Human Knowledge Acquisition

Thought Paper Descartes’ Error Part 1

While reading Descartes’ Error by Antonia R. Damasio it becomes evident that the brain is a very complex system in which we cannot fully understand. The different case studies of Phineas Gage and others with frontal lobe brain damage have shown that there is a connection between the frontal lobe and social behavior or personality. Although we have seen from these cases that this connection exists, there are many different complex levels of the brain that are more ambiguous. We know that the brain is the control center of the body yet we cannot determine exactly which parts of the brain control what aspect of the body, or how they control them. Another aspect of the brain that I have found interesting is that the brain is adaptive. If a man goes blind, his neural connections between his brain and eyes will deteriorate because they are not in use and therefore other brain functions will become stronger to compensate. The complexity and multiple levels of the brain, along with the different functions of different areas of the brain are all areas that have been explored for a long time yet only recently have discovered major advancements through technology.

Broca believed that Phineas Gage damaged his motor area and/or Broca’s area. These two areas are located in between the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain. Since Broca’s area is connected with language and Gage only had problems with social behavior it is improbable that this was the case. Gage’s problems with his social behavior can be described as the "Phineas Gage matrix: after he sustained damage to the frontal cortices, his ability to choose the most advantageous course of action was lost, despite otherwise intact mental capacities; emotions and feelings were compromised" (pp. 56). Because it is so hard to test social and personality problems it becomes difficult to determine what section of the intricate brain it is connected with.

The brain is not only complex in function but also in structure. "from the level of microscopic single neurons (nerve cells) to that of the macroscopic systems spanning the entire brain" (pp. 25) each structure is specific and important. The nervous system contains the cerebrum, the corpus callosum, the diencephalons (thalamus and hypothalamus), the midbrain, the brain stem, the cerebellum, and the spinal cord. The parts of the brain that lets the body communicate are the neurons. The neurons fire signals that can travel throughout the body. The space in between neurons where the communication travels are called synaptic gaps and this is where the synapse (or signal) occurs.

An interesting aspect of the function of the brain is it’s ability to adapt. When a part of the body is damaged, such as one’s eyesight then the brain is able to adapt. The neurons that send messages from the eyes to the brain fail and therefore the brain limits the connections and adds more connections in other areas. Just as muscles deteriorate when not in use the connections between the eyes and the brain deteriorate when not in use. Although it seems easy to determine when vision is functioning or not, other senses are harder to test. "One might predict that children or adolescents so impaired would never develop a normal personality, that their social sense would never mature, and that is precisely what has been found in such cases" (pp. 57). Because it is harder to determine if personality is damaged than if eyesight is damaged, the connection between personality and a specific section of the brain is harder to make.

The complexity and multiple levels of the brain, from neurons to lobes, make advanced technology essential to discovering more about the brain and neuroscience. Because the great advance in technology over the past several decades had increased the study of the brain the conflict between nature and nurture (whether we are more influenced biologically or socially) has been favoring nature. Although this is true, the influence of society is still extremely imperative. Since we finally have the technology to explore the brain on such a small level, the explorations of the effects of society on man are not as precise. "The human evidence discussed in this section suggests a close bond between a collection of brain regions and the processes of reasoning and decision making" (pp. 78). The intricacy and depth of the brain, along with the connections between different functions of the body and different areas of the brain are all important in the understanding of the brain.