The Neural Basis of Disgust
The scientific attempts to map specific emotions onto underlying neural substrates dates back to the first half of the 20th century. However, it was not until the mid-1990s when it was recognized that six basic emotions, including disgust, were each related to a specific neural structure and therefore considered to be a part of the clinical neurosciences. Functional MRI experiments have revealed that the anterior insula in the brain is particularly active when experiencing disgust, when being exposed to offensive tastes, and when viewing facial expressions of disgust. The research has supported that there are independent neural systems in the brain, each handling a specific basic emotion. Specifically, f-MRI studies have provided evidence for the activation of the insula in disgust recognition, as well as visceral changes in disgust reactions such as the feeling of nausea. The importance of disgust recognition and the visceral reaction of "feeling disgusted" is evident when considering the survival of organisms, and the evolutionary benefit of avoiding contamination.
Read more about this topic: Disgusted
Famous quotes containing the words basis and/or disgust:
“My dream is that as the years go by and the world knows more and more of America, it ... will turn to America for those moral inspirations that lie at the basis of all freedom ... that America will come into the full light of the day when all shall know that she puts human rights above all other rights, and that her flag is the flag not only of America but of humanity.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“Of all the things that oppress me, this sense of the evil working of nature herself—my disgust at her barbarity—clumsiness—darkness—bitter mockery of herself—is the most desolating.”
—John Ruskin (1819–F1900)