Joseph LeDoux

We have to put emotion back into the brain and integrate it with cognitive systems. We shouldn't study emotion or cognition in isolation, but should study both as aspects of the mind in its brain.

JOSEPH LEDOUX, a neuroscientist and Professor at the Center for Neural Science, New York University, seeks a biological rather than psychological understanding of our emotions. He explores the differences between emotional memories (implicit--unconscious--memories) processed in pathways that take information into the amygdala, and memories of emotion (explicit--conscious--memories) processed at the level of the hippocampus and neocortex.

Joseph LeDoux has written the most comprehensive examination to date of how systems in the brain work in response to emotions, particularly fear. Among his fascinating findings is the work of amygdala structure within the brain. He is the author of The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life, and Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are; coauthor (with Michael Gazzaniga) of The Integrated Mind, and editor with W. Hirst of Mind and Brain: Dialogues in Cognitive Neuroscience.

Further reading on Edge: "Parallel Memories: Putting Emotions Back Into The Brain" — A Talk With Joseph LeDoux

Beyond Edge: LeDoux Lab: Center for Neural Science Home Page

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