Neuropsychology is beginning to provide explanations of the most puzzling aspect of emotional and
other kinds of thinking, conscious experience. A brain model such as EMOCON uses neural
mechanisms to explain how emotional experiences are integrated with cognitions, have positive and
negative valuations, vary in intensity, have broad diversity, and begin and end. A full account of
emotions needs to pay attention not only to neural mechanisms involving interactions of brain areas
and other bodily processes, but also to mechanisms that operate at complementary levels of
explanation. Neural processes are increasingly coming to be understood at the biochemical level that
includes genes and molecules operating within and between neurons. The psychological level of
explanation in terms of mental representations such as goals, concepts, and beliefs remains useful for
describing the aggregate effects of neural processes. The causes of emotions are often social, heavily
influenced by our interactions with other people. Claiming that emotions are brain processes does not
neglect the value of intertwined social, psychological, and molecular levels of explanation for
accounting for emotional behavior