the deep neural sources of our values and basic emotional feelings.

This book elaborates on the seven emotional systems that explain how we live and behave. These systems originate in deep areas of the brain that are remarkably similar across all mammalian species. When they are disrupted, we find the origins of emotional disorders:

- SEEKING: how the brain generates a euphoric and expectant response
- FEAR: how the brain responds to the threat of physical danger and death
- RAGE: sources of irritation and fury in the brain
- LUST: how sexual desire and attachments are elaborated in the brain
- CARE: sources of maternal nurturance
- GRIEF: sources of non-sexual attachments
- PLAY: how the brain generates joyous, rough-and-tumble interactions
- SELF: a hypothesis explaining how affects might be elaborated in the brain

The book offers an evidence-based evolutionary taxonomy of emotions and affects and, as such, a brand-new clinical paradigm for treating psychiatric disorders in clinical practice.

Panksep's other book for a general audience is Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions (Series in Affective Science).

With that background on the book, here are Drs. Campbell and Panksepp.

The Origin of Emotions with Jaak Panksepp (BSP 91)

By Ginger Campbell, MD
 

Dr. Jaak Panksepp (click to play audio)In his new book The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions Jaak Panksepp set out to make his life's work more accessible to a general audience. To be honest, reading this book requires a significant commitment, but I think he does a wonderful job of updating his classic textbook Affective Neuroscience. Anyone who is interested in this field will definitely want this book as a reference. The other strength of Archeology of Mind is its evolutionary approach. The primary emotional processes that Panksepp has spent his career studying have their origins in the ancient parts of the brain that are shared by all mammals. This contradicts longstanding assumptions in neuroscience, but it has important implications for both humans and other animals.

In Episode 91 of the Brain Science Podcast Dr. Panksepp and I talked about some of the new information contained in Archeology of Mind with a particular focus on FEAR, which contrary to what many researchers claim, does NOT begin in the amygdala, but begins much lower. We do talk briefly about the experimental evidence, but this was covered in more detail during Dr. Panksepp's previous appearance on the Brain Science Podcast in BSP 65.

Listen to Episode 91

FREE Transcript (Download PDF)

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References:

• The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions by Jaak Panksepp and Lucy Biven
• Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions by Jaak Panksepp
• Please see the FREE episode transcript for additional links and references

Related Episodes:

• BSP 32: an introduction to brain anatomy
• BSP 47: a review of brain evolution
• BSP 65: previous interview with Jaak Panksepp (click here for Premium version)
• BSP 89: interview with Evan Thompson, author of Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind
• BSP 90: review of Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain by Antonio Damasio