Emotion, Reason, or Both?

"That is the way we are made: we don't reason, where we feel; we just feel." This quote is from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. I fully agree with this statement. I know that when I am in an emotional situation part of my reasoning ability shuts down, and I make decisions based on emotion alone. For example, I have very strong feelings for my boyfriend; in fact I could honestly say that I love him. He is also in college, but in Michigan. It has been forty-four days since I have seen him and I’m about to go crazy. My emotions have gotten the best of me, and I’ve decided to go home in a few days to visit him. Now this goes against all rational thought because I will be missing classes and will have to make up all of my work somehow. But I am still going to go, reason is not going to stop me.

I told this short story to make a point: that emotion and reason are not mutually exclusive of each other. Although it may seem that I have based my decision on emotion alone, that is not the case. I have rationally thought of all the consequences of my actions. Reasoning has played a big part in my decision-making. In this case, the reasons for going home outweigh the reasons for not going. Antonio Damasio investigates this connection between emotion and reason through several case studies in Descartes’ Error.

Damasio begins his book with the story of Phineas Gage. Gage was a foreman for a railroad company. One day there was a terrible accident in which an iron rod, over three and a half feet long, passed through Gage’s head. Miraculously he survived, but from then on, Phineas Gage was a changed man. Gage could no longer make simple decisions using reason but perhaps the more important part is that he no longer had emotions. "Gage had once known all he needed to know about making choices conducive to his betterment. After the accident, he no longer showed respect for social convention; the decisions he made did not take into account his best interest." He did have bursts of anger, but he did not love, feel happiness or show concern for himself or others.

Using historical records, photographs of Gage’s skull, and current technology, scientists have been able to reconstruct the accident on computers and hypothesize several scenarios as to what specific parts of Gage’s brain were damaged. In every case, parts of his frontal lobes were destroyed. "We can state with confidence that the damage was more extensive on the left than on the right hemisphere, and on the anterior than the posterior sectors of the frontal region as a whole." Knowing this and studying cat scans from other people with similar conditions has lead scientists to believe that the ability to reason and use emotion lies at least partly in this sector of the brain.

Further studies have also tried to show the relation between emotion and the body. In one experiment, patients with frontal lobe damage and "normal" people were shown slides and their skin conductivity was recorded. "If you do not have a skin conductance response, it does not appear that you ever will have the conscious body state characteristic of emotion." Most of the time, rather dull, emotionless pictures were shown, but every once in a while a picture would appear that had some emotional meaning, such as pictures of war. The "normal" patients all responded with an increase in skin conductivity while the frontal lobe patients seemed to have no response at all. The conclusion drawn by the researchers was that the frontal lobe patients no longer have the part of the brain necessary to experience emotion.

Several other studies have been conducted and explained in the book, but due to space restrictions, they must be omitted here. I cannot possibly refute any of the information given my Antonio Damasio, for several reasons. First, Damasio is an expert in his field. He knows a lot more about the human brain and its functions than I do. Second, he has experimental evidence to back his hypotheses. (I will come back to this point.) And finally, all of what he says makes logical sense based on what I know.

Like any good writer, Damasio is very convincing in what he says. For example, he has a hypothesis called the somatic-marker theory. If I understand it correctly, he is saying that certain bodily states can get permanently attached to objects or feelings. Well, through my experience I can accept this. I know that when I get nervous (a feeling) I start to sweat and get fidgety. Therefore the bodily states of sweating and fidgeting have become somatic (somatic meaning "bodily") markers for the emotion of nervousness to me. Likewise, seeing the necklace my boyfriend gave me (an object) makes me get this "warm fuzzy feeling" for lack of better words. The necklace has become a somatic marker for the feeling of love. So because what Damasio says just makes sense, I am unable to refute any of his hypotheses.

Now, let me go back to Damasio’s experimental evidence. Although it may be enough to convince me, I’m not sure it is strong enough to convince other experts. The conclusions drawn from the experiments seem logical and consistent. But I just don’t know if there have been enough experiments done to make those conclusions valid. For example, in the 1950s when scientist were trying to determine whether DNA was the genetic material or not, it was not accepted as a fact until four, completely unrelated experiments were done to prove it. So I am a bit wary to accept what Damasio says without having further evidence to back his theories from other sources.

However, that does not mean that his theories have no value in our lives. Knowing how emotion and reason are connected can help me to keep my emotions in check when faced with a decision that requires reasoning. In a broader sense, it can help people to see the justifications others have for making a decision. Also, learning about the brain helps us to learn about ourselves. Perhaps, by learning about ourselves, we can better fit into the world and help others in some way.

The applications of these studies are almost infinite. Knowing the functions of the various parts of the brain can help scientists understand human behavior. Perhaps another part of the brain functions in the same way as the frontal lobes. If different neural connections can be made, then it might be possible for people with frontal lobe damage to regain their emotion and reasoning ability. Knowing exactly where and how memories are stored is also important. It may be possible, then, to erase a traumatic experience from a person’s mind, allowing them to function as normal again. Amputees can be helped if it is known more clearly how the mind affects the body and the body affects the mind. And if I can develop these ideas, just imagine what neural-physiologists and neural-psychologists can think of. The possibilities are infinite.