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Understanding emotion: Lessons from anxiety

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2012

Katherine S. Button ,
Glyn Lewis  and
Marcus R. Munafò
Katherine S. Button
Affiliation:
School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, United Kingdom. kate.button@bristol.ac.ukglyn.lewis@bristol.ac.ukhttp://www.bristol.ac.uk/psychiatry
Glyn Lewis
Affiliation:
School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, United Kingdom. kate.button@bristol.ac.ukglyn.lewis@bristol.ac.ukhttp://www.bristol.ac.uk/psychiatry
Marcus R. Munafò
Affiliation:
School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TU, United Kingdom. marcus.munafo@bristol.ac.ukhttp://www.bristol.ac.uk/expsych/research/brain/targ
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Abstract

We agree that conceptualisation is key in understanding the brain basis of emotion. We argue that by conflating facial emotion recognition with subjective emotion experience, Lindquist et al. understate the importance of biological predisposition in emotion. We use examples from the anxiety disorders to illustrate the distinction between these two phenomena, emphasising the importance of both emotional hardware and contextual learning.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , June 2012 , pp. 145
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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