A growing number of brain imaging studies in humans, along with work in rodents and non-human primates, are beginning to define the brain circuits that mediate distinct aspects of mood and emotion under normal circumstances and in various pathological conditions that are indicative of low resilience. The field has identified several limbic regions in the forebrain, which are highly inter-connected and function as a series of integrated parallel circuits that regulate emotional states (FIG. 3). In the sections that follow, we review how these various regions interact to mediate distinct emotional behaviours that are related to resilience. The neural regulation of endocrine and autonomic responses to stress, described in detail in REF. 70, can be studied in humans by monitoring stress responses during functional imaging studies71.
