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Homeostatic emotion is a class of feelings evoked by an internal body state. A homeostatic emotion drives behavior aimed at restoring the body to its ideal state.
Derek Denton uses the term "primordial emotion" and defines it as "the subjective element of the instincts, which are the genetically programmed behaviour patterns which contrive homeostasis. They include thirst, hunger for air, hunger for food, pain, hunger for specific minerals etc. There are two constituents of a primordial emotion—the specific sensation which when severe may be imperious, and the compelling intention for gratification by a consummatory act."
Denton includes sexual desire in this class and distinguishes two classes of feelings: these primordial emotions , and the classic emotions such as anger, fear and love, driven by distance receptors and mediated by higher, more recently evolved brain regions.
Jaak Panksepp called this class of feelings "homeostatic affect." He recognised it as one of three primary classes of affect: sensory affect , homeostatic affect and emotional affect.