The emotion factory - Limbic system

The limbic system is the primary area of the brain responsible for all emotional responses in a human. Located under the cerebrum, it includes the following major parts. ¹

• Hypothalamus - As mentioned in the previous lesson, this area of the limbic system deals with regulation of the body temperature (aka homeostasis), breathing, hunger, desire, heart rate, blood pressure, and other hormonal activities via the pituitary gland.
• Hippocampus - This processes your short-term and long-term memories.
• Amygdala - This part of the system plays a vital role in motivation and emotions like aggression, anxiety and fear ², initiating stress responses like the fight or flight response.

1. The Limbic System. Webspace.ship.edu. (2020). Retrieved 31 August 2020, from https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/limbicsystem.html. ↩

2. Limbic System: Amygdala (Section 4, Chapter 6) Neuroscience Online: An Electronic Textbook for the Neurosciences | Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy - The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Nba.uth.tmc.edu. (2020). Retrieved 31 August 2020, from https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s4/chapter06.html. ↩