Survival circuits have their ultimate origins in primordial mecha

Survival circuits have their ultimate origins in primordial mechanisms that were present in early life forms. This is suggested by the fact that extant single-cell organisms, such as bacteria, have the capacity to retract from harmful chemicals and to accept chemicals that have nutritional value (Macnab and Koshland, 1972). With the evolution of multicellular, and multisystem, eukaryotic organisms (Metazoa, or what we usually call animals), fundamental survival capacities increase in complexity and sophistication, in large part due to the presence of specialized sensory receptors and motor effectors, and a central check details nervous system that can coordinate bodily

functions and interactions with the environment (Shepherd, 1988). The brains of vertebrate organisms vary in size and complexity. Yet, in spite of these differences, there is a highly conserved organizational plan that is characteristic of all vertebrate 3-Methyladenine price brains (Nauta and Karten, 1970, Northcutt and Kaas, 1995, Swanson, 2002, Butler and Hodos, 2005 and Striedter, 2005). This conservation is most often discussed in terms of central sensory and motor systems. However, sensory motor systems do not exist in isolation, and in fact evolved to negotiate

interactions with the environment for the purpose of sustaining life—for example, by maintaining energy and fluid supplies, regulating body temperature, defending against harm, and enabling reproduction. The survival circuits listed do not align well with human basic emotions. However, my goal is not to align survival circuits with basic emotion categories. It is instead to break free from basic emotion categories based on human emotional feelings (introspectively labeled subjective states) and instead let conserved circuits do the heavy lifting. For example, there is no anger/aggression circuit in the present scheme. This might at first seem like a striking omission. However, it is important

to note that aggression is not a unitary state with a single neural representation (Moyer, 1976, Chi and Flynn, 1971 and Siegel and Edinger, 1981). much Distinct forms of aggression (conspecific, defensive, and predatory aggression) might be more effectively segregated by the context in which the aggression occurs: defense circuitry (aggression in an attempt to protect one’s self from harm); reproductive circuitry (aggression related to competition for mates); feeding circuitry (predatory aggression toward prey species). Similarly, a joy/pleasure/happiness kind of circuit is not listed and might seem like a fatal flaw. However, behaviors used to index joy/ pleasure/happiness are instead treated products of specific circuits involved in energy and nutrition, fluid balance, procreation, thermoregulation, etc.

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