Concepts, goals and the control of survival-related behaviors

Scientists have long studied the actions that impact basic survival in various domains of life, such as defense, foraging, reproduction, thermoregulation, and so on, as to reveal the nature of emotion. Each domain is characterized by a repertoire of distinct actions, and each action is presumed to be caused by a dedicated neural circuit, called a survival circuit . Survival circuits are said to be triggered by sensory events in the world, producing a range of actions from obligatory, stereotypic reflexes to more flexible, deliberate responses. In this paper, we consider recent evidence from behavioral ecology that even so-called ‘reflexes’ are better understood as purposeful, flexible actions that unfold across a range of temporal trajectories. They are highly context-dependent and tailored to the requirements of the situation. We then consider the neuroscience of motor control which suggests that motor actions are assembled by neural populations, not triggered by simple circuits. Finally, we consider the value of these suggestions for understanding both species-general and species-specific contributions to emotion.