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Updated: Dec 28, 2025
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Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation
Published on: August 26, 2011
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A sensorimotor control framework for understanding emotional communication and regulation.
Justin H G Williams1, Charlotte F Huggins1, Barbra Zupan2
1University of Aberdeen, Institute of Medical Sciences, Foresterhill, AB25 2ZD, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
|February 20, 2020
Summary
Actions are key to communicating emotions, with sensorimotor control mechanisms regulating emotional states. Emotion words often link to sensorimotor learning, but context is crucial for understanding their meaning.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Actions are the primary mode of emotional expression in humans and animals.
- Allostatic mechanisms governing action also regulate emotional states.
- Human motor control evolved for goal-directed actions within consciousness and cultural learning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the link between sensorimotor control neuroscience and the language of emotions.
- To analyze how action-based communication relates to emotional states.
- To investigate the role of context in emotion word meaning.
Main Methods:
- Linguistic analysis of emotion and feeling words.
- Examination of sensorimotor learning processes.
- Review of evolutionary and neurobiological principles of action control.
Main Results:
- Many emotion words map to sensorimotor learning stages, though assignments can be arbitrary.
- Action words are prevalent in emotional communication due to embodiment.
- The meaning of emotion words and their link to actions are context-dependent.
Conclusions:
- Sensorimotor control systems are fundamental to emotional expression and regulation.
- The language of emotions is deeply intertwined with embodied action and context.
- Understanding emotion requires considering both neural control of action and linguistic context.
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