page_title: Somatic marker hypothesis
section_title: Antonio Damasio
hierarchical_section_title: Somatic marker hypothesis / Antonio Damasio
caption_attribution_description: English: Antonio Damasio at "Fronteiras do Pensamento" in Porto Alegre, Brazil, 2013. English: António Damásio no "Fronteiras do Pensamento" em Porto Alegre, Brasil, 2013.
context_page_description: The somatic marker hypothesis, formulated by Antonio Damasio and associated researchers, proposes that emotional processes guide behavior, particularly decision-making.
  "Somatic markers" are feelings in the body that are associated with emotions, such as the association of rapid heartbeat with anxiety or of nausea with disgust. According to the hypothesis, somatic markers strongly influence subsequent decision-making. Within the brain, somatic markers are thought to be processed in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. The hypothesis has been tested in experiments using the Iowa gambling task.
context_section_description: Antonio Damasio (Portuguese: António Damásio) is a Portuguese-American neuroscientist. He is currently the David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology and Philosophy at the University of Southern California and an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute. Damasio heads the Brain and Creativity Institute, and has authored several books: his most recent work, Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain (2010),  explores the relationship between the brain and consciousness. Damasio’s research in neuroscience has shown that emotions play a central role in social cognition and decision-making.
caption: António Damásio
exif: {}