Episode 65 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Jaak Panksepp, PhD, author of Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions. Dr. Panksepp has done pioneering work on the neural origins of emotions. In this interview we discuss how his work challenges some of the common assumptions about emotions and some of the important implications of his discoveries. New listeners may want to go back and listen to Episode 11 for an introduction to the neuroscience of emotion.
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Episode Transcript (Download PDF)
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References:
- Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions by Jaak Panksepp.
- “How to Undress the Affective Mind: An Interview with Jaak Panksepp,” S Gallagher, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 15, Number 2, 2008 , pp. 89-119(31).
- “Affective consciousness: Core emotional feelings in animals and humans,”J Panksepp, Consciousness and Cognition 14 (2005)30-80. Elsevier. (available on-line via ScienceDirect.com)
- Visit Dr. Panksepp’s faculty page for more references.
Scientists Mentioned in this Episode:
- John Bowlby: studied the effects of maternal deprivation, helped develop attachment theory
- John Cacioppo: developed the concept of social neuroscience.
- Antonio Damasio: neurologist and author of several books including The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness.
- Walter Hess: work in the 1930′s showed that stimulation of the cat hypothalamus led to anger. He shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1949.
- Tom Insel: Director of the National Institutes for Mental Health (NIMH)
- William James: early pioneer of scientific psychology. The James-Lange Theory of emotion is an outdated theory that emotion result from the brain’s interpretation of signals coming from the body.
- Eric Kandel: won the Nobel Prize in 2000 for his work with memory in the Aplysia.
- Brian Knutson: former student of Panksepp
- Joseph Ledoux: well-known for his work with fear and memory
- Endel Tulving: memory researcher at the University of Toronto
- For all the scientists mentioned see the episode transcript.
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{ 4 comments }
Another great podcast!
Two things:
1. I heard him mention McLean (triune brain theory), and also checked one of his papers, where McLean was mentioned again as one of his foundational people. It’s my understanding based on the interview you did with Striedter that the McLean theory had been refuted. I wonder what Panksepp’s response is to this.
2. Also, just out of curiosity, I’d love to know what David Bainbridge’s ( Beyond the Zonules of Zinn, vet and neuroanatomist) opinion might be about Panksepp’s work.
Thank you for yet another thought-provoking episoode,
Diane Jacobs
Panksepp has acknowledged that some of McLean’s ideas are now considered outdated, but he considers his evolutionary approach worthwhile, and he continues to acknowledge that this approach has inspired his own work.
I was interested to hear of the differing opinions between Panksepp and Damasio. I thought the Damasio book ‘the feeling of what happens’ was brilliant, after the Pankseep interview I got the impression he felt Damasio was to ‘somatocentric’ . I would love you to get Damasio on to speak to see what his position is now.
Thanks for the wonderful podcasts.
According to Dr. Pankseep, The Feeling of What Happens was closer in spirit to his own work than Damasio’s later book Looking for Spinoza. It would be interesting to interview Damasio. I intend to contact him right away when he publishes something new.
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