The Primordial Emotions Denton distinguishes between primordial emotions, "imperious states of arousal and compelling intentions to act" (p. 7) driven by activation of interoceptors and involving ancient, lower brain regions such as the medulla, midbrain and hypothalamus, and "classic" emotions, such as anger, fear and love, driven by distance receptors (vision, hearing, olfaction) and mediated by higher, more recently evolved brain regions. The Primordial Emotions The Primordial Emotions: The Dawning of Consciousness is a 2006 book by the Australian neuroscientist Derek Denton. Denton argues that, if self-awareness and intentionality are intrinsic to consciousness, the primordial emotions such as thirst, hunger and pain (that
Brainstem lateral geniculate body of the diencephalon. The tegmentum which forms the floor of the midbrain, is ventral to the cerebral aqueduct. Several nuclei, tracts, and the reticular formation are contained here. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is composed of paired cerebral peduncles. These transmit axons of upper motor neurons. The midbrain consists of: The pons lies between the medulla oblongata and the midbrain. It contains tracts that carry signals from the cerebrum to the medulla and to the cerebellum and also tracts that carry sensory signals to the thalamus. The pons is connected to the cerebellum by the cerebellar peduncles.