Antonio Damasio and the neuroscience perspective on emotions

The somatic marker theory of Antonio Damasio states that emotions play a decisive role in our mental processing of information. This neurobiological model postulates that certain physiological reactions that we call emotions influence our cognitive processes.

Emotions is a physical condition, feelings are the conscious perception of this state.

The theory of Damasio states that our emotions have a decisive influence on our cognitive thinking and therefore on our decision-making. He argues that emotional reactions are usually faster than rational thinking and therefore play an important role in information processing. Furthermore, the theory of damasios is based on the assumption that emotions help us to understand the meaning of information and to correctly classify it.

What are your somatic markers? How do you realize you’re getting angry?

With the HeartMath method, you get the opportunity to decide at this point – do I go into anger or regulate myself through the learned methods?