Essay A Glimpse into Sociability, Temperament and the Brain

In the discussion of the human mind and how it actually works, there are a few distinct philosophical concepts that many believe to be an accurate diagnosis. Three of these views are Dualism, Physicalism, and Functionalism. They each portray a different view on how the mind functions in some cases physically or even mentally and separate from the actual human brain. perfect way to exam these approaches is to take an in depth look at the interesting case of Phineas Gage. Gage, born in 1823, was a railroad construction worker in the northeastern region of the United States. On September 13th in 1848, Gage was working on a railroad project in the state of Vermont and was filling a whole with explosive gunpowder and was packing the power in powder

Neurologist Antonio Damasio has written significantly on Gage and other patients that he studied on with similar injuries. Damasio viewed Gage's case as playing a crucial role in the history of neuroscience, and stated that Gage's story "was the historical beginnings of the study of the biological basis of behavior". Gage's case inspired the development of frontal lobotomy, which now is a psychosurgical procedure that leads to emotional response and personality traits. On the other hand, historical analysis doesn't support this claim because Gage's injury didn't have enough influence on the development of this practice.

The brain can be affected by damage and cause behavior to be expressed differently in every person. Events such as a car crash or childhood abuse can affect brain development and function. Damage to certain areas of the brain can have a variety of effects. The hippocampus controls emotions and is associated with memory, and the frontal lobe is a brain cortex that controls motor functions, problem solving, memory, language, judgments, social and sexual behavior and impulse. When the frontal lobe or hippocampus is affected, a person’s emotion can be out of their control. In criminal cases, brain damage can affect the sentencing of a violent criminal, but to what extent should these abnormalities play a role in their conviction? Much research has been conducted in order to determine the effect that brain abnormalities should have on the conviction of violent criminals. A psychiatrist at New York University, Dr. Lewis, has conducted a study on death-row inmates, how their brains work and what affect the damage had on their conviction. By doing so Dr. Lewis paved the way for other researchers, such as Kent Kiehl and Jonathan H. Pincus to study the brains of violent criminals looking for a answer as to whether or not these criminals should be incarcerated. Over time research has been conducted focusing on mental illnesses and brain damage as the cause of violent acts instead of it being just premeditated murder. Many believe brain damage or mental illness should have no affect on

First attributed to Aristotle was the concept of the tabula rasa, or blank slate. He believed that a person was born pure and their interactions with the world shaped their persona. From the moment we are born, we observe the world around us and, for good or bad, retain bits and pieces that collectively make up our personalities. In the video Inside the Killer’s Mind, neurologist Dr. Jonathan Pincus posited that brain damage coupled with a history of abuse could result in aggressive behavior. “The violent ones were all neurologically impaired on examination.” He discussed a cyst found on Shawcross’ MRI in the temporal lobe that by itself wouldn’t necessarily be significant, but coupled with an EEG spike in the same area it indicated an abnormality. Also in the film, Dr. Dorothy Lewis stated that in her exams of violent children she “found that these kids had more accidents, injuries, illnesses and hospitalizations than other kids.” I believe that brain injuries and abnormalities could account for elements of personality that are attributed to empathy, inhibition and moral concepts; characteristics sometimes lacking or poorly displayed in those with criminal behaviors.

His research is on the biological basis of human behavior. One day he scanned his brain and his sons and compared it to other serial killers and found that he had the same low orbital cortex activity that serial killers have. Within this research he found that he has a whole lineage of murderers in his ancestry. His discovery was that he had a great-grandfather that was hanged in 1667 for murdering his own mother. His great- grandfather was Thomas Cornell and in this lineage he found seven other alleged murders. Jim Fallon talks about the orbital cortex and how that area of your brain is believed to be involved in moral decision making, impulse control and ethical behavior. If you have low activity levels in the orbital cortex, you are more likely to have problems with rage, violence, sex, and drinking. In his research aside from the brain scans he ran DNA tests for genes that are associated to violence on his family members. This research showed up a MAO-A GENE, this gene is the serotonin in your brain that makes you feel good or

Research of the brain abnormalities in psychopaths have been traced back to the 1800’s when an Italian psychiatrist and criminologist Cesare Lombroso stated that all of the mental functions in one’s brain are localized in different parts of the brain. Lombroso generalized the idea that one is born with a “criminal mind”. The criminal mind can be classified by “deformations of their skulls”. (Weber

In the following, the author will discuss and analyze the biological and humanistic approaches to personality. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs will be discussed and examined. The author will describe biological factors that influence the formation of personality. The author will examine the relationship of biological factors to Maslow’s theory of personality. The author will explain the basic aspects of humanistic theory that is incompatible with biological explanations of personality. In conclusion, this paper will describe biological

Have you ever wondered about the functions of the adolescent brain and what causes teenagers and other adolescents to make many risky and absurd decisions sometimes? Did you ever think about the man Phineas Gage who became a textbook case for a severe brain accident in his prefrontal cortex, and how the accident in his brain might have altered it to the point where it would be similar to the adolescent brain?“Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science” by John Fleischman gives examples with evidence about how Phineas’s brain and behavior was transformed after his severe injury involving the prefrontal cortex. This injury causing the prefrontal cortex damaged many important neural connections, that it sent him and his brain

The novel Phineas Gage is about Phineas Gage, a railroad foreman, who has a horrible accident that forever changes his life and the future of brain science. Gage was working a railroad, sprinkling dynamite in blasting holes, when his tamping iron suddenly slips onto the exposed explosives and the tamping iron is shot through Gage’s head; he lives to tell the tale many times. After being bled by Dr. Edward Williams, Gage demonstrates his inability to be social; his old friends find him fitful, irreverent and impatient after the incident and leave him. This mental handicap continued throughout his life; when he went to live with his family in San Francisco, he frequently argued with his employers, farmers. At the time, there were two theories

Due to its primary role in processing memory and emotional reactions, over the last decade and a half psychologists have been linking the amygdala to psychopathy. It is involved in aversive conditioning and instrumental learning and is thus involved in all the processes that, when impaired, produce the same functional impairments displayed by psychopaths. Two famous studies conducted by Tiihonen and Kiehl respectively have confirmed this. Tiihonen used a volumetric MRI to test and confirm the positive correlation between low amygdaloid volume and a high degree of psychopathy in violent criminals (measured by the Hare checklist-revised) while Kiehl used a functional MRI to prove reduced amygdala response during an emotional memory task in individuals who scored high on the Hare checklist-revised. However, both these studies along with numerous others were conducted using violent offenders as subjects rather than individuals with psychopathy. Although many psychopaths do exhibit violent tendencies, not all violent offenders are necessarily psychopaths. A study conducted by Raine is one of the few that did focus only on individuals exhibiting psychopathy. In his study Raine was able to show reduced prefrontal grey matter in his test subjects. Unfortunately though, he was unable to differentiate between grey matter in different regions of the prefrontal cortex. It is however clear that there is one region of the frontal cortex that could be

Our mind is made up of many different departments such as the prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and primary visual and auditory cortex that control different movements, emotions and sometimes behavior. In the Phinenas Gage case his behavior started to change after his traumatic accident when a iron rod entered through his head, through his cheekbone and exiting through is forehead that caused damage to his orbitofrontal cortex and eventually disconnecting other individuals and with things such as manners

Aside from the common differences that can be seen from a distance without actually communicating or interacting with someone, such as the color of their skin, there are many other attributes that sets people apart. There are distinct differences in the way people think, feel, and behave; commonly referred to as personality. Various factors determine the persona of individuals. Some of these factors include the neural systems and distinctive genes. This paper looks at how genetic factors of people and their neural systems contribute to the personality of humans.

In order to understand why people act in antisocial ways, one needs to pinpoint which area of the brain controls social behavior. The prefrontal cortex has been thought to have something to do with control of social behavior ever since Phineas Gage's famous accident in 1848 (1). Phineas Gage was a

The Anatomy of Violence presents the latest findings in the field of biological psychology and human behavior, focusing on brain chemistry, as it relates to human behavior, and offers great insight on how brains of those who commit acts of violence or crime differ from those who do not. Mr. Raine provides solid scientific data regarding the ways in which brain chemistry differs and how injuries can alter personality using medical MRI and fMRI and various neurotransmitter studies. A clear connection between human biology and behavior emerges, bringing

Social skills are the skills or tools a person or people use to communicate and interact with one another, both verbally or non-verbally, through gestures, body language or personal appearance. Although, human beings are sociable creatures and have developed many methods to communicate our messages, thoughts and feelings with others. Developing social skills is about being aware of how we communicate with each other.