Emotions: correlates and theories

An emotion is a coordinated response involving feeling, bodily change, expression and action readiness, as when fear quickens the heart, tenses the muscles and prepares escape. Theories disagree mainly about order: does the body react first and feeling follow, or do feeling and bodily change arise together? For example, trembling before a speech may be the feeling of fear itself, or a parallel effect of the same brain process, depending on the theory used.