wednesday, 15 october 2014—12:15
The cognitive-emotion brain: from interactions to integration
Luiz Pessoa, Maryland Neuroimaging Center, University of Maryland
The current view of brain organization supports the notion that there is a considerable degree of functional specialization and that many regions can be conceptualized as either “affective” or “cognitive”. Popular examples are the amygdala in the domain of emotion and the lateral prefrontal cortex in cognition. This prevalent view is problematic for a number of reasons, as will be discussed in the talk. It will be argued that complex cognitive-emotional behaviors have their basis in networks of brain areas, none of which should be conceptualized as specifically affective or cognitive. Central to cognitive-emotional interactions are brain areas with a high degree of connectivity called hubs, which are critical for regulating the flow and integration of information between regions. To illustrate cognitive-emotional processing, I will discuss studies that have investigated interactions between emotion and perception, and emotion and executive function. I will also discuss a closely related type of interaction involving cognition and motivation/reward.