ABSTRACT
The brain possesses a series of neural circuits which can group under the heading of transductors of a perception (or of the evocation of an image) into an emotion. The amygdala receives sensory information and connects it with the neuroendocrine and autonomic nervous systems determining a given somatic state. The English term for the neurovegetative system is very telling: autonomic nervous system. The neurovegetative system is not the only effector modifying the somatic state. Another modality controlling the internal organs and glands of our body is the endocrine system, for this system, too, contributes to the homeostasis of the organism. Working largely on the basis of subtle clinical observations, Antonio Damasio (2003) has identified some cerebral regions that at each moment detect the state of our organism. Of primary importance here are certain parietal regions of the sensory cortex, especially the insular region.
