A Motivational Analysis of Emotion: Reflex-Cortex Connections

Abstract

This analysis postulates a motivational continuity from reflex reactions to complex, cognitively elaborated emotional expressions. Responses are motivated by either the positive-appetitive or the negative-aversive brain systems. Reflexes evoked during emotional processing are augmented if their affective valence (positive or negative) matches that of the active motivational system and inhibited when a mismatch is present. Research testing this biphasic model is described using the defensive startle probe reflex. It is shown that probe responses are reliably potentiated during perception and imagery of unpleasant events and reduced during pleasant events. The neurobehavioral foundations of this conception are presented, and the implications of probe analysis are elucidated for theories of emotion organization, the assessment of mood, and practical applications in psychopathology and neurological disorder.