The Brain On Trial By David Eagleman Analysis

When you think of mental illness, you don’t always think about all the ways it can affect you or your loved ones. Even if you do, you don’t realize how much a mental illness can change whoever it is affecting. “The Brain on Trial” by David Eagleman, a neuroscientist, is an article about mental illnesses and our legal systems. He explains the various effects mental illnesses can have on people and how the legal systems don’t always take this in to account in court. He also talks about the changes in your brain and personality when you have something such as a tumor or dementia. His stories are true and provide real world examples of some of the effects he has seen in people who have developed a mental illness.

There is a big difference living a life actively, and living a life passively. Once people start living a life passively, they tend to become too comfortable and committed to their life, which is devastating because they will never amount to their full potential. As for a life that is being acted-upon they are self – improving and opening new doors to experiences they never thought they could do. In Carol Dweck’s article “Brainology” describes two different mindsets students may have and how each can affect a student’s ability to reach a successful life. Also in connection with the mindsets based on Adrienne Rich speech “Claiming an Education” she argues about what receiving and claiming an education means. In the wake of these findings I come to learn that I had a fixed mindset, which only allowed me to receive an education. But now recognizing and understanding the “Growth Mindset,” I have decided to claim my education and see how putting the concept and process can help enlighten my academics and life.

In his article “The Cosmic Perspective”, Neil DeGrasse Tyson introduces us to the idea of the cosmic perspective. This concept puts all humanity in their place, for we are not the center of the universe. Tyson accomplishes this by stating that the issues that seem so big to us are nothing when you see them with the cosmic perspective. He also talks about how the earth is so small that it's like a speck of dust compared to the universe. He goes on to say that without the cosmic perspective we wouldn't even be the people we are today!

I started my education in Erie, Pennslyviana.I attend McDowell High. I would say that we were one of the richer schools were I live. I am going to talk about my first assignment Brainology. I thought it was very interesting and it thought me a lot about how some people have different mindsets.

“Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure science...” is said by Edwin P. Hubble. The passage Coming to Our Senses is written by Neil deGrasse Tyson. In this passage it discusses how our senses are limited and how they can be improved by technology. Tyson uses many rhetorical devices in his passage such as rhetorical questions, sensory details, and figurative language . By using these he made the reader to be more involved with the passage because they now have to think but at the same time read and comprehend the story.

Imagine death. What happens in your final moments? Are you going to think about your loved ones or just simply reminisce on one of the happiest moments of your existence? What would be your very final thought to think? The short story, “Bullet in the Brain”, is a very intriguing, well-articulated fictional writing piece that captures what happens in the split second of death through the main character Anders. Written by Tobias Wolff, the story follows a man who finds the cliché in anything and his final thoughts of his life as a bullet is moving through his brain. Saying I enjoyed this story would be the understatement of the century. The short story is purely brilliant and one of the most thought-provoking stories I have read in a while.

Every spirit builds itself a house; and beyond its house a world; and beyond its world, a heaven. Know then, that the world exists for you. For you is the phenomenon perfect. What we are, that only can we see. All that Adam had, all that Caesar could, you have and can do. Adam called his house, heaven and earth; Caesar called his house, Rome; you perhaps call yours, a cobler's trade; a hundred acres of ploughed land; or a scholar's garret. Yet line for line and point for point, your dominion is as great as theirs, though without fine names. Build, therefore, your own world.” concerned initially with how we reflect on solitude, the stars, and the grandeur of nature, symbolized in the stars that Emerson views at night, and focuses on how we perceive objects around us. Emerson speaks of the landscape in which he walks and how he, as a poet, can best integrate all that he sees. What is most important in this sequence is the similar ways we perceive the various objects — stars, the landscape, and the poet.(117)

I read the article, “Secrets of the Brain”, found in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic written by Carl Zimmer. I chose this subject because I have been fascinated with the brain and how it works. The research of the brain has been ongoing for many centuries now. The history in this article is interesting. It explained how scientists used to understand the brain and its inner workings. For example, “in the ancient world physicians believed that the brain was made of phlegm. Aristotle looked on it as a refrigerator, cooling of the fiery heart. From his time through the Renaissance, anatomists declared with great authority that our perceptions, emotions, reasoning, and actions were all the result of “animal spirits”—mysterious, unknowable vapors that swirled through cavities in our head and traveled through our bodies.” (Zimmer, p. 38)

To persuade the jury in providing a guilty verdict, I would first argue that although the tumor has affected several areas of his brain, this was unknown during the time of the murder. Thus, the murder could have been committed at his own free-will. Based on the research of Kluver and Bucy, it was demonstrated that damages to the amygdala can include symptoms of a lack of fear, blunting of emotion, and overreaction.

In David Eagleman’s article “The Brain on Trail,” Eagleman (2011), a neuroscientist, writes about the massive developments that scientists have discovered about the brain and how our current justice system contradicts these findings. Eagleman’s main claim is that human behavior and human biology will always coincide with one another, which is why there should be personalized prison sentences, upgrades on rehabilitation programs, and introduce long-term catalysts for better performance.

He reasoned that our senses often misinterpret the physical world, e.g. we sometimes see things that aren’t actually there or perceive things differently from different distances.

Seiden (2004) cites the case of a 40 year old Virginia teacher who was indulging in a lot of promiscuous activities including soliciting prostitutes, making sexual advances towards his step daughter and collecting child pornography. Eventually the police found out and was to be sentenced to jail. However, the night before he complained of severe headaches and had to be hospitalized. There too he continued his behaviour making advances towards the nurses. When he was examined for his severe headaches a large tumor was found that was displacing his orbitofrontal lobe. Following the removal of his tumor, the urges subsided and he returned home. One year later, he started re-experiencing the headaches and also indulging in the same deviant behaviours

This use of short sentences impacts the reader and really catches their attention. Instead of drawing out a long explanation, he used these short sentences to quickly convey the importance of how unknown that outer space really is and how we are are only one small letter in a huge 400 page book.

As I wrap up these brain exercises I come to realize that these techniques are really helpful. I also have gained some appreciation on how my brain works. While I realize that everyone learns different, being able to learn in your own fashion allows you to get to know your intelligence. What I mean is, I never really put my mind into things. I never would have thought I would make it this far with college. When I first started these challenges, I struggled for the first two weeks. I am proud to day; I have completed ten brain exercises. It may have taken me longer than others, but I did it. I did not give up. I kept going. Confidence is what helped me get through these challenges.

The book started off with the first recorded attempt to find out about light in 550 C by Empedocles, who claimed that light is emitted from the eye. Then, Aristotle, proposed that our eyes are made of water, so we can see. In the early seventeenth centuries, Galileo refined the telescope, which is able to see stars far far away from us. This benefits science greatly because it lead to many great discoveries, one is that light isn’t infinite. After that, scientist