FoundationalConceptsNeuroscience

Emotions prepare us for and move us to action out into the world, in
immediate and powerful ways.
There is a strong association of the subjective component of
emotion with the very notion of consciousness. The word sentience
is frequently used as a synonym for conscious awareness, deriving
from the Latin root sentire = to feel. René Descartes famously wrote:
“I think, therefore I am’—“I feel, therefore Iam” would perhaps be a
more accurate statement. This latter phrase associates our experience
of “what it is like to be” more with something related to the whole
body. We are organisms, organic wholes—a body interacting with a
world. Our experience of who we are is grounded in that.
Emotions are generally unbidden and spontaneous. They may arise
quickly and subside after a brief time. They contribute to guiding how
we are reacting to something: with excitement, fear, anger, sadness,
compassion. And emotions may reveal otherwise private aspects of
inner experience to others and thus are a form of social communica-
tion. It may be useful to us for our fellow beings to know how we feel.
Expressions of emotions like happiness, joy, compassion, tenderness,
admiration, awe, affection, and love help us get along and form rela-
tionships with others; they are at the foundation of cooperative social
systems.
What’s the difference between an emotion and a mood? While
some folks may use these two terms interchangeably, acommon
distinction relates to temporal duration. Emotions may be very brief;
moods are more prolonged. And while emotions are often evoked by
specific events or circumstances, this may not be the case for moods.
Etymologically, mood is related to mode, from the Latin modus, mean-
ing manner, method, or way. Emotions experienced repeatedly over
time may become, or contribute to, moods. It may be appropriate to
say that moods of some kind are always present, at some level, provid-