Cannon-Bard Theory

What is the Cannon-Bard Theory?

The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion proposes that brain processes can produce an emotional experience and a bodily response together. You do not have to feel your body change first and then experience the emotion. Developed through the work of Walter Cannon and Philip Bard, it is a historical alternative to the James-Lange theory.

Research foundation

Cannon’s 1927 paper proposed that processes in and near the thalamus could influence both bodily expression and experience through connections with the cortex. He described the resulting bodily changes and emotional experience as occurring almost simultaneously.

Why Cannon challenged bodily-feedback explanations

Cannon’s objections included two problems:

• Similar bodily changes appeared across different emotions and even in nonemotional states, making them an uncertain basis for distinguishing feelings.
• Adrenaline could produce bodily arousal without consistently producing the corresponding emotion.

These were his historical arguments, not a finding that bodily feedback never contributes to emotion.

Cannon-Bard versus James-Lange: an example

The James-Lange account puts the perception of bodily changes before the feeling. Cannon-Bard allows the feeling and bodily expression to arise together. For example, the Cannon-Bard theory does not require you to notice your racing heart before feeling afraid. The objections also explain why a racing heart alone would not tell you which emotion you were experiencing. It is not a claim that measured feelings and every bodily response must start at precisely the same instant, or that the body and brain never affect each other.

Historical limits

The named theory reflects early work associated with Cannon and Philip Bard. Its proposed brain mechanisms do not provide a complete modern explanation of emotion.