Predictive Regulation: Allostasis, Behavioural Flexibility and Fear Learning

Dynamical systems perspectives on emotion emphasize the importance of the regulatory interplay between brain, body and environment to adaptive behaviour. We suggest that a key facet of emotions, above all fear, consistent with this perspective lies in the allostatic regulation of constitutive/behavioural dynamics in terms of prediction and behavioural biases linking internal needs to external adaptive concerns. Allostatic emotional regulation in organizationally complex organisms permits enhanced adaptive behavioural flexibility relative to more reactive homeostatic dynamical systems. We discuss emotions as regulatory phenomena and provide a brief description of work in progress that will facilitate the gleaning of insights in this regard.