Somatic markers are a term for an endogenous signaling system.
To better understand how EMDR works, it is very helpful to take a closer look at the renowned theory of somatic markers. Somatic markers continuously provide us with an emotional assessment of our current life situation in fractions of a second. The name was invented by the Portuguese neuroscientist António Damásio. His theory of somatic markers is now world-famous. 
According to his theory, we humans store our life experiences incessantly in an emotional experience memory, even as newborns. Everything we experience so far leaves such an emotional trace in our body. The countless decisions we have to make every day are emotionally judged as good or bad, helpful or unhelpful, with the help of this body memory in the decision-making process. The somatic markers function as a signaling system. Ultimately, it is these emotional body markers that we perceive in ourselves when, for example, we mentally imagine the alternative courses of action in order to make a decision. They help us to rule out emotionally unacceptable courses of action from the outset. Even in the mere perception of situations, we can experience our somatic markers in action: almost all of us know to report that the mere sight of a certain person, a scent, or a song or situation can evoke a physical reaction. At such moments, we perceive sensations (body state changes) somewhere in our body in the process. Our body memory makes itself known in order to communicate its evaluation to us. Previous experiences therefore have a significant impact on our future decisions through our emotional feedback and influence our lives. Read more at: Dissolving Mental Blocks with EMDR. Since it is the somatic markers that allow us to perceive our emotional experience memory in the first place, the two terms are often used interchangeably. Somatic markers thus form our fully automatic endogenous evaluation system of predictions. They are the initial spark for departure or sound the alarm. Our learned fear reactions are consequently stored as well as triggered with the help of this emotional experience memory. In the “learning” of somatic markers, both the special brain region called the amygdala, which is also held primarily responsible for the development of fears, and the prefrontal cortical fields according to António Damásio play the decisive role. Read on to find out what the different manifestations of somatic markers depend on and how they influence our lives.
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How Somatic Markers Influence Our Lives
Somatic markers make themselves felt with the help of body reactions of varying intensity It is often observed that one situation (external stimulus) only triggers some goose bumps, while another
How Somatic Markers Influence Our Lives
Somatic markers make themselves felt with the help of body reactions of varying intensity It is often observed that one situation (external stimulus) only triggers some goose bumps, while another
