The urge for self and species preservation

Besides sneezing, yawning, and scratching, other types of more complex behaviors can be considered urges for action, in that they are both compelling and can be overtly inhibited. Many behaviors increasing the survival rate of self and species have this instinctual (although not compulsory) nature. We feel a terrible urge to catch a newborn falling from a table, although we could choose not to do so. The hypothesis is advanced that both insula and cingulate cortex participate in social behaviors such as contagious yawning, laughing, and crying, but are not necessarily involved in the urge to cough, for example. © 2011 Copyright 2011 Psychology Press, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business.