The Prehistory Of The Mind

In the excerpt “Right Brain Rising”, Daniel Pink tells his experience in depth detail of an intriguing brain scan beneficial both to his curious mind, and the world of science. He then goes on to inform readers of the two distinct halves resting in our skulls; following up with the past inferiority associated with the human right brain, thought to be due to years of evolution. After acknowledging the disproved theory, Pink delves into information pertaining to psychology’s six

Recent research has shown that the human brain continues to develop throughout childhood and adolescence, and may not be fully mature until the mid-20s. The prefrontal cortex of the brain, which regulates “executive” functioning skills, such as decision-making, planning, judgment, expression of emotions, and impulse control, is one of the last to

Studying parts of the brain that are involved in dealing with fear and stress also helps researchers understand possible causes of PTSD to begin formulating a plan to treat PTSD. The amygdala is known for its role in emotion, learning, and memory. The amygdala appears active in learning to fear an event as well as in the early stages of fear extinction. In storing extinction memories and dampening an existing fear the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in problem solving, decision making, and judgement, is seemingly

The brain is one of the most complicated things ever researched. Typically the brain is split into two halves. The left side of a person’s brain is used for critical and analytical thinking. When the brain is faced with a serious problem the left brain

Scientist has identified the region of the brain that is called the amygdala which is responsible for instinctual reactions including fear and aggressive behavior. (AACAP) The frontal cortex is the area of the brain that controls reasoning and help us think before we act, this develops later. (AACAP)

The Prefrontal Cortex is involved in planning of behavior, attention and judgment and the orbitofrontal cortex plays an important role in emotions and impulse control. This is related to the article because in order for people to feel empathy, their orbitofrontal cortex has to function. To act the way people do when approached by their competitors, people need their prefrontal cortex to act how they would. The article does not necessarily contradict any of the content we learned but it gives examples of how there structures in our brain aid in our behavior and in the way we act. If these parts of our brain weren’t working, people would experience impulsiveness, antisocial behavior, experience of various emotions and deficits in the ability

It is believed that a mutation in the prefrontal cortex predisposes some people to violence. The frontal lobe is what we use to make decisions and, when fully developed, allows us to think carefully about our actions before we take them. An alteration in the prefrontal cortex may make us susceptible to impulsive and rash behaviors. For example, teens tend to be more reckless than adults. The teen frontal lobe is not fully formed, which is the reason for this outcome. Teens also tend to rely on their amygdalas to make decision. The amygdala is the center for powerful emotions, such as anger, jealousy, and guilt. For example, psychopaths have been found to be void of guilt and regret as a result of “the amygdala [being] less activated when they

To analyze the human mind is a treacherous endeavor, as we are cognitively complex creatures with minds entirely unique from one another. To even begin to understand the way humans behave is a marvelous feat; understanding the human mind is certainly not as simple as taking one psychology class; even earning a respectable degree in behavioral psychology or cognitive neuroscience does not constitute that one truly understands the human mind. Can the general human mind even be understood on a basic level? After all, we are a diverse species with unlimited potential. One of the most spectacularly enigmatic human qualities is our ability to produce unique thoughts and insights, making analysis of the human brain on a cognitive and

We, the human species are unique. This is a phrase we all have heard at some point in our lives. We are "unique" compared to other animals in our language, movements, and emotions. We have our own language which the majority of animals do not, we stand on two legs while the majority of the animals are on four legs, and we are much more sensitive to our emotional reactions, making us complex animals. Now, where does all these differences come from? As the title suggest, our human brains are incredible in the way they process information. This article aims to discuss the differences of human brain compared to other animal brains, and what makes us humans so unique in our responsive reactions in how we process information. More specifically, this paper will examine the influences the environment has on our human brains and how the changing environment influences our brain evolution in how we respond.

In our second week’s reading, The Tell-Tale Brain, author V. S. Ramachandran has compiled a body of work which spans across decades of research and commitment. The book, designed for accessibility, gives readers of all scientific backgrounds a look into the physiology and processes behind a wide array of neurological functions, dysfunctions, and assorted phenomena. No corner of the brain is left unprobed, no question left unasked. Tying them all together is one question that burns, steady and eternal, in the collective consciousness: What makes us human?

judgements, language and control our social behaviour is processed in the frontal lobe. Due to the

The origin of modern human behavior is a subject in anthropology that accumulates much debate. Cognition is the dominant factor in such behavior, therefore raises the question, “when did this separation of intelligent or modern thought from the primitive come to daily behavior for our genus?” There are two such answers that hold experts in the field captive in debate: the rapid “imagination revolution” in the European-centrailized Upper Paleolithic, and the steadiness of cognitive growth provided first in Africa during the Middle Paleolithic. Although each argument provides supportive evidence for their perspective claims, the more naturally convincing shows this creative revolution taking place much earlier than the Upper Paleolithic. This explanations human cognition developing with no brisk advantageous revolutionary response, and instead by gradual means. This metamorphosis follows the pattern of biological human evolution. My argument combats the “imagination revolution” claim to the origins of creativity using specific artifacts dated earlier than those of European restrictions. Furthermore, it is the lack of excavation in Africa and the conditions of the terrain itself that pose problematic preservation of artifacts, unlike in Europe, to exonerate this innovative exclusivity. These pieces of evidence in Africa exemplify a higher process of thinking, commonly those showing deliberate means of bead and rock art used for both personal functions of expression. If art

Chapter 2 is centered on the early attempts to identify the brain’s components of emotions. Key researchers that are discussed are a Cornell neuroanatomist, James Papez, and aforementioned physician and neuroscientist Paul MacLean, who worked at Yale and the National Institutes of Mental Health. Together, this pair of researchers conducted seminal medial temporal lobe lesion experiments. The resulting idea was that the emotional brain is composed of a set of interconnected structures in the core of the brain. MacLean dubbed these structures as the “limbic system”. The function of the limbic system and it relationship to emotion was widely debated by many researchers.

In everyday life there is a constant evidence of interaction between cognition and emotion. If we see something funny we laugh, if we fear we run or hide, if we are distressed we find it hard to concentrate. However we do not need to present any of the emotions to others, we can regulate them, think about situations and consequences and estimate the outcome. We are able to control our emotions. Ochsner and Gross(2005,p.242) argues that capacity to control emotion is important for human adaptation. The question is to what extent does cognition control emotion?

For many people, they live their lives based on emotions. Emotions of happiness, love, success, and many more, could possibly be the most satisfying feelings. Except we commonly experience unpleasant emotions. There are emotions of anger, hatred, sadness, and disgrace. A very important question in the understanding of the human mind and highly related to cognitive science, is how do these emotions affect human cognition and the impact on our abilities to be rational? To tackle this question, we need to understand what emotions are, but not solely in the manner we are all familiar with, we need to understand them from a cognitive nature involving our physiology, psychology, and environment. Cognition, according to the Oxford definition