Activation models in the beginning of clinical psychophysiology

Clinical psychophysiology is basically an empirical discipline in which it is difficult to find its own theoretical frame. Emotions study, specifically the study of activation, has been and it is being now the conceptual framework of clinical psychophysiology. In this review we present the role of some important activation models in the begining of clinical psychophysiology: general and specific models, or the conceptual developments about specific motivational responses. Also, that new proposals which can offer a more integrating and flexible framework are exposed.