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The emotion centre is the oldest part of the human brain: why is mood so important?

“Somebody woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning.” You know that comment; the one that rarely makes you feel any more gracious towards the world (or the person saying it). At other times you might feel particularly gracious and sunny, for no reason at all.

Our mood is a transient frame of mind that influences how we think and view the world. It is influenced by events in our lives, the amount of sleep we get, hormones, even the weather. But what role does the brain play in shaping our mood?

Many regions fundamental to mood are buried deep in the most primordial parts of the brain; that is, they are thought to have been among the first to develop in the human species.…

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Resources

Johns Hopkins

Amood disorder is a mental health class that health professionals use to broadly describe all types of depression and bipolar disorders.

ScienceDirect

Affective disorders, also often referred to as mood disorders is a group of psychiatric illnesses where a disturbance in mood is considered the main underlying feature.