Emotions and cognition

There was much overlap of the topics covered in the readings for this week as both LeDoux and Damasio try to explain and understand emotions. They both talk about the evolution of life and try to consider how emotions have become such a large part of our human landscape. Damasio eloquently pulls apart the evolution of life as he explains that the very first simple organism was without a CNS and performed actions spontaneously or in response to a specific stimulus, and that in turn these actions can be characterized as the organism’s behavioral pattern. It was only later on in the progression of life on this planet that organisms developed a nervous system and a brain. He states that organisms can either have behavior but no mind, have behavior and cognition but no thinkable organism can have a mind but no action (believe in ghosts?).
He also goes through a rudimentary explanation of the brain by stating that “upstairs in the cortex there is reason and willpower, while downstairs in the subcortex there is emotion and all that weak, fleshy stuff” . The upstairs region is believed to be evolutionarily the most recent development of the brain while downstairs houses primal elements of behavior that aided us through the years of cave dwelling. He goes on to say that there has been “evidence that longevity, a likely reflection of the quality of reasoning, is correlated not only with increased size of the neocortex as expected but also with increased size of the hypothalamus, the main compartment of downstairs.” Here is where he draws a connection to the development of the structures that house rationality and emotions and states that they are both necessary to the movement in time of our species. But he also draws upon the idea while referencing William James that the mind and body are connected to each other through the bridge of emotion. This bridge is so important for the human race because it facilitates communication between people and between species.

From here I am reminded of how LeDoux concluded his book. He states at the end of chapter nine that the amygdala has more control over the cortex than the cortex has over the amygdala. He states that there are two possibilities in the future of our brain structuring. Seeing that the neocortex is ever expanding it might gain more and more control over the amygdala possibly allowing future humans to better control their emotions. He also postulates that due to the equality of connecting fibres between the neocortex and the amygdala, the future may behold a time where there is no more struggle between thought and emotions “but a more harmonious integration of reason and passion” . From here I wonder how much LeDoux would agree with Damasio’s view over the importance of emotions in the processes that he discuses extensively in part one while referencing to Phineas Gage and Elliot. I really enjoyed LeDoux book but perhaps that is where I get lost sometimes, because he does not ever really formulate his own opinions but instead covers extensively the research as it pertains to emotions and the brain. But this may be what makes him a highly revered scientific writer, as he brings together scientific facts in order to paint the landscape of emotions and the brain. I guess that is something we will cover in class in the next few weeks.

The goal of Barrett and Ochsner’s research is to identify how appraisal patterns give rise to complexities of emotional experiences, expression and regulation. I wonder why do some people respond one way to an emotional and another person acts in a seemingly different manner. Despite the argument that some of these behaviors are inherited and reinforced, and the role that memory plays in emotional responses, I still wonder about what is responsible for the marked difference in emotional behavior between people be it in automatic emotion processing or controlled emotion processing? I guess the figure on page 273 of Ledoux's book will serve as a map in understanding this dilemma as well as analyzing the their research findings in that different brain structures are responsible for different emotional behavior. I had some trouble understanding some of their findings. For example, what do they mean by “core affective life of the individual”p.29? This paper was well organized and descriptive but I feel that due to my lack of knowledge about neuroscience I would need help in understanding the research and its implications.