Charles Darwin popularized the theory of emotional fingerprints - that each emotion creates a specific combination of facial expression, body language, and other physiological cues such as a heart rate.

But recently detailed analyses suggest there is no such thing. Each emotion is represen...

States like hunger, fatigue, or illness produce the same signals as emotions like anger, anxiety, or sadness. This shows the importance of looking after your body as a way to stabilise your mood.

• A healthy diet and regular exercise can regulate your mood.
• Mi...

We learn interpretations from others. Your familiar emotion concepts come from your particular social context - your parents, friends, TV, and books, and your own past life experiences.

Other cultures will connect different kinds of meaning from the same sensory in...

• For example, a churning stomach and flushed face can feel like you're in love in a romantic setting but will be interpreted as 'feeling ill' if you are in bed with a thermometer in your mouth.
• A stomach ache might signal a gut infection, or it might feel like homesickness if you ...