2025-11-24
The Emotion Response Ontology represents emotions as behavioral responses to a situation or event, or internal process which evokes positive feelings, negative feelings, or surprise (i.e., emotional experiences).
Emotion Response Ontology
2026-04-13
editor preferred term
The concise, meaningful, and human-friendly name for a class or property preferred by the ontology developers. (US-English)
PERSON:Daniel Schober
GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>
editor preferred term
example of usage
A phrase describing how a term should be used and/or a citation to a work which uses it. May also include other kinds of examples that facilitate immediate understanding, such as widely know prototypes or instances of a class, or cases where a relation is said to hold.
PERSON:Daniel Schober
GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>
example of usage
in branch
An annotation property indicating which module the terms belong to. This is currently experimental and not implemented yet.
GROUP:OBI
OBI_0000277
in branch
has curation status
PERSON:Alan Ruttenberg
PERSON:Bill Bug
PERSON:Melanie Courtot
has curation status
definition
The official definition, explaining the meaning of a class or property. Shall be Aristotelian, formalized and normalized. Can be augmented with colloquial definitions.
2012-04-05:
Barry Smith
The official OBI definition, explaining the meaning of a class or property: 'Shall be Aristotelian, formalized and normalized. Can be augmented with colloquial definitions' is terrible.
Can you fix to something like:
A statement of necessary and sufficient conditions explaining the meaning of an expression referring to a class or property.
Alan Ruttenberg
Your proposed definition is a reasonable candidate, except that it is very common that necessary and sufficient conditions are not given. Mostly they are necessary, occasionally they are necessary and sufficient or just sufficient. Often they use terms that are not themselves defined and so they effectively can't be evaluated by those criteria.
On the specifics of the proposed definition:
We don't have definitions of 'meaning' or 'expression' or 'property'. For 'reference' in the intended sense I think we use the term 'denotation'. For 'expression', I think we you mean symbol, or identifier. For 'meaning' it differs for class and property. For class we want documentation that let's the intended reader determine whether an entity is instance of the class, or not. For property we want documentation that let's the intended reader determine, given a pair of potential relata, whether the assertion that the relation holds is true. The 'intended reader' part suggests that we also specify who, we expect, would be able to understand the definition, and also generalizes over human and computer reader to include textual and logical definition.
Personally, I am more comfortable weakening definition to documentation, with instructions as to what is desirable.
We also have the outstanding issue of how to aim different definitions to different audiences. A clinical audience reading chebi wants a different sort of definition documentation/definition from a chemistry trained audience, and similarly there is a need for a definition that is adequate for an ontologist to work with.
PERSON:Daniel Schober
GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>
definition
editor note
An administrative note intended for its editor. It may not be included in the publication version of the ontology, so it should contain nothing necessary for end users to understand the ontology.
PERSON:Daniel Schober
GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obofoundry.org/obo/obi>
editor note
term editor
Name of editor entering the term in the file. The term editor is a point of contact for information regarding the term. The term editor may be, but is not always, the author of the definition, which may have been worked upon by several people
20110707, MC: label update to term editor and definition modified accordingly. See https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/IAO/issues/115.
PERSON:Daniel Schober
GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>
term editor
alternative label
A label for a class or property that can be used to refer to the class or property instead of the preferred rdfs:label. Alternative labels should be used to indicate community- or context-specific labels, abbreviations, shorthand forms and the like.
OBO Operations committee
PERSON:Daniel Schober
GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>
Consider re-defing to: An alternative name for a class or property which can mean the same thing as the preferred name (semantically equivalent, narrow, broad or related).
alternative label
definition source
Formal citation, e.g. identifier in external database to indicate / attribute source(s) for the definition. Free text indicate / attribute source(s) for the definition. EXAMPLE: Author Name, URI, MeSH Term C04, PUBMED ID, Wiki uri on 31.01.2007
PERSON:Daniel Schober
Discussion on obo-discuss mailing-list, see http://bit.ly/hgm99w
GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>
definition source
has obsolescence reason
Relates an annotation property to an obsolescence reason. The values of obsolescence reasons come from a list of predefined terms, instances of the class obsolescence reason specification.
PERSON:Alan Ruttenberg
PERSON:Melanie Courtot
has obsolescence reason
curator note
An administrative note of use for a curator but of no use for a user
PERSON:Alan Ruttenberg
curator note
term tracker item
the URI for an OBI Terms ticket at sourceforge, such as https://sourceforge.net/p/obi/obi-terms/772/
An IRI or similar locator for a request or discussion of an ontology term.
Person: Jie Zheng, Chris Stoeckert, Alan Ruttenberg
Person: Jie Zheng, Chris Stoeckert, Alan Ruttenberg
The 'tracker item' can associate a tracker with a specific ontology term.
term tracker item
ontology term requester
The name of the person, project, or organization that motivated inclusion of an ontology term by requesting its addition.
Person: Jie Zheng, Chris Stoeckert, Alan Ruttenberg
Person: Jie Zheng, Chris Stoeckert, Alan Ruttenberg
The 'term requester' can credit the person, organization or project who request the ontology term.
ontology term requester
is denotator type
Relates an class defined in an ontology, to the type of it's denotator
In OWL 2 add AnnotationPropertyRange('is denotator type' 'denotator type')
Alan Ruttenberg
is denotator type
imported from
For external terms/classes, the ontology from which the term was imported
PERSON:Alan Ruttenberg
PERSON:Melanie Courtot
GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>
imported from
expand expression to
ObjectProperty: RO_0002104
Label: has plasma membrane part
Annotations: IAO_0000424 "http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some (http://purl.org/obo/owl/GO#GO_0005886 and http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some ?Y)"
A macro expansion tag applied to an object property (or possibly a data property) which can be used by a macro-expansion engine to generate more complex expressions from simpler ones
Chris Mungall
expand expression to
expand assertion to
ObjectProperty: RO???
Label: spatially disjoint from
Annotations: expand_assertion_to "DisjointClasses: (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some ?X) (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some ?Y)"
A macro expansion tag applied to an annotation property which can be expanded into a more detailed axiom.
Chris Mungall
expand assertion to
first order logic expression
PERSON:Alan Ruttenberg
first order logic expression
antisymmetric property
part_of antisymmetric property xsd:true
Use boolean value xsd:true to indicate that the property is an antisymmetric property
Alan Ruttenberg
antisymmetric property
OBO foundry unique label
An alternative name for a class or property which is unique across the OBO Foundry.
The intended usage of that property is as follow: OBO foundry unique labels are automatically generated based on regular expressions provided by each ontology, so that SO could specify unique label = 'sequence ' + [label], etc. , MA could specify 'mouse + [label]' etc. Upon importing terms, ontology developers can choose to use the 'OBO foundry unique label' for an imported term or not. The same applies to tools .
PERSON:Alan Ruttenberg
PERSON:Bjoern Peters
PERSON:Chris Mungall
PERSON:Melanie Courtot
GROUP:OBO Foundry <http://obofoundry.org/>
OBO foundry unique label
has ID digit count
Ontology: <http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ro/idrange/>
Annotations:
'has ID prefix': "http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/RO_"
'has ID digit count' : 7,
rdfs:label "RO id policy"
'has ID policy for': "RO"
Relates an ontology used to record id policy to the number of digits in the URI. The URI is: the 'has ID prefix" annotation property value concatenated with an integer in the id range (left padded with "0"s to make this many digits)
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
has ID digit count
has ID range allocated
Datatype: idrange:1
Annotations: 'has ID range allocated to': "Chris Mungall"
EquivalentTo: xsd:integer[> 2151 , <= 2300]
Relates a datatype that encodes a range of integers to the name of the person or organization who can use those ids constructed in that range to define new terms
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
has ID range allocated to
has ID policy for
Ontology: <http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ro/idrange/>
Annotations:
'has ID prefix': "http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/RO_"
'has ID digit count' : 7,
rdfs:label "RO id policy"
'has ID policy for': "RO"
Relating an ontology used to record id policy to the ontology namespace whose policy it manages
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
has ID policy for
has ID prefix
Ontology: <http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ro/idrange/>
Annotations:
'has ID prefix': "http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/RO_"
'has ID digit count' : 7,
rdfs:label "RO id policy"
'has ID policy for': "RO"
Relates an ontology used to record id policy to a prefix concatenated with an integer in the id range (left padded with "0"s to make this many digits) to construct an ID for a term being created.
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
has ID prefix
elucidation
person:Alan Ruttenberg
Person:Barry Smith
Primitive terms in a highest-level ontology such as BFO are terms which are so basic to our understanding of reality that there is no way of defining them in a non-circular fashion. For these, therefore, we can provide only elucidations, supplemented by examples and by axioms
elucidation
has associated axiom(nl)
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
An axiom associated with a term expressed using natural language
has associated axiom(nl)
has associated axiom(fol)
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
An axiom expressed in first order logic using CLIF syntax
has associated axiom(fol)
is allocated id range
Relates an ontology IRI to an (inclusive) range of IRIs in an OBO name space. The range is give as, e.g. "IAO_0020000-IAO_0020999"
PERSON:Alan Ruttenberg
Add as annotation triples in the granting ontology
is allocated id range
has ontology root term
Ontology annotation property. Relates an ontology to a term that is a designated root term of the ontology. Display tools like OLS can use terms annotated with this property as the starting point for rendering the ontology class hierarchy. There can be more than one root.
Nicolas Matentzoglu
has ontology root term
may be identical to
A annotation relationship between two terms in an ontology that may refer to the same (natural) type but where more evidence is required before terms are merged.
David Osumi-Sutherland
#40
VFB
Edges asserting this should be annotated with to record evidence supporting the assertion and its provenance.
may be identical to
scheduled for obsoletion on or after
Used when the class or object is scheduled for obsoletion/deprecation on or after a particular date.
Chris Mungall, Jie Zheng
https://github.com/geneontology/go-ontology/issues/15532
https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/ontology-metadata/issues/32
GO ontology
scheduled for obsoletion on or after
has axiom id
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
A URI that is intended to be unique label for an axiom used for tracking change to the ontology. For an axiom expressed in different languages, each expression is given the same URI
has axiom label
term replaced by
Use on obsolete terms, relating the term to another term that can be used as a substitute
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
Add as annotation triples in the granting ontology
term replaced by
This is an annotation used on an object property to indicate a logical characterstic beyond what is possible in OWL.
OBO Operations call
logical characteristic of object property
'part disjoint with' 'defined by construct' """
PREFIX owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#>
PREFIX : <http://example.org/
CONSTRUCT {
[
a owl:Restriction ;
owl:onProperty :part_of ;
owl:someValuesFrom ?a ;
owl:disjointWith [
a owl:Restriction ;
owl:onProperty :part_of ;
owl:someValuesFrom ?b
]
]
}
WHERE {
?a :part_disjoint_with ?b .
}
Links an annotation property to a SPARQL CONSTRUCT query which is meant to provide semantics for a shortcut relation.
defined by construct
CHEBI:26523 (reactive oxygen species) has an exact synonym (ROS), which is of type OMO:0003000 (abbreviation)
A synonym type for describing abbreviations or initalisms
2023-03-03
abbreviation
A synonym type for describing ambiguous synonyms
2023-03-03
ambiguous synonym
A synonym type for describing dubious synonyms
2023-03-03
dubious synonym
EFO:0006346 (severe cutaneous adverse reaction) has an exact synonym (scar), which is of the type OMO:0003003 (layperson synonym)
A synonym type for describing layperson or colloquial synonyms
2023-03-03
layperson synonym
CHEBI:23367 (molecular entity) has an exact synonym (molecular entities), which is of the type OMO:0003004 (plural form)
A synonym type for describing pluralization synonyms
2023-03-03
plural form
CHEBI:16189 (sulfate) has an exact synonym (sulphate), which is of the type OMO:0003005 (UK spelling synonym)
A synonym type for describing UK spelling variants
2023-03-03
UK spelling synonym
A synonym type for common misspellings
2023-03-03
misspelling
A synonym type for misnomers, i.e., a synonym that is not technically correct but is commonly used anyway
2023-03-03
misnomer
MAPT, the gene that encodes the Tau protein, has a previous name DDPAC. Note: in this case, the name type is more specifically the gene symbol.
A synonym type for names that have been used as primary labels in the past.
2023-07-25
previous name
The legal name for Harvard University (https://ror.org/03vek6s52) is President and Fellows of Harvard College
A synonym type for the legal entity name
2023-07-27
legal name
CHEBI:46195 has been assigned the english International Nonproproprietary Name (INN) "paracetamol". In some cases such as this one, the INN might be the same as the ontology's primary label
The International Nonproprietary Name (INN) is a standardize name for a pharmaceutical drug or active ingredient issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) meant to address the issues with country- or language-specific brand names. These are issued in several languages, including English, Latin, French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese.
2023-09-30
International Nonproprietary Name
nasopharynx (UBERON:0001728) has the latin name "pars nasalis pharyngis
A synonym type for describing Latin term synonyms.
2023-10-12
latin term
An alternative label for a class or property which has a more general meaning than the preferred name/primary label.
https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/ontology-metadata/issues/18
has broad synonym
https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/ontology-metadata/issues/18
An alternative label for a class or property which has the exact same meaning than the preferred name/primary label.
https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/ontology-metadata/issues/20
has exact synonym
https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/ontology-metadata/issues/20
An alternative label for a class or property which has a more specific meaning than the preferred name/primary label.
https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/ontology-metadata/issues/19
has narrow synonym
https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/ontology-metadata/issues/19
An alternative label for a class or property that has been used synonymously with the primary term name, but the usage is not strictly correct.
https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/ontology-metadata/issues/21
has related synonym
https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/ontology-metadata/issues/21
is part of
my brain is part of my body (continuant parthood, two material entities)
my stomach cavity is part of my stomach (continuant parthood, immaterial entity is part of material entity)
this day is part of this year (occurrent parthood)
a core relation that holds between a part and its whole
part_of
BFO:0000050
external
part_of
part_of
part of
part of
http://www.obofoundry.org/ro/#OBO_REL:part_of
https://wiki.geneontology.org/Part_of
has part
my body has part my brain (continuant parthood, two material entities)
my stomach has part my stomach cavity (continuant parthood, material entity has part immaterial entity)
this year has part this day (occurrent parthood)
a core relation that holds between a whole and its part
has_part
BFO:0000051
external
has_part
has_part
has part
has part
preceded by
x is preceded by y if and only if the time point at which y ends is before or equivalent to the time point at which x starts. Formally: x preceded by y iff ω(y) <= α(x), where α is a function that maps a process to a start point, and ω is a function that maps a process to an end point.
is preceded by
preceded_by
http://www.obofoundry.org/ro/#OBO_REL:preceded_by
preceded by
precedes
x precedes y if and only if the time point at which x ends is before or equivalent to the time point at which y starts. Formally: x precedes y iff ω(x) <= α(y), where α is a function that maps a process to a start point, and ω is a function that maps a process to an end point.
precedes
inheres in
this fragility is a characteristic of this vase
this red color is a characteristic of this apple
a relation between a specifically dependent continuant (the characteristic) and any other entity (the bearer), in which the characteristic depends on the bearer for its existence.
inheres_in
Note that this relation was previously called "inheres in", but was changed to be called "characteristic of" because BFO2 uses "inheres in" in a more restricted fashion. This relation differs from BFO2:inheres_in in two respects: (1) it does not impose a range constraint, and thus it allows qualities of processes, as well as of information entities, whereas BFO2 restricts inheres_in to only apply to independent continuants (2) it is declared functional, i.e. something can only be a characteristic of one thing.
characteristic of
bearer of
this apple is bearer of this red color
this vase is bearer of this fragility
Inverse of characteristic_of
bearer_of
is bearer of
has characteristic
participates in
this blood clot participates in this blood coagulation
this input material (or this output material) participates in this process
this investigator participates in this investigation
a relation between a continuant and a process, in which the continuant is somehow involved in the process
participates_in
participates in
has participant
this blood coagulation has participant this blood clot
this investigation has participant this investigator
this process has participant this input material (or this output material)
a relation between a process and a continuant, in which the continuant is somehow involved in the process
has_participant
http://www.obofoundry.org/ro/#OBO_REL:has_participant
has participant
David Osumi-Sutherland
X ends_after Y iff: end(Y) before_or_simultaneous_with end(X)
ends after
x overlaps y if and only if there exists some z such that x has part z and z part of y
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000050 some ?Y)
overlaps
mechanosensory neuron capable of detection of mechanical stimulus involved in sensory perception (GO:0050974)
osteoclast SubClassOf 'capable of' some 'bone resorption'
A relation between a material entity (such as a cell) and a process, in which the material entity has the ability to carry out the process.
has function realized in
capable of
c stands in this relationship to p if and only if there exists some p' such that c is capable_of p', and p' is part_of p.
has function in
capable of part of
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kBv1ep_9g3sTR-SD3jqzFqhuwo9TPNF-l-9fUDbO6rM/edit?pli=1
A relation that holds between two occurrents. This is a grouping relation that collects together all the Allen relations.
temporally related to
p has input c iff: p is a process, c is a material entity, c is a participant in p, c is present at the start of p, and the state of c is modified during p.
consumes
has input
https://wiki.geneontology.org/Has_input
p has output c iff c is a participant in p, c is present at the end of p, and c is not present in the same state at the beginning of p.
produces
has output
https://wiki.geneontology.org/Has_output
q characteristic of part of w if and only if there exists some p such that q inheres in p and p part of w.
inheres in part of
characteristic of part of
A mereological relationship or a topological relationship
mereotopologically related to
a particular instances of akt-2 enables some instance of protein kinase activity
c enables p iff c is capable of p and c acts to execute p.
catalyzes
executes
has
is catalyzing
is executing
enables
https://wiki.geneontology.org/Enables
A grouping relationship for any relationship directly involving a function, or that holds because of a function of one of the related entities.
functionally related to
inverse of enables
enabled by
https://wiki.geneontology.org/Enabled_by
inverse of has input
input of
inverse of has output
output of
inverse of upstream of
causally downstream of
relation that links two events, processes, states, or objects such that one event, process, state, or object (a cause) contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an effect) where the cause is partly or wholly responsible for the effect, and the effect is partly or wholly dependent on the cause.
causally related to
relation that links two events, processes, states, or objects such that one event, process, state, or object (a cause) contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an effect) where the cause is partly or wholly responsible for the effect, and the effect is partly or wholly dependent on the cause.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causality
p is causally upstream of q iff p is causally related to q, the end of p precedes the end of q, and p is not an occurrent part of q.
causally upstream of
p is 'causally upstream or within' q iff p is causally related to q, and the end of p precedes, or is coincident with, the end of q.
influences (processual)
affects
causally upstream of or within
inverse of causally upstream of or within
causally downstream of or within
A relationship between a material entity and a process where the material entity has some causal role that influences the process
causal agent in process
p is causally related to q if and only if p or any part of p and q or any part of q are linked by a chain of events where each event pair is one where the execution of p influences the execution of q. p may be upstream, downstream, part of, or a container of q.
causal relation between processes
depends on
A relationship that holds between a material entity and a process in which causality is involved, with either the material entity or some part of the material entity exerting some influence over the process, or the process influencing some aspect of the material entity.
causal relation between material entity and a process
A behavioral response that includes overt action, cognitive response, verbal response, or physiological reaction in response to a situation or event, or internal process which evokes positive feelings, negative feelings, or surprise (i.e., emotional experiences).
2025-11-24T20:50:19Z
emotion process
A cognitive process during which an organism is aware of something either internal or external to itself.
2025-11-24T20:52:17Z
phenomenal cognitive experience
A cognitive process during which an organism is aware of something either internal or external to itself.
https://dictionary.apa.org/consciousness
A phenomenal cognitive experience evaluated as pleasant or unpleasant.
2025-11-24T20:52:39Z
emotional experience (feeling)
A phenomenal cognitive experience evaluated as pleasant or unpleasant.
https://dictionary.apa.org/feeling
An emotion process that is a response that occurs more distally in time or physical space with regard to threatening stimuli. Anxiety typically involves worrying about experiencing threats that could or will be experienced in the future.
2025-11-24T20:56:47Z
anxiety process
An emotion process that is an in-the-moment response to a perceived threat. Fear is typically associated with organized, robust visceral arousal.
2025-11-24T20:57:08Z
fear process
A phenomenal cognitive experience produced by the parts of the nervous sysem involved in awareness of the external world (i.e., external stimulus) or changes to internal organs. A sensory experience does not necessarily entail the existence phenomenon experiences (e.g., hallucinations).
2025-11-24T20:59:47Z
sensory experience
A phenomenal cognitive experience produced by the parts of the nervous sysem involved in awareness of the external world (i.e., external stimulus) or changes to internal organs. A sensory experience does not necessarily entail the existence phenomenon experiences (e.g., hallucinations).
https://dictionary.apa.org/sensation
A motor behavior that happens as a response to an emotion process. The motoric response includes muscle contractions that may move parts of the body or prevent the body from moving (e.g., freezing).
2025-11-24T21:02:42Z
motoric response to emotion
A psychophysiological process that is part of an emotion process.
2025-11-24T21:10:13Z
psychophysiological response to emotion
Sweat screation that happens as a response to an emotion process.
2025-11-24T22:22:47Z
sweat secretion response to emotion
An emotional valence which is inherently pleasant or attractive.
2026-03-17T19:27:16Z
Emotional valences exist on a continuum from pleasant to unpleasant, or from attractive to aversive.
positive emotional valence
An emotional valence which is inherently pleasant or attractive.
https://dictionary.apa.org/emotional-valence
Muscle contraction that happens as a response to an emotion process.
2025-11-24T22:36:17Z
muscle tension response to emotion
A heart process during which the rate at which the heart beats increases as a response to an emotion process.
2025-11-24T22:39:24Z
increased heart response to emotion
A respiratory system process during which the rate at which an organism moves air in and out of its lungs increases as a response to an emotion process.
2025-11-24T22:44:09Z
increased breathing rate response to emotion
A cognitive process that happens as a response to an emotion process.
2025-12-17T17:11:45Z
cognitive response to emotion
A cognitive process during which the nature and significance of a phenomenon or event is evaluated.
2025-12-17T17:18:23Z
cognitive appraisal process
A transient loss of consciousness and postural tone that happens as a result of an emotion process.
2026-03-05T11:54:16Z
fainting
syncope
fainting response to emotion
vasovagal syncope
syncope response to emotion
A transient loss of consciousness and postural tone that happens as a result of an emotion process.
Adapted from MeSH definition for syncope. See https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?ui=D013575 or http://purl.bioontology.org/ontology/SNOMEDCT/271594007.
An emotional valence which is inherently unpleasant or aversive.
2026-03-17T19:27:31Z
Emotional valences exist on a continuum from pleasant to unpleasant, or from attractive to aversive.
negative emotional valence
An emotional valence which is inherently unpleasant or aversive.
https://dictionary.apa.org/emotional-valence
An emotional valence which is inherently neither pleasant nor unpleasant.
2026-03-17T19:29:48Z
Emotional valences exist on a continuum from pleasant to unpleasant, or from attractive to aversive. Neutral emotional valences are in the center of this continuum.
neutral emotional valence
An emotional valence which is inherently neither pleasant nor unpleasant.
https://dictionary.apa.org/emotional-valence
Muscle contraction that happens as a response to a fear process.
2026-03-05T21:16:30Z
muscle tension response to fear
psychophysiological response to emotion that is part of a fear process.
2026-03-05T21:20:49Z
psychophysiological response to fear
psychophysiological response to emotion that is part of an anxiety process.
2026-03-05T21:21:09Z
psychophysiological response to anxiety
Muscle contraction that happens as a response to an anxiety process.
2026-03-05T21:24:05Z
muscle tension response to anxiety
A cognitive process that happens as a response to fear process.
2026-03-05T21:26:16Z
cognitive response to fear
A cognitive process that happens as a response to an anxiety process.
2026-03-05T21:26:25Z
cognitive response to anxiety
Sweat screation that happens as a response to a fear process.
2026-03-05T21:31:28Z
sweat secretion response to fear
Sweat screation that happens as a response to an anxiety process.
2026-03-05T21:31:36Z
sweat secretion response to anxiety
A heart process during which the rate at which the heart beats increases as a response to a fear process.
2026-03-05T21:32:52Z
increased heart response to fear
A heart process during which the rate at which the heart beats increases as a response to an anxiety process.
2026-03-05T21:33:04Z
increased heart response to anxiety
A respiratory system process during which the rate at which an organism moves air in and out of its lungs increases as a response to a fear process.
2026-03-05T21:34:20Z
increased breathing rate response to fear
A respiratory system process during which the rate at which an organism moves air in and out of its lungs increases as a response to an anxiety process.
2026-03-05T21:34:30Z
increased breathing rate response to anxiety
A transient loss of consciousness and postural tone that happens as a result of a fear process.
2026-03-05T21:42:51Z
syncope response to fear
A transient loss of consciousness and postural tone that happens as a result of a fear process.
Adapted from MeSH definition for syncope. See https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?ui=D013575 or http://purl.bioontology.org/ontology/SNOMEDCT/271594007.
A transient loss of consciousness and postural tone that happens as a result of an anxiety process.
2026-03-05T21:43:01Z
syncope response to anxiety
A transient loss of consciousness and postural tone that happens as a result of an anxiety process.
Adapted from MeSH definition for syncope. See https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?ui=D013575 or http://purl.bioontology.org/ontology/SNOMEDCT/271594007.
A motor behavior that happens as a response to a fear process.
2026-03-05T22:03:57Z
motoric response to fear
A motor behavior that happens as a response to an anxiety process.
2026-03-05T22:04:12Z
motoric response to anxiety
A characteristic of an emotion process reflecting its degree of positivity or negativity.
2026-03-17T20:06:41Z
the value associated with a stimulus as expressed on a continuum from pleasant to unpleasant or from attractive to aversive. In factor analysis and multidimensional scaling studies, emotional valence is one of two axes (or dimensions) on which an emotion can be located, the other axis being arousal (expressed as a continuum from high to low). For example, happiness is typically characterized by pleasant valence and relatively high arousal, whereas sadness or depression is typically characterized by unpleasant valence and relatively low arousal.
hedonic tone
According to cognitive appraisal theory, an individual's cognitive appraisal of a stimulus contributes to producing an emotion (with its corresponding emotional valence).
emotional valence
A characteristic of an emotion process reflecting its degree of positivity or negativity.
https://dictionary.apa.org/emotional-valence
process
Process
a process of cell-division, \ a beating of the heart
a process of meiosis
a process of sleeping
the course of a disease
the flight of a bird
the life of an organism
your process of aging.
p is a process = Def. p is an occurrent that has temporal proper parts and for some time t, p s-depends_on some material entity at t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [083-003])
(iff (Process a) (and (Occurrent a) (exists (b) (properTemporalPartOf b a)) (exists (c t) (and (MaterialEntity c) (specificallyDependsOnAt a c t))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [083-003]
process
p is a process = Def. p is an occurrent that has temporal proper parts and for some time t, p s-depends_on some material entity at t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [083-003])
(iff (Process a) (and (Occurrent a) (exists (b) (properTemporalPartOf b a)) (exists (c t) (and (MaterialEntity c) (specificallyDependsOnAt a c t))))) // axiom label in BFO2 CLIF: [083-003]
characteristic
A multicellular organismal process carried out by any of the organs or tissues in an organ system. An organ system is a regularly interacting or interdependent group of organs or tissues that work together to carry out a biological objective.
organ system process
biological_process
GO:0003008
system process
A multicellular organismal process carried out by any of the organs or tissues in an organ system. An organ system is a regularly interacting or interdependent group of organs or tissues that work together to carry out a biological objective.
GOC:mtg_cardio
An organ system process carried out at the level of a muscle. Muscle tissue is composed of contractile cells or fibers.
biological_process
muscle physiological process
GO:0003012
muscle system process
An organ system process carried out at the level of a muscle. Muscle tissue is composed of contractile cells or fibers.
GOC:mtg_cardio
An organ system process carried out by any of the organs or tissues of the circulatory system. The circulatory system is an organ system that moves extracellular fluids to and from tissue within a multicellular organism.
Wikipedia:Circulatory_system
biological_process
GO:0003013
circulatory system process
An organ system process carried out by any of the organs or tissues of the circulatory system. The circulatory system is an organ system that moves extracellular fluids to and from tissue within a multicellular organism.
GOC:mtg_cardio
A circulatory system process carried out by the heart. The heart is a hollow, muscular organ, which, by contracting rhythmically, keeps up the circulation of the blood. The heart is a hollow, muscular organ, which, by contracting rhythmically, keeps up the circulation of the blood.
biological_process
cardiac process
GO:0003015
heart process
A circulatory system process carried out by the heart. The heart is a hollow, muscular organ, which, by contracting rhythmically, keeps up the circulation of the blood. The heart is a hollow, muscular organ, which, by contracting rhythmically, keeps up the circulation of the blood.
GOC:mtg_cardio
A process carried out by the organs or tissues of the respiratory system. The respiratory system is an organ system responsible for respiratory gaseous exchange.
GO:0010802
respiratory gaseous exchange
biological_process
GO:0003016
respiratory system process
A process carried out by the organs or tissues of the respiratory system. The respiratory system is an organ system responsible for respiratory gaseous exchange.
GOC:dph
GOC:mtg_cardio
GOC:tb
The directed movement of substances (such as macromolecules, small molecules, ions) or cellular components (such as complexes and organelles) into, out of or within a cell, or between cells, or within a multicellular organism by means of some agent such as a transporter or a transporter complex, a pore or a motor protein.
https://github.com/geneontology/go-ontology/issues/20292
jl
2012-12-13T16:25:32Z
GO:0015457
GO:0015460
GO:0044765
Reactome:R-HSA-382551
biological_process
single-organism transport
GO:0006810
Note that this term should not be used for direct annotation. It should be possible to make a more specific annotation to one of the children of this term, for e.g. to transmembrane transport, to microtubule-based transport or to vesicle-mediated transport.
transport
The directed movement of substances (such as macromolecules, small molecules, ions) or cellular components (such as complexes and organelles) into, out of or within a cell, or between cells, or within a multicellular organism by means of some agent such as a transporter or a transporter complex, a pore or a motor protein.
GOC:dos
GOC:dph
GOC:jl
GOC:mah
Reactome:R-HSA-382551
Transport of small molecules
A process in which force is generated within muscle tissue, resulting in a change in muscle geometry. Force generation involves a chemo-mechanical energy conversion step that is carried out by the actin/myosin complex activity, which generates force through ATP hydrolysis.
Reactome:R-HSA-445355
Wikipedia:Muscle_contraction
biological_process
GO:0006936
muscle contraction
A process in which force is generated within muscle tissue, resulting in a change in muscle geometry. Force generation involves a chemo-mechanical energy conversion step that is carried out by the actin/myosin complex activity, which generates force through ATP hydrolysis.
GOC:ef
GOC:mtg_muscle
ISBN:0198506732
Reactome:R-HSA-445355
Smooth Muscle Contraction
The process of gaseous exchange between an organism and its environment. In plants, microorganisms, and many small animals, air or water makes direct contact with the organism's cells or tissue fluids, and the processes of diffusion supply the organism with dioxygen (O2) and remove carbon dioxide (CO2). In larger animals the efficiency of gaseous exchange is improved by specialized respiratory organs, such as lungs and gills, which are ventilated by breathing mechanisms.
breathing
respiration
biological_process
GO:0007585
respiratory gaseous exchange by respiratory system
The process of gaseous exchange between an organism and its environment. In plants, microorganisms, and many small animals, air or water makes direct contact with the organism's cells or tissue fluids, and the processes of diffusion supply the organism with dioxygen (O2) and remove carbon dioxide (CO2). In larger animals the efficiency of gaseous exchange is improved by specialized respiratory organs, such as lungs and gills, which are ventilated by breathing mechanisms.
ISBN:0198506732
The controlled release of a fluid by a cell or tissue in an animal.
biological_process
GO:0007589
body fluid secretion
The controlled release of a fluid by a cell or tissue in an animal.
GOC:ai
GOC:dph
GOC:mah
GOC:tb
The internally coordinated responses (actions or inactions) of animals (individuals or groups) to internal or external stimuli, via a mechanism that involves nervous system activity.
jl
2012-09-20T14:06:08Z
GO:0023032
GO:0044708
GO:0044709
Wikipedia:Behavior
behavioral response to stimulus
behaviour
behavioural response to stimulus
biological_process
single-organism behavior
GO:0007610
1. Note that this term is in the subset of terms that should not be used for direct gene product annotation. Instead, select a child term or, if no appropriate child term exists, please request a new term. Direct annotations to this term may be amended during annotation reviews.
2. While a broader definition of behavior encompassing plants and single cell organisms would be justified on the basis of some usage (see PMID:20160973 for discussion), GO uses a tight definition that limits behavior to animals and to responses involving the nervous system, excluding plant responses that GO classifies under development, and responses of unicellular organisms that has general classifications for covering the responses of cells in multicellular organisms (e.g. cell chemotaxis).
behavior
behavioral response to stimulus
The internally coordinated responses (actions or inactions) of animals (individuals or groups) to internal or external stimuli, via a mechanism that involves nervous system activity.
GOC:ems
GOC:jl
ISBN:0395448956
PMID:20160973
A biological process is the execution of a genetically-encoded biological module or program. It consists of all the steps required to achieve the specific biological objective of the module. A biological process is accomplished by a particular set of molecular functions carried out by specific gene products (or macromolecular complexes), often in a highly regulated manner and in a particular temporal sequence.
https://github.com/geneontology/go-ontology/issues/24968
jl
2012-09-19T15:05:24Z
GO:0000004
GO:0007582
GO:0044699
Wikipedia:Biological_process
biological process
physiological process
biological_process
single organism process
single-organism process
GO:0008150
Note that, in addition to forming the root of the biological process ontology, this term is recommended for the annotation of gene products whose biological process is unknown. When this term is used for annotation, it indicates that no information was available about the biological process of the gene product annotated as of the date the annotation was made; the evidence code 'no data' (ND), is used to indicate this.
biological_process
A biological process is the execution of a genetically-encoded biological module or program. It consists of all the steps required to achieve the specific biological objective of the module. A biological process is accomplished by a particular set of molecular functions carried out by specific gene products (or macromolecular complexes), often in a highly regulated manner and in a particular temporal sequence.
GOC:pdt
Any biological process, occurring at the level of a multicellular organism, pertinent to its function.
https://github.com/geneontology/go-ontology/issues/27189
jl
2012-09-19T16:07:47Z
GO:0044707
GO:0050874
organismal physiological process
biological_process
single-multicellular organism process
GO:0032501
Note that this term is in the subset of terms that should not be used for direct gene product annotation. Instead, select a child term or, if no appropriate child term exists, please request a new term. Direct annotations to this term may be amended during annotation QC.
multicellular organismal process
Any biological process, occurring at the level of a multicellular organism, pertinent to its function.
GOC:curators
GOC:dph
GOC:isa_complete
GOC:tb
The controlled release of a substance by a tissue.
tissue secretion
biological_process
expulsion of gland contents
GO:0032941
secretion by tissue
The controlled release of a substance by a tissue.
GOC:mah
expulsion of gland contents
GOC:mah
Self-propelled movement of a cell or organism from one location to another.
biological_process
GO:0040011
locomotion
Self-propelled movement of a cell or organism from one location to another.
GOC:dgh
The controlled release of a substance by a cell or a tissue.
biological_process
GO:0046903
secretion
The controlled release of a substance by a cell or a tissue.
GOC:ai
An organ system process carried out by any of the organs or tissues of the neurological system.
https://github.com/geneontology/go-ontology/issues/13824
neurological system process
neurophysiological process
biological_process
pan-neural process
GO:0050877
nervous system process
An organ system process carried out by any of the organs or tissues of the neurological system.
GOC:ai
GOC:mtg_cardio
Any process that modulates the levels of body fluids.
biological_process
GO:0050878
regulation of body fluid levels
Any process that modulates the levels of body fluids.
GOC:ai
GOC:dph
GOC:tb
The operation of the mind by which an organism becomes aware of objects of thought or perception; it includes the mental activities associated with thinking, learning, and memory.
Wikipedia:Cognition
biological_process
GO:0050890
cognition
cognitive process
The operation of the mind by which an organism becomes aware of objects of thought or perception; it includes the mental activities associated with thinking, learning, and memory.
ISBN:0721619908
Any process in which a cell, a substance, or a cellular entity, such as a protein complex or organelle, is transported, tethered to or otherwise maintained in a specific location. In the case of substances, localization may also be achieved via selective degradation.
https://github.com/geneontology/go-ontology/issues/27052
jl
2013-12-18T13:51:04Z
GO:1902578
establishment and maintenance of localization
establishment and maintenance of position
localisation
establishment and maintenance of cellular component location
establishment and maintenance of substance location
establishment and maintenance of substrate location
biological_process
single organism localization
single-organism localization
GO:0051179
localization
Any process in which a cell, a substance, or a cellular entity, such as a protein complex or organelle, is transported, tethered to or otherwise maintained in a specific location. In the case of substances, localization may also be achieved via selective degradation.
GOC:ai
GOC:dos
localisation
GOC:mah
single organism localization
GOC:TermGenie
Any process that localizes a substance or cellular component. This may occur via movement, tethering or selective degradation.
https://github.com/geneontology/go-ontology/issues/24200
establishment of localisation
biological_process
GO:0051234
establishment of localization
Any process that localizes a substance or cellular component. This may occur via movement, tethering or selective degradation.
GOC:ai
GOC:dos
establishment of localisation
GOC:mah
The specific neuromuscular movement of a single organism in response to external or internal stimuli.
dph
2015-11-09T12:43:11Z
biological_process
GO:0061744
motor behavior
The specific neuromuscular movement of a single organism in response to external or internal stimuli.
GOC:PARL
GOC:bf
PMID:25318560
Any process that modulates a measurable attribute of any biological process, quality or function.
regulation
biological_process
GO:0065007
biological regulation
Any process that modulates a measurable attribute of any biological process, quality or function.
GOC:dph
GOC:isa_complete
GOC:mah
GOC:pr
GOC:vw
Any process that modulates a qualitative or quantitative trait of a biological quality. A biological quality is a measurable attribute of an organism or part of an organism, such as size, mass, shape, color, etc.
https://github.com/geneontology/go-ontology/issues/30599
regulation of biological attribute
regulation of biological characteristic
biological_process
GO:0065008
regulation of biological quality
Any process that modulates a qualitative or quantitative trait of a biological quality. A biological quality is a measurable attribute of an organism or part of an organism, such as size, mass, shape, color, etc.
GOC:dph
GOC:isa_complete
GOC:mah
GOC:pr
GOC:vw
The regulated release of sweat from the sweat glands.
https://github.com/geneontology/go-ontology/issues/30274.
rynl
2025-05-19T20:55:14Z
perspiration
perspiring
sweating
biological_process
GO:0160269
sweat secretion
The regulated release of sweat from the sweat glands.
PMID:1778649
A dependent entity that inheres in a bearer by virtue of how the bearer is related to other entities
PATO:0000072
quality
PATO:0000001
quality
A dependent entity that inheres in a bearer by virtue of how the bearer is related to other entities
PATOC:GVG
A quality which inheres in an process.
PATO:0001239
PATO:0001240
quality of a process
quality of occurrent
quality of process
relational quality of occurrent
quality
PATO:0001236
See comments of relational quality of a physical entity.
process quality
A quality which inheres in an process.
PATOC:GVG
example to be eventually removed
example to be eventually removed
failed exploratory term
The term was used in an attempt to structure part of the ontology but in retrospect failed to do a good job
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
failed exploratory term
metadata complete
Class has all its metadata, but is either not guaranteed to be in its final location in the asserted IS_A hierarchy or refers to another class that is not complete.
metadata complete
organizational term
Term created to ease viewing/sort terms for development purpose, and will not be included in a release
organizational term
ready for release
Class has undergone final review, is ready for use, and will be included in the next release. Any class lacking "ready_for_release" should be considered likely to change place in hierarchy, have its definition refined, or be obsoleted in the next release. Those classes deemed "ready_for_release" will also derived from a chain of ancestor classes that are also "ready_for_release."
ready for release
metadata incomplete
Class is being worked on; however, the metadata (including definition) are not complete or sufficiently clear to the branch editors.
metadata incomplete
uncurated
Nothing done yet beyond assigning a unique class ID and proposing a preferred term.
uncurated
pending final vetting
All definitions, placement in the asserted IS_A hierarchy and required minimal metadata are complete. The class is awaiting a final review by someone other than the term editor.
pending final vetting
placeholder removed
placeholder removed
terms merged
An editor note should explain what were the merged terms and the reason for the merge.
terms merged
term imported
This is to be used when the original term has been replaced by a term imported from an other ontology. An editor note should indicate what is the URI of the new term to use.
term imported
term split
This is to be used when a term has been split in two or more new terms. An editor note should indicate the reason for the split and indicate the URIs of the new terms created.
term split
universal
Hard to give a definition for. Intuitively a "natural kind" rather than a collection of any old things, which a class is able to be, formally. At the meta level, universals are defined as positives, are disjoint with their siblings, have single asserted parents.
Alan Ruttenberg
A Formal Theory of Substances, Qualities, and Universals, http://ontology.buffalo.edu/bfo/SQU.pdf
universal
defined class
A defined class is a class that is defined by a set of logically necessary and sufficient conditions but is not a universal
"definitions", in some readings, always are given by necessary and sufficient conditions. So one must be careful (and this is difficult sometimes) to distinguish between defined classes and universal.
Alan Ruttenberg
defined class
named class expression
A named class expression is a logical expression that is given a name. The name can be used in place of the expression.
named class expressions are used in order to have more concise logical definition but their extensions may not be interesting classes on their own. In languages such as OWL, with no provisions for macros, these show up as actuall classes. Tools may with to not show them as such, and to replace uses of the macros with their expansions
Alan Ruttenberg
named class expression
to be replaced with external ontology term
Terms with this status should eventually replaced with a term from another ontology.
Alan Ruttenberg
group:OBI
to be replaced with external ontology term
requires discussion
A term that is metadata complete, has been reviewed, and problems have been identified that require discussion before release. Such a term requires editor note(s) to identify the outstanding issues.
Alan Ruttenberg
group:OBI
requires discussion
The term was added to the ontology on the assumption it was in scope, but it turned out later that it was not.
This obsolesence reason should be used conservatively. Typical valid examples are: un-necessary grouping classes in disease ontologies, a phenotype term added on the assumption it was a disease.
https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/ontology-metadata/issues/77
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5208-3432
out of scope
The term was added to the ontology on the assumption it was a valid domain entity, but it turns out the entity does not exist in reality.
This obsolesence reason should be used conservatively. For example: Obsoleting class that describes a breed of cow based on a record in an existing database, that was later retracted as faulty (breed does not exist). Do not use this term to obsolete a historic concept (that was once valid, but not anymore).
https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/ontology-metadata/issues/136
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4142-7153
domain entity does not exist
Bill Duncan
Alexander D. Diehl
Daniel W. McNeil
Finn Wilson
Finn Wilson