Key Messages
The Inextricable Link Between Brain, Body, Reason, And Emotions
Reading Descartes’ Error will help you to see the brain in a whole new way.
For too long, we have seen it as divided into two distinct parts: rational thought and emotions.
This dualism has been part of Western thought since ancient Greece, but has become closely associated with the French philosopher René Descartes.
However, recent scientific advances have shown us that this demarcation is false: the brain, body, reason and emotions are all intertwined with each other into one cohesive unit.
To illustrate this point, we can look at the case studies of two men who had an important part of their brains responsible for rational thinking removed.
Through these stories, we learn about how reasoning and emotion are actually linked inextricably together!
If you really want to understand the brain better and shake off old misconceptions about how it works, then reading Descartes’ Error is a great place to start!
Using Brain Damage To Unravel The Mysteries Of The Brain’S Machinery
Understanding the various parts of the human brain and their functions can be tricky.
We obviously can’t just go in and cut out certain parts to see what happens, making experimental neuropsychology quite difficult!
However, thanks to advances in science, we are now able to understand the brain’s different parts by observing the consequences of brain damage.
Brain-damaging injuries, tumors and diseases can affect specific regions of the brain, with some wiping out an entire part without damaging everything else.
By examining the results of such damage to these areas – like language disorders resulting from damage to a part of the brain called the third frontal gyrus – we can better map out how each part typically functions within our overall machinery.
Through this means, remarkable discoveries have been made regarding how our brains work!
The Story Of Phineas Gage Shows How Brain Damage Can Provide Insight Into Human Cognition And Behavior
The famous story of Phineas Gage is both grisly and bizarre.
He was a nineteenth-century railroad construction foreman who worked for the Rutland & Burlington Railroad company in Vermont – a demanding and dangerous job that required precision and attention.
One day, while setting an explosive charge to help clear the way for a track, a sudden accident sent a slender iron rod flying straight through his head.
Gage not only survived the incident, but he also demonstrated normal brain functioning in most areas of cognition afterwards as well.
Despite this, he exhibited some major character changes – he stopped respecting social conventions, started swearing recklessly, telling lies, and was known to act on impulse and one plan after another without following through on any of them.
As a result, he drifted from one job to another until eventually ending up as part of a circus sideshow as a result of his actions.
However disastrous his story may be, it provided scientists with invaluable insight into brain functions: that certain areas are responsible for controlling certain behaviors – including impulsivity and lack of self-control – that allow us to set goals and pursue our plans.
In essence, Phineas Gage’s misfortune serves as an example of how damaging particular parts of the brain can prove useful clues when attempting to map out its characteristics.
Gage And Elliot’s Stories Suggests The Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Is Crucially Important For Practical Reasoning
It’s hard to know for sure what exactly happened to Phineas Gage, since he died back in 1861 and his brain is no longer around for us to examine.
However, through research done with advanced computer simulation technology, we can retrace the trajectory of the rod that flew through Gage’s head and suggest that it likely damaged a part of the brain called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VPC).
This indicates that this small but crucial part of the brain plays an important role in practical reasoning.
For further evidence supporting this hypothesis, researchers needed to find a modern-day Phineas Gage to study – someone with similar brain damage and symptoms.
Enter Elliot – the pseudonym given to one of the author’s patients – who had suffered a tumor which resulted in VPC damage.
Inside the laboratory, Elliot’s brain seemed normal or above average; however outside in real life, his practical reasoning skills were negatively affected.
This is demonstrated by his failure to prioritize tasks within days at work which led him down an unfortunate path eventually resulting in unemployment, bankruptcy, and divorce.
Gage’s story provides strong evidence that damage to VPC can have severe implications on decision making resulting from faulty practical reasoning.
Practical Reasoning Requires A Coordinated Effort From Multiple Parts Of The Brain
When it comes to understanding practical reasoning, relying on just one area of the brain–namely the Ventral Premotor Cortex (VPC)–isn’t enough.
You need multiple parts of the brain working together in order to fully engage in this complicated process.
This includes the limbic system and somatosensory cortex, both of which are known to play an important role in physical sensations and emotions.
To understand how these three seemingly disconnected parts contribute to practical reasoning, we must look deeper into the relationship between them.
Research has found that damage to either of these areas can lead to similar symptoms as those found in patients exhibiting damage to their VPCs.
Therefore, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to our ability to reason practically.
These findings give clear evidence that practical reasoning isn’t something that can be taken for granted–it depends on different areas of the brain functioning properly in tandem with each other.
In conclusion, if you have any problems with your psychological functions, be sure to pay attention not only to your VPC but also your limbic system and somatosensory cortex!
All Three Parts Of The Brain – The Vpc, The Limbic System And The Somatosensory Cortex – Are Related To Our Capacity For Practical Reasoning
When conducting further studies into the effects of VPC damage on practical reasoning, the author made an unexpected discovery while studying Elliot – a patient who exhibited flat emotions and showed little reaction to events and situations that would normally evoke emotional responses.
Further questioning revealed that Elliot’s inability to feel emotions was a direct result of his injury to the VPC.
The author then looked further into similarly injured cases, finding 12 additional patients all displaying similar emotional flatness.
The authors were able to put together a scientific hypothesis based on these observations linking VPC damage to diminished practical reasoning capabilities as well as flat emotional responses.
This correlation coupled with the evidence taken from their combined studies led to the surprising revelation held in Descartes’ Error – that our emotional struggles are deeply connected to our rational thought processes.
These findings suggest that we may not be able to separate our emotions from our actions and decisions, but rather that they are closely intertwined inextricably influencing one another often leading us down unexpected paths.
The Power Of Emotions: How Our Feelings Provide Us With Information And Guide Us Towards Positive Outcomes
Our emotions can provide our brains with valuable insight and guidance when it comes to making choices.
Through the collection of changes happening inside the body, as well as mental images triggering an emotional state, we are provided with information that drives us in either a positive or negative direction.
For example, if you experience your facial muscles and skin flush when thinking of a friend, it’s a sign from your brain that being around this person is likely to bring you pleasure (positive emotion).
On the other hand, if you feel blanching and tensing when thinking of somebody you don’t like, it signals that spending time with this particular person could be harmful (negative emotion).
Simply put – our emotions give us important clues about whether to approach or avoid particular situations.
Descartes’ Error emphasizes the importance of understanding our emotional systems so we can make practical decisions based on feelings rather than strictly relying on logic.
Just as Elliot realized throughout his journey – emotions carry value and can help us become more effective problem solvers.
We should look to use them as a guide while still allowing critical thinking as well.
The Limbic System And Primary Emotion: Understanding How Damage To The Vpc Affects Our Ability To Feel
People with damage to their ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VPC) can still experience primary emotions, even if their emotional life is significantly diminished.
Primary emotions refer to the most basic forms of emotion like happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust.
This is because these emotions are hardwired into us from birth and don’t require much processing from the brain.
For example, if something suddenly appeared out of nowhere and scared you, your body would immediately go into a state of fear – before your VPC had time to process the information.
This is because your limbic system registers the information quickly which forces your somatosensory cortex to respond by creating intense bodily sensations that put you in an emotional body state.
In contrast, secondary emotions are more complicated and may be affected by damage to certain parts of the limbic system.
Either way though, it’s important to realize that people with VPC damage can still experience primary emotions such as joy, sadness, anger etc rather than being completely unable to feel anything whatsoever.
Our Emotions, Particularly Our Secondary Emotions, Are The Result Of The Combination Of Our Ongoing Emotional Body States And Memories, Experiences, And Other Mental Images In Our Prefrontal Cortex
Secondary emotions are learned rather than innate, and depend on the activity of your ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VPC).
This area of the brain stores mental images and helps to convert incoming stimulation such as visual and auditory cues into emotional arousal.
To acquire a secondary emotion, you will need to cultivate certain memories, or create a deep association between certain stimuli and an emotion over time.
As an example, let’s consider someone who encounters a snake.
If someone has never encountered one before, they may feel fear due to their lack of knowledge and understanding.
However, if they were a herpetologist, or someone who studies reptiles, then when they encounter a rare species that’s been their favorite since childhood, instead of feeling fear, they would be likely experience joy – for them this would be a seconday emotion that was cultivated over time.
The VPC is key in terms of converting molecular reactions such as visual and audio cues into emotional arousal states.
Essentially it needs all the various images associated with snakes and other stimuli in order to create strong associations with emotions.
We can see from this example how the VPC has immense power when it comes to shaping both primary and secondary emotions acquired over time.
The Role Of Secondary Emotions In Practical Reasoning: How They Help Us Make Quick And Efficient Decisions
Elliot’s story provides a key lesson when it comes to practical reasoning.
Elliot could understand the facts and consider different possibilities, but his brain was unable to make a swift decision on what conclusion he should reach with this knowledge.
Without the necessary information to find a solution quickly, Elliot was stuck in an infinite cycle of analysis paralysis.
This example highlights the importance of secondary emotions in practical reasoning.
Having access to these emotions allows us to swiftly evaluate certain situations, even if time constraints prevent us from deeply considering all of the details involved.
In brief moments where we need to think fast, relying on our gut feeling can be invaluable.
In short, Elliot’s story demonstrates that relying on secondary emotions is an essential component when it comes to practical reasoning and making decisions in life.
By trusting our instincts and using our raw emotion as guidance, we can often arrive at more efficient resolutions than spending endless amounts of time trying to analyze every factor of a situation.
The Somatic Marker Hypothesis: How Secondary Emotions Help Us Make Reasonable Decisions In A Fast-Paced World
The somatic marker hypothesis is a theory that explains how emotions play a role in making practical decisions.
It states that secondary emotions (positive or negative feelings) provide helpful information and steer us toward or away from certain options.
When we make decisions, these emotions act as somatic markers – telling us which way to go.
For example, let’s say we are faced with the choice of scheduling an appointment on either Monday or Wednesday.
We may have had bad experiences in the past associated with Mondays, like having to deal with traffic and running late for our appointments.
As a result, we could develop a negative attitude toward Mondays, without even being aware of it.
This negative emotion would then steer us away from choosing Monday and towards Wednesday – or whatever other option we have available.
This is exactly how the somatic marker hypothesis works!
Therefore, when faced with difficult decisions, the somatic marker hypothesis can explain why it is important to pay attention to our emotions and use them as guidance for making the best possible decision.
It’s all about harmoniously working together between reason and emotion – brain and body – for maximum efficiency!
Wrap Up
The final summary of Descartes’ Error is that emotions and reason combine to create the basis for our decisions and actions in life.
This combination helps us sift through available possibilities, weigh the pros and cons of different choices, and make decisions accordingly.
At the root of this process is a biological connection between emotions, logic, and physical states; the ventromedial prefrontal cortex plays an important role in bringing together these elements.
This book emphasizes that our best course of action is to learn how to navigate each part towards a conscious goal-setting direction for achieving positive outcomes.
