Somatic Marker Hypothesis

The hypothesis that responses to stimuli (conscious or non-conscious; overt or covert) operate as ‘markers’ in bioregulatory processes such as in emotions and feelings. These bodily (somatic) markers have implications for human reasoning and decision-making, biasing the selection of aversive or appetitive modes of behaviour, or in causing deliberate evaluation of varied option-outcome scenarios.

Reference:
Damasio, A. R., Everitt, B. J., & Bishop, D. (1996). The somatic marker hypothesis and the possible functions of the prefrontal cortex [and discussion]. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 351(1346), 1413-1420. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1996.0125.