Panksepp

Jaak Panksepp was a neuroscientist who helped establish affective neuroscience as a formal field. He argued that basic emotional feelings arise from evolutionarily ancient, subcortical brain systems and that these processes are shared across mammals, providing a common neural basis for affective states in humans and animals.

Among his key contributions is the proposal of seven primary affective systems: SEEKING, RAGE, FEAR, LUST, CARE, PANIC/GRIEF, and PLAY. He argued these systems are largely inherited, distributed through subcortical circuits, and organized to generate characteristic affective states and motivated behaviors.

Panksepp used animal models, particularly rats, to study affective processes. He demonstrated that animals exhibit patterned behaviors and neural activity consistent with distinct emotional states. He also studied ultrasonic vocalizations, showing that rats emit 50-kilohertz calls during play and positive affect, an indicator of mood states.

His influential work is summarized in Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions (2009). The book and related research shaped contemporary views on how emotions arise from brain activity and their relevance to human psychology, psychiatry, and welfare science.

Panksepp’s approach has been influential but drew critique, with critics cautioning against broad generalizations about animal consciousness and suggesting limits to inferring subjective experience from behavior and physiology. Nonetheless, his work remains a foundational reference in affective neuroscience and emotion research.