Despite the central importance of emotions for human existence, debates still focus on their definition, number, and whether different emotions have different physiological signatures. Although there has been no shortage of psychological research on these debates, psychological analyses have not resolved many of the core issues surrounding emotion processing. Instead, information about the representation of basic emotions in the brain may shed light on the nature of affective processes.
Indeed, studies of the neural basis of emotion processing have a long history and remain an active subfield within experimental and theoretical research. Over the past century, scientists have been searching for the physical substrate of basic emotions. Basic emotion theory has been influential in shaping research in the affective field for decades, and it has opened new lines of research in psychology, such as detection of facial expressions in neuroimaging. Even today, popular models are still assuming that there are a set of basic emotions that have their own dedicated neural circuitry; and that these neural substrates underlying basic emotions are universally similar and shared with other animals. Nevertheless, the structures for basic emotions are usually mixed and widespread in the brain, which suggests an alternative approach: neuromodulators. In our first volume, we suggested that emotions are nothing but neurotransmitters.
As there is still the need to improve the conceptualization and classification of emotional states and how neuromodulators are specifically involved in these states, we decided to welcome new papers for our second volume of
“Neurotransmitters and Emotions”. We welcome papers that focus on the emotional functions of neuromodulators, such as dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE), serotonin (5-HT) and acetyl choline (ACh), to establish the mechanism through which they act as the primary neural basis for the primary emotions, such as joy, anger, fear, sadness. For example, DA might be a rewarding signal for salient stimuli such as food, sex and other needs, 5-HT has been related to depression for decades, and NE is the substrate for “fight or flight” behaviors, or fear and anger emotions.
Additionally, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which was named the stress hormone, can simulate norepinephrine (NE) synthesis, dopamine, and 5-HT. CRH release also activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which has been widely accepted as one of the central mechanisms involved in stress. The CRH induces release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which can in turn alter function of the neural network by altering building blocks in the networks and by altering the integrative properties, and thus the behavioral or emotional changes. Indeed, some stressful events can induce monoamine release and we welcome studies on all events that are linked with monoamine. We welcome the following submission formats: quantitative or qualitative research, review, perspective, opinion, commentaries, and case studies.
Themes in this Research Topic might include, but are not limited to, the following:
• The relationship of the neural circuits that represents the monoaminergic neurons with affective/emotional studies;
• Theoretical explorations of monoamine and basic emotions, such as dopamine with reward or happiness; norepinephrine with fight-or-flight; 5-HT with depression;
• Other neurotransmitters which affect monoamines and affective/emotional phenomena;
• Neurobiological mechanisms of stress and emotions, such as HPA, MAO;
• Drugs that affect monoamine and affective diseases on animal research and/or from various human populations (healthy vs. clinical, etc.)
• Case reports about neurotransmitter disturbance within affective disorders.
