What triggers the hypothalamus (and other brain
areas) to modulate emotional behavior?
The control of emotional behavior requires that:
Emotionally significant stimuli be recognized so as to
trigger specific emotional responses, presumably
through the hypothalamus and other subcortical
pathways.
Reward information (positive and negative) must in
turn be transferred from the peripheral receptors that
sense reward to cortical and sub-cortical structures
that use this information to guide emotional learning
about stimuli, to remember these stimuli, and to
motivate behavior and emotional responses.
The limbic system is thought to carry out these
functions and is comprised of a number of
interconnected cortical and subcortical areas.