Affective valence in the brain: modules or modes?

Abstract

How do brain systems evaluate the affective valence of a stimulus — that is, its quality of being good or bad? One possibility is that a neural subsystem, or ‘module’ (such as a subregion of the brain, a projection pathway, a neuronal population or an individual neuron), is permanently dedicated to mediate only one affective function, or at least only one specific valence — an idea that is termed here the ‘affective modules’ hypothesis. An alternative possibility is that a given neural module can exist in multiple neurobiological states that give it different affective functions — an idea termed here the ‘affective modes’ hypothesis. This suggests that the affective function or valence mediated by a neural module need not remain permanently stable but rather can change dynamically across different situations. An evaluation of evidence for the ‘affective modules’ versus ‘affective modes’ hypotheses may be useful for advancing understanding of the affective organization of limbic circuitry.