Jaak Panksepp

The NeuroAffective Foundations of Mind:  From Psychic Pain to Primal Joy

November 5, 2012

Academic Building A G008, 5:00 PM

Abstract

Mammalian brains contain fundamental emotional substrates for various positive and negative emotional feelings and behaviors to anticipate the future and protect bodily and psychological needs.   A neuroevolutionary perspective on the emotional foundations of human and animal minds offers new perspectives for understanding consciousness and the nature of psychiatric disorders.  This talk will provide a working understanding of how basic emotional feelings are created in the brain, with a focus on feelings of sadness/grief and playful-joy.  Among the psychiatric disorders this work has helped illuminate ADHD, autism and depression,  and provide novel strategies for therapeutics.

Biography

Dr. Jaak Panksepp is Baily Endowed Professor of Animal Well-Being Science at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, and founder of the field of Affective Neuroscience. Along with many students and colleagues, he has published over 400 scientific articles, chapters and reviews devoted to elucidating the basic mechanisms of motivations and emotions as well as the fundamental nature of consciousness and self-representation in the brain. He is the author of Affective Neuroscience: the Foundation of Human and Animal Emotions (Oxford, 1998), editor of a Textbook of Biological Psychiatry (Wiley, 2004) and seven other books. Archaeology of Mind is forthcoming (Norton, 2012).

Reading

Panksepp J (2011) Cross-Species Affective Neuroscience Decoding of the Primal Affective Experiences of Humans and Related Animals. PLoS ONE 6(8):e21236. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021236

Presentation

Echo Center Course Portal

http://bustream.binghamton.edu:8080/ess/portal/section/aa37fec9-773d-4560-a179-76c8dbc782d6

Rich Media Playback: http://bustream.binghamton.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/953f7c5f-39d5-4e22-a48d-ea1e53ba9478

Podcast Playback: http://bustream.binghamton.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/953f7c5f-39d5-4e22-a48d-ea1e53ba9478/media.mp3