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      The Neuroendocrine System and Stress, Emotions, Thoughts and Feelings**

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      Mens Sana Monographs
      Medknow Publications
      Positive emotions, Limbic system, Spiritual, “Right-brain”

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          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          The philosophy of mind is intimately connected with the philosophy of action. Therefore, concepts like free will, motivation, emotions (especially positive emotions), and also the ethical issues related to these concepts are of abiding interest. However, the concepts of consciousness and free will are usually discussed solely in linguistic, ideational and cognitive (i.e. “left brain”) terms. Admittedly, consciousness requires language and the left-brain, but the aphasic right brain is equally conscious; however, what it “hears” are more likely to be music and emotions. Joy can be as conscious as the conscious motivation produced by the left-brain reading a sign that says, “Danger mines!!” However, look in the index of a Western textbook of psychology, psychiatry or philosophy for positive emotions located in the limbic system. Notice how discussion of positive spiritual/emotional issues in consciousness and motivation are scrupulously ignored. For example, the popular notions of “love” being either Eros (raw, amoral instinct) or agape (noble, non-specific valuing of all other people) miss the motivational forest for the trees. Neither Eros (hypothalamic) nor agape (cortical) has a fraction of the power to relieve stress as attachment (limbic love), yet until the 1950s attachment was neither appreciated nor discussed by academic minds. This paper will point out that the prosocial, “spiritual” positive emotions like hope, faith, forgiveness, joy, compassion and gratitude are extremely important in the relief of stress and in regulation of the neuroendocrine system, protecting us against stress. The experimental work reviewed by Antonio Damasio and Barbara Fredrickson, and the clinical example of Alcoholics Anonymous, will be used to illustrate these points.

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          Most cited references35

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          Empathy for pain involves the affective but not sensory components of pain.

          Our ability to have an experience of another's pain is characteristic of empathy. Using functional imaging, we assessed brain activity while volunteers experienced a painful stimulus and compared it to that elicited when they observed a signal indicating that their loved one--present in the same room--was receiving a similar pain stimulus. Bilateral anterior insula (AI), rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), brainstem, and cerebellum were activated when subjects received pain and also by a signal that a loved one experienced pain. AI and ACC activation correlated with individual empathy scores. Activity in the posterior insula/secondary somatosensory cortex, the sensorimotor cortex (SI/MI), and the caudal ACC was specific to receiving pain. Thus, a neural response in AI and rostral ACC, activated in common for "self" and "other" conditions, suggests that the neural substrate for empathic experience does not involve the entire "pain matrix." We conclude that only that part of the pain network associated with its affective qualities, but not its sensory qualities, mediates empathy.
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            Affective Neuroscience: The Foundation of Human and Animal Emotions

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              The making and breaking of affectional bonds

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Mens Sana Monogr
                MSM
                Mens Sana Monographs
                Medknow Publications (India )
                0973-1229
                1998-4014
                Jan-Dec 2011
                : 9
                : 1
                : 113-128
                Affiliations
                [* ] Harvard Medical School, 1249 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
                [** ] Revised and peer reviewed version of a Paper read at an International Seminar on Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, Thane College Campus, Thane, India, January 13-15, 2010.
                Author notes
                Address correspondence to: Dr. George E. Vaillant, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02215 USA. E-mail: gvaillant@ 123456partners.org
                Article
                MSM-9-113
                10.4103/0973-1229.77430
                3115283
                21694965
                3f4b1049-ab17-4f72-a90a-4ee4fbe799fb
                © Mens Sana Monographs

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 14 December 2009
                : 16 December 2010
                : 17 December 2010
                Categories
                Brain, Mind and Consciousness

                Neurology
                “right-brain”,positive emotions,spiritual,limbic system
                Neurology
                “right-brain”, positive emotions, spiritual, limbic system

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