Cortex: Listening To Your Pulse
Any post so eloquent in a turn of phrase, “metaphysical feelings have a very carnal source,” deserves recognition. The Frontal Cortex cites a new study1 and elaborates on Damasio’s Iowa Gambling Task experiments, a study which shows unconscious problem solving occurs well before conscious awareness of the solution.2 My favorite part:
As William James hypothesized back in 1882, every emotion begins as a series of physiological changes in the body; our metaphysical feelings have a very carnal source. "What kind of an emotion of fear," James wondered, "would be left [after seeing a bear in the woods] if the feeling of quickened heart beats nor of shallow breathing, neither of trembling lips nor of weakened limbs, neither of goose bumps nor of visceral stirrings, were present?" James' answer was simple: without the body there would be no fear. We need the body in order to feel.
Complex problem solving generates significant survival benefit. Are these types of complex problems solved by conscious thought or unconsciously? If unconsciously, then how? These studies point to emotion. Damasio has written on this subject with wit and skill.3
One of his main points is emotions are events in the body. Feelings are subjective experience of emotions. This sequence offers a significant connection from neuroscience to psychology. It fascinates me.
UPDATE: There is a bug in my code and it's driving me crazy.
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Werner, N. S., Jung, K., Duschek, S., & Schandry, R. (2009). Enhanced cardiac perception is associated with benefits in decision-making. Psychophysiology. ↩
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Bechara, A., Damasio, H., Tranel, D., & Damasio, A. R. (1997). Deciding advantageously before knowing the advantageous strategy. Science (New York, N.Y.), 275(5304), 1293-5. ↩
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Damasio, A. (2003). Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain ↩
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Reader Comments (2)
If you have not read Emotional Alchemy by Tara Bennett Goldman, the wife of Dan Goldman--who wrote Emotional Intelligence -- I recommend it. It is right up your alley. Tara discusses how we as humans are very emotional beings, and how developing a mindfulness about this very nature can be therapeutic, particularly when certain stimuli tend to lead us into emotional territory we would just as soon not charter. I loved this book.
Thanks for the book recommendation. I will seek it out :)
I would go so far as to say that without emotion we could not be conscious - a point of view well developed by Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist whose groundbreaker work on this topic is becoming highly influential.