Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a noninvasive technique widely used in research to identify and characterize the neural correlates of human cognitive and affective processes. Here we provide a brief introduction to the physical and physiological bases of fMRI, as well as a description of some of the main analysis approaches. These include traditional approaches, such as those based on univariate general linear models, as well as more recent ones, including multivariate methods and connectivity measures. We discuss how these different techniques can be used to answer different, complementary scientific questions, providing some examples to illustrate this. We end with a discussion of some of the key issues, both in terms of experimental design and data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation, that should be considered when planning an fMRI study and that can be of particular interest to those new to the technique.

Decades of research demonstrate cultural variation in different aspects of emotion, including the focus of emotion, expressive values and norms, and experiential ideals and values. These studies have focused primarily on Western and East Asian cultural comparisons, although recent work has included Latinx samples. In this chapter, we discuss why studying culture is important for studies of emotion and what neuroscientific methods can contribute to our understanding of culture and emotion. We then describe research that uses neuroscientific methods to explore both cultural differences and similarities in emotion. Finally, we discuss current challenges and outstanding questions for future research.

This chapter introduces peripheral physiological measures of emotion as important tools for studying emotion in affective neuroscience. It examines responses across three systems: skeletal muscle activity, autonomic nervous system (cardiovascular and electrodermal), and respiration. It surveys measurement modalities, derived metrics, their neural control, timescales of expected response, and prominent findings in recent literature, linking them to central nervous system activity throughout. The chapter concludes by highlighting outstanding questions and future challenges in the field of peripheral physiological measures of emotion.

This chapter explores the interplay between emotions and memory, highlighting the interrelations between regulatory and memory processes. In the first section we describe how, through indirect and direct influences, emotions impact every phase of the episodic memory cycle: encoding, consolidation, and retrieval. Whereas many of these influences are attributed to the amygdala and hippocampus, recent work has emphasized the role of a broad network of regions, extending well beyond these medial temporal lobe regions. In the second section, we focus on the role of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in adjusting the content, emotionality, and narrative context at each phase of the episodic memory cycle. In the third section, we discuss the reciprocal interactions between emotions and memory: Our memories serve as triggers for emotions and can be used as an emotion regulation device, while our emotions and emotion regulation goals can likewise influence our memories. The final section highlights broad directions for future research.

Large-scale neural activity during emotional processes can be measured noninvasively and in real time using electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). Both methods have been applied to the study of human affect, yielding information regarding the time course and cerebral correlates of emotional processes. This chapter aims to provide the reader with an understanding of how EEG and MEG may be used in affective neuroscience, including current trends and new methods in this rapidly expanding field. To this end, we discuss the neurophysiological mechanisms and physical origin of electromagnetic brain signals, highlighting methodological challenges and paradigmatic applications of EEG and MEG in affective neuroscience. We also illustrate methodological approaches used by affective neuroscientists, including experimental designs, data-recording procedures, and analytical methods. The chapter concludes by noting major challenges and future directions for EEG and MEG studies in affective neuroscience research.

Adolescence is marked by both normative changes in neural systems associated with emotion and increased sensitivity to social influences, especially from peers. Whereas the influences of caregiver emotion socialization practices on the emotional development of youths are well-studied, less is understood about how socialization through peer contexts impacts adolescents’ emotions. In this chapter, we first describe the neurobiological shifts that influence emotional processing during this developmental stage. We then review a growing literature linking caregiver and peer socialization to the development of emotion and related neurocircuitry. To emphasize the role of individual differences in emotional development, we situate these literatures within the differential susceptibility framework, which recognizes that adolescents’ neural sensitivity to social information may alter the degree to which caregiver and peer influences modulate emotional behaviors, skills, and experiences. We conclude by describing several perspectives for this emerging area of research, bridging developmental, social, and affective neuroscience.

Human affective science has advanced rapidly over the past decades, emerging as a central topic in the study of the mind. This handbook provides a comprehensive and authoritative road map to the field, encompassing the most important topics and methods. It covers key issues related to basic processes including perception of, and memory for, different types of emotional information, as well as how these are influenced by individual, social, and cultural factors. Methods such as functional neuroimaging are also covered. Evidence from clinical studies of brain disease such as anxiety and mood disorders shed new light on the functioning of emotion in all brains. In covering a dynamic and multifaceted field of study, this book will appeal to students and researchers in neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, biology, medicine, education, social sciences, and philosophy.

The connection between olfaction and emotions has been established across many subjects. Considering the anatomy of the olfactory system, the canonical targets of olfactory projection neurons are part of and associated with nonolfactory neural circuits, widely summarized as the limbic system. Presumably, partly due to this strong connection between olfaction and the limbic system, odors can directly evoke emotions and result in emotional autobiographical memories. Accordingly, odors have been used to modify emotions via nocturnal exposure, active inhalation, and olfactory training. Odor pleasantness impacts these beneficial effects. The valence of odors changes resting state functional connectivity in regions associated with emotions, memory, motivation, and action control. Considering all the above, olfactory loss negatively influences human behaviors in various life domains, including ingestion, hazard avoidance, and social communication, often resulting in a reduced quality of life and well-being, which in turn may be associated with depressive disorders.

Emotionally or motivationally significant stimuli tend to attract, divert, or hold attention more readily than neutral stimuli. These effects arise during numerous tasks, varying as a function of stimulus type or emotional cue. Their neural substrates involve enhanced activity of sensory cortices under direct influence of emotional or reward processing systems, including the amygdala, in combination with other top-down or bottom-up biases that together serve to prioritize behaviorally relevant information for access to conscious awareness. Other indirect influences act through interactions of emotional and motivational systems, with cortical or subcortical networks controlling attention, including executive functions and neuromodulatory pathways. These data reveal that attentional processes encompass multiple biasing signals that can modulate stimulus processing, based not only on space or object representations, as traditionally considered, but also value-based representations. Such mechanisms of emotional attention or affect-driven biases may operate preattentively, involuntarily, or non-consciously, yet nonetheless be regulated by current goals or context.

This chapter discusses the emotional brain from a brain networks perspective, which contrasts with attempts to assign a unique or emotion-specific role to individual brain regions engaged in emotion phenomena. Here, the emphasis will be on the collective function of coalitions of brain areas that carry out functions that are often considered important for emotion. We will call these coalitions “networks” or “circuits” interchangeably. Brain networks/circuits are composed of both cortical and noncortical regions. Brain regions carry out one or more processes (“computations”), and the degree to which they can be functionally specialized is a matter of much debate. As our emphasis will be on networks/circuits, we will focus mostly on how brain regions contribute to overall functions. We consider fear and related phenomena, such as anxiety, as illustrative examples given the extensive literature across species in this area.

The brain faces an array of behavioral control challenges varying in complexity, abstraction, and temporal scale. Leveraging multiple decision-making strategies offers a clear advantage, allowing for adaptability to different contexts. Even when solving a single problem, the selection from or combination of different strategies can enhance the likelihood of success. Consequently, the brain faces the critical task of arbitrating between experts effectively. Here, we review theories of multiple controllers in value-driven decision-making, the mechanisms of arbitration between them, and the neural correlates of such processes. Although these theories have provided meaningful explanations for observed behavior and neural activity, fundamental questions persist regarding the precise nature of these controllers, their interactions, and their neural underpinnings. Notably, the role of subjective states in these computations has been largely overlooked, despite their obvious importance in the experience of making decisions.

In this chapter, we review empirical and conceptual work pertaining to organic changes in the brain and shifting goals as contributors to age-related changes in affective processing. We argue for the need to integrate these two previously isolated lines of research by delineating their crucial interplay toward a comprehensive understanding of affective neuroscience in aging. We present examples of aging trajectories, impacted by organic brain and motivational change, to identify key processes of interest for future research and potent intervention targets to promote successful aging. We conclude with open basic and applied research questions embedded within our integrated conceptual framework to guide future research on affective neuroscience in aging.

In recent years, the study of the neural mechanisms of emotion in humans has constituted one of the most fertile research areas in cognitive neuroscience. Human neuropsychology has provided crucial insights in this domain. Careful examination of patients with neurological disorders showed that emotion, like memory, language, and so on, could be differentially affected by brain damage, whether caused by stroke, tumors, or other disease. Lesion studies give us not only insight into the constellation of emotion disabilities linked to specific brain regions but also valuable information about structural reorganization, functional compensation, and, possibly, recovery of the deficit over time. Following a concise methodological introduction to neuropsychology and the lesion method, this chapter will examine the principal findings derived from the application of the lesion method in patients with neuropsychological disorders, specifically those with isolated lesions of the amygdala, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and the insula. The discussion will aim to elucidate the functional significance of these brain regions and their roles in emotional processes.