What part of the brain controls control of emotional response

As we all know, emotions are complex. Psychologists say that we have only 6 basic emotions, which are happiness, anger, sadness, fear, surprise, and disgust. All of our other emotions are built from the 6 basic emotions. For example, jealousy stems from a combined feeling of anger or sadness, while satisfaction can be a type of happiness.

When it comes to emotions, it turns out that there are regions in the brain, specifically in the limbic system, that are associated with each of the 6 main emotions. Emotions are actually experiences that are associated with activation of certain regions in the brain.

Emotion structures in brain

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning and functional MRI studies have shown that some emotions are more likely to be associated with different regions of limbic system activity than other emotions.

1. Happiness activates several areas of the brain, including the right frontal cortex, the precuneus, the left amygdala, and the left insula. This activity involves connections between awareness (frontal cortex and insula) and the “feeling center” (amygdala) of the brain.

2. Fear activates the bilateral amygdala, the hypothalamus and areas of the left frontal cortex. This involves some thinking (frontal cortex), a “gut” feeling (amygdala), and a sense of urgency typically associated with survival (the hypothalamus.)

3. Sadness is associated with increased activity of the right occipital lobe, the left insula, the left thalamus the amygdala and the hippocampus. The hippocampus is strongly linked with memory, and it makes sense that awareness of certain memories is associated with feeling sad.

Sadness has been studied more than the other emotions because depression may last for a long time; the effects of antidepressants can be measured based on improved symptoms.

4. Disgust is an interesting feeling that is often associated with avoidance. This emotion that is associated with activation and connections between the left amygdala, the left inferior frontal cortex, and the insular cortex. 

5. Anger is an important emotion that many people, adults and children alike, try to control. Anger is associated with activation of the right hippocampus, the amygdala, both sides of the prefrontal cortex and the insular cortex.

6. Surprise is an emotion that can either make you feel good or it can make you feel bad. Surprise activates the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus and the bilateral hippocampus. The hippocampus is strongly associated with memory, and the element of surprise is, by nature, associated with experiencing something that you do not remember or do not expect.

Localized disease in the brain can cause changes in emotions. Similarly, diffuse disease, such as that seen in conditions such as multiple sclerosis and small vessel disease, can also induce changes in emotional status, which are often recognized clinically as changes in a patients’ personality. How often do you see changes in a patient’s ability to process emotion as a neurological disease progresses over time?

Additional reading

1. Alkozei A, Killgore WD. Emotional intelligence is associated with reduced insula responses to masked angry faces. Neuroreport. 2015;26:561-5671.

2. Fusar-Poli P, Placentino A, Carletti F, et al. Functional atlas of emotional faces processing: a voxel-based meta-analysis of 105 functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2009;34:418-432.

In the 1970s, anthropologist Paul Ekman proposed that humans experienced six basic emotions: anger, fear, surprise, disgust, joy, and sadness. Since then, scientists have disputed the exact number of human emotions — some researchers maintain there are only four, while others count as many as 27. And, scientists also debate whether they are universal to all human cultures and whether we’re born with them or learn them through experience. Even the definition of emotion is a topic of controversy. One thing is clear though — emotions arise from activity in distinct regions of the brain.

Three brain structures appear most closely linked with emotions: the amygdala, the insula or insular cortex, and a structure in the midbrain called the periaqueductal gray.

Explore the Amygdala 3D BRAIN

A paired, almond-shaped structure deep within the brain, the amygdala integrates emotions, emotional behavior, and motivation. It interprets fear, helps distinguish friends from foes, and identifies social rewards and how to attain them. The amygdala is also important for a type of learning called classical conditioning. Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov first described classical conditioning, where, through repeated exposure, a stimulus elicits a particular response, in his studies of digestion in dogs. The dogs salivated when a lab technician brought them food. Over time, Pavlov noted the dogs also began to salivate at the mere sight of the technician, even if he was empty-handed.

The insula is the source of disgust — a strong negative reaction to an unpleasant odor, for instance. The experience of disgust may protect you from ingesting poison or spoiled food. Studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have found the insula lights up with activity when someone feels or anticipates pain. Neuroscientists think the insula receives a status report about the body’s physiological state and generates subjective feelings about it thus linking internal states, feelings, and conscious actions.

The periaqueductal gray, located in the brainstem, has also been implicated in pain perception. It contains receptors for pain-reducing compounds like morphine and oxycodone, and can help quell activity in pain-sensing nerves — it might be part of the reason you can sometimes distract yourself from pain so you don’t feel it as acutely. The periaqueductal gray is also involved in defensive and reproductive behaviors, maternal attachment, and anxiety.

While emotions are intangible and hard to describe — even for scientists — they serve important purposes, helping us learn, initiate actions, and survive.

Adapted from the 8th edition of Brain Facts by Alexis Wnuk

About the Author

Deborah Halber

Deborah Halber is a Boston-based author, science writer and journalist. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, Time.com, The Boston Globe, MIT Technology Review, Boston magazine, and university publications.