FoundationalConceptsNeuroscience

euphorigenic drugs (besides chocolate), and even orgasm. In addition,
dysfunctional compulsive behaviors—addictions of various kinds—
appear to be related to some kind of disruption of normal activity in
this circuit.
Like most things we know about brain function, the regulation of
emotions involves elaborate communication between many brain
regions. In addition to the important roles played by limbic and
other subcortical structures—such as the amygdala, hippocampus,
hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens, and ventral tegmentum—the
prefrontal cortex is also a key part of the emotion regulation circuitry.
There are many interconnections between the subcortical structures
listed above and the prefrontal cortex. Many brain-imaging studies
show relationships between neural activity in the frontal cortex and
aspects of emotion, and many theories speculate on the roles of vari-
ous aspects of brain activity in emotion.