Beyond External Stimuli: An Internal Resonance Theory of Emotion Based on a Dual-Memory Framework

This preprint directly challenges the classical “external stimulus → emotion” model and replaces it with an Internal Resonance framework based on a dual-memory architecture (TM and BM). Emotion is defined as the meaning-state that emerges when the refined present representation (TM₁) resonates with stored lifetime blueprints in Bold Memory (BM), while neurochemistry is treated as a downstream physical activator rather than emotion itself. The article explains this shift from external stimulus to internal resonance using clinical vignettes and a RhoGAM-based immunology analogy, with implications for trauma, anxiety, depression, psychosomatic symptoms, and grief.