A model of the mind which explains the role of emotions in normal cognition and affective disorder

Reasoning, memory, planning and decision making are all influenced by emotions, but there is no satisfactory explanation of the nature of this influence which integrates neuroscience, psychology and philosophy. Affective disorders are dramatic instances of the urgent need for an integrative model. We provide that model drawing on results in computational neuroscience and show how it can explain the emotion/cognition interface in normal and abnormal psychology using depression as a case study. For example we use our model to explain differences in placebo effects between severely and moderately depressed patients. The issue is central to current controversies between theorists who lack integrative models but is resolved by our theoretical model.