‘Love and Fear’ as portraited by Affective Neuroscience

Abstract

Modern neuroscience is on the verge of exploring new frontiers within various subdisciplines. The question of how our brain with over hundred billion neurons puts together cognition, emotion and behavior has always been captivating. As such, the study of neural processes through which we not only maintain our survival and homeostasis, but also stay productive and functional, has attracted cognitive neuroscientists for decades. With the advent of neurotechnologies and ever-growing research facilities, modern neuroscience has seen a tremendous progress in dealing with such questions. This letter argues the most referenced theories with respect to key concepts in affective neuroscience, i.e. fear, love and related emotions or traits. We hope the present letter is found thought-provoking with regards to further theoretical models and empirical research in affective neuroscience and neuropsychology.Although the link between various aspects of emotion and behaviors are being systematically studied, some fundamental issues have remained unclear in terms of the trilateral relations between cognition, emotion and behavior. That is perhaps why neurobehavioral scientists keep arguing already positioned basic theories and conceptual frameworks before hypothesizing novel ideas and designing new experiments in the study of emotion. In the context of Affective Neuroscience, empirical research are still underway to help answering each of the questions. Studies on the nature of emotion are expected to further reveal the central issues in emotion research and theory in the words of many of the leading scientists working in the field today.