Understanding, predicting and influencing behaviour can be a complex process. Not everything that influences behaviour is visible to our eyes and not all behaviour is driven by functional consequenses. Some pathological forms of behaviour are not functional, for example. Physical discomfort is not always visible to our eyes, for example.
Deep within the brain, there are many complex neurological networks, which some neuroscientists call circuits, others call them systems, others call them emotions. Scientists do not yet agree on one definition for what emotions are, exactly. Some neuroscientists have done research which suggests that many emotional responses are similar within the brains of all mammals. These emotional responses are not fixed, just similar. Responses can be very flexible and individual and they will keep evolving as the brain never stops evolving during an entire lifetime.
A healthy brain is constantly assessing, analyzing, anticipating (predicting) and responding in a way to best benefit the welfare needs of that individual at that time. To do this, the brain needs to process information and because it can’t process all information at once, it will need to constantly shift in focus and remember certain important survival-based features of the information and respond quickly (through memory and learning). The brain is not only processing information coming from the outside, but also information coming from inside of the body. Healthy mammals will constantly adjust their responses to what suits their body best at that time.
If you want to geek out and learn more, I can recommend many books (of Panksepp, LeDoux, Feldman-Barrett, Mills, Bekhoff, Sapolsky, Seth, de Waal and many more). In this article I will highlight four of the most important emotional categories that we humans share with other species. These categories can be linked to biological functioning and survival, making it applicable for many (if not all) living beings.
Physical discomfort/pain
Behaviour driven by feelings of physical discomfort/pain is aimed at preventing (more) damage to the body and at increasing comfort. Examples are changed body posture and/or movement, avoidance, aggression (in order to make sure that potential discomforting stimuli keep their distance or disappear), vocalizations or excessive self-grooming. In most cases, the help of specialists (doctors, vets, physiotherapists or others who are specialized in body and movement) is needed to address behaviour problems that are being caused by or related to feelings of physical discomfort.
Fear/anxiety
Fear can drive behaviour in order to protect the individual from (potential) threats to itself. It is closely related to ‘anxiety’ where the individual behaves very anxious, worried, anticipating threats which are not present. Examples of behaviour that can be driven by fear are the freeze, flight or fight responses, which can all be functional forms of self defense. Sometimes you see the fawn respons, where the animal suddenly has bursts of high activity or shows displacement behaviours.
Frustration/irritation/anger
Behaviour driven by frustration can be aimed at accessing and/or keeping access to resources that are important to the individual (i.e. food, toys, a comfortable resting spot, social connections, etc..), but frustration can also arise when expectations are not being met (i.e. when the individual is strongly expecting a reward and this is not achieved) or when the animal has limited control over it’s own movement (i.e. while on leash or when behind barriers).
Frustration can drive pushy behaviour (often confused with the popular but mostly misused term ‘dominance’) and other forms of aggression.
Pleasure/rewarding/seeking and finding
This category consists of positive feelings that drive behaviour to access important resources like food. It also drives exploration and curiosity, hoping to discover something pleasurable.
Because these feelings are so strong and positive, humans are using this to train other animals. Animals can become strongly motivated to cooperate and show desired behaviours, remaining in a positive emotional state when expecting something they find highly rewarding.
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