ALPHABETICAL BRAIN® VOCABULARY HUMANIST GALAXY OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS ANTONIO DAMASIO June 5, 2020 LOOKING FOR SPINOZA: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain by Antonio Damasio Harvest, 2003 [368 pages) Quote = "I believe that we now understand how our brain creates the storyteller ('narrator') of our conscious experience, the conductor of that cerebral symphony — not in all its complexity, but at least in principle, and that knowledge of the narrator machinery is going to revolutionize our concept of 'consciousness' and make it much easier to appreciate the richness of our cerebral symphonies." (By author Antonio Damasio from the Preface) Quote = "Consciousness is fundamentally a process, not a place or product: How is the fundamental question, not the where or what of the classical 'seat of the soul' searches. This book addresses the mechanisms of animal consciousness. And it discusses how human consciousness elaborates the mechanisms, and proposes how humans could create machines that simulate what we call consciousness." (Paraphrased slightly by webmaster from book's Preface) BOOK OUTLINE PREFACE = "I believe that we now understand how our brain creates the storyteller ('narrator') of our conscious experience, which is the conductor of that cerebral symphony — not in all its complexity, but at least in principle. I believe the knowledge of the narrator machinery is going to revolutionize our concept of 'consciousness' and make it much easier to appreciate the richness of our cerebral symphonies." "Consciousness is fundamentally a process, not a place or product. How is the fundamental question, not the where or what of the classical 'seat of the soul' searches. I address the mechanisms of animal consciousness, discuss how human consciousness elaborates that, and propose how humans could create machines that would have much of what we call consciousness." "This book covers both the neurological mechanism and its machine mimic: We are conscious machines (among other things), and we can probably create mechanical consciousness as well. Creating 'mind' in a machine comes closer to 'playing God' than any amount of genetic tinkering — and to exercise suitable caution, we must understand our own mental processes and how they occasionally fail us." "As in several of my previous books, I have again used a narrative style to permit the nonscientist reader to temporarily skip over any difficult sections and resume the travelogue. And I have again taken a few (hopefully inconsequential) liberties with time and place in order to keep this narrative from becoming as cluttered as real life and a real diary." "The Marine Biological Laboratory celebrated its centennial in 1988; I hope that, in passing, I manage to communicate some of the special flavor of Woods Hole, an intellectual atmosphere built up by thousands of thoughtful people over the century." Quote = “We shall, sooner or later, arrive at a mechanical equivalent of consciousness.” by Darwin's bulldog Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895) Quote = “Animals are molded by natural forces they do hot comprehend. To their minds there is no past and no future. There is only the everlasting present of a single generation — its trails into the forest, its hidden pathways in the air and in the sea.” by the anthropologist Loren Eiseley (1907-1977) 1) ENTER FEELINGS (page 1-24) [1] Enter feelings (3-7) Quote = Spinoza opposed the mind-body separation advocated by Descartes; and, instead, made the revolutionary claim at the time that "the human mind is the idea of the human body" (12) [2] The Hague (8-15) [3] Looking for Spinoza [15-17) note = Spinoza was born in the prosperous city of Amsterdam in 1632 (16) [4] Beware (17-23) [5] In the Paviljoensgracht (23-24) 2) OF APPETITES AND EMOTIONS (25-80) [1] Trust Shakespeare (27-29) [2] Emotions precede feelings (29-37) [3] A nesting principle (37-38) [4] More on the emotion-related reactions (38-40) note = From simple Homeostatic regulation to emotions proper (38-40) [5] The emotions of simple organisms (40-420) [6] The emotions-proper (43-52) [7] A hypothesis in the form of a definition (53-54) [8] The brain machinery of emotion (54-57) note = Use definition of "triggering sites" and illustration for Ventral Media PFC region (59) note = Also use 2nd paragraph for emotional states (62) and 3rd paragraph on (65) [9] Triggering and executing emotions (57-65) [10] Out of the blue (65-73) [11] The brainstem switch (73-74) [12] Out-of-the-blue laughter (74-77) [13] Laughter and some more crying (77-79) [14] From the active body to the mind (79-80) note = Use last 2 paragraphs to summarize evolutionary thinking (80) 3) FEELINGS (81-135) [1] What feelings are (83-88) [2] Is there more to feelings than the perception of body state? (89-93) [3] Feelings are interactive perceptions (91-93) [4] Mixing memory with desire: an aside (93-96) [5] Feelings in the brain: new evidence (96-101) note = use diagrams to explain locations of most important activating areas, particularly the insula, cingulate cortex area, and brainstem nuclei, even though normal feelings of emotion require the integrity of all of these regions. (97) [6] A comment on related evidence (101-104) [7] Some more corroborating evidence (104-105) [8] The substrate of feelings (105-108) [9] Who can have feelings? (109-111) [10] Body states versus body maps (111-112) [11] Actual body states and simulated body states (112-113) [12] Natural analgesia (113-115) note = Use basic ideas about our bodies natural pain killers under emergency conditions (113-115) [13] Empathy (115-118) [14] Hallucinating the body (118-119) [15] The chemicals of feeling (119-121) [16] Varieties of drug-induced felicity (121-124) note = Use many ideas about sensations and progressive levels of intoxification due to drugs or alcohol (121-124) [17] Enter the naysayers (124-126) [18] More naysayers (126-133) note = Explanation of "the way feelings feel" (130+) 4) EVER SINCE FEELINGS (135-179) [1] Of joy and sorrow (137-140) [2] Feelings and social behavior (140-144) [3] Inside a decision-making mechanism (144-147) [4] What the mechanism accomplishes (147-150) [5] The breakdown of a normal mechanism (150-152) [6] Damage to prefrontal cortex in the very young (152-155) [7] What if the world? (155-159) note = Use chart about main social emotions — thought experiment (156-157) [8] Neurobiology and ethical behaviors (159-165) note = Varified kinds of social structure through the history of evolution (160) note = "Nice" vs "Nasty" emotions through history as a group function (163) [9] Homeostasis and the governance of social life (166-169) [10] The foundation of virtue (170-175) [11] What are feelings for? (175-179) 5) BODY, BRAIN, AND MIND (181-220) [1] Body and mind (183-184) [2] The hague, december 2, 1999 (184-187) [3] The invisible body (187-191] [4] Losing the body and losing the mind (191-195) [5] The assembly of body images (195-197) [6] A qualification (198) [7] The construction of reality (198-200) [8] Seeing things (200-203) [9] About the origins of the mind (204-209) [10] Body, mind, and spinozo (209-217) note = view of body parts in mid-17th century at beginning of the age of the anatomists (210-211) [11] Closing with Dr. Tulp (217-220) 6) A VISIT TO SPINOZA (221-264) [1] Rijnsburg, July 6, 2000 (223-224) [2] The age (224-226) [3] The Hague, 1670 (227-230) [4] Amsterdam, 1632 (230-236) [5] Ideas and event (236-239) [6] The uriel da costa affair (240-245) [7] Jewish persecution and the Marrano tradition (245-250) [8] Excommunication (250-254) [9] The legacy (254-258) [10] Beyond the enlightenment (258-261) [11] The Hague, 1677 (261-262) [12] The library (262-263) [13] Spinoza in my mind (263-264) 7) WHO'S THERE? (265-289) [1] The contented life (267-272) [2] Spinoza's solution (273-277) [3] The effectiveness of a solution (277-279) note = Spinoza's problematic solution to pain and suffering and scientific wisdom (277-278) note = Biting the apple of knowledge (278) [4] Spinozism (279-283) [5] Happy endings? (283-289) note = Importance of describing the human spirit as being based on evolutionary biological systems (284-286) APPENDIX 1 — Spinoza's personal and cultural timeline: Before, During and After Spinoza's Time (291-294) I543 C.E. = Death of Copernicus (born: 1473), who proposed that the earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around. 1546 - Death of Martin Luther (born: 1483), who was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1521; founded the Lutheran Church. I564 - Birth of Galileo Galilee, William Shakespeare, and Christopher Marlowe. I564 - Death of Jean Calvin, who founded Calvinism (the Presbyterian Church today) in 1536. 1572 - Luis de Camoes publishes The Lusiad. 1588 - Birth of Thomas Hobbes, the English philosopher who took a clearly materialistic view of the mind. He had a significant influence on Spinoza. 1592 - Death of Michel de Montaigne (born: I533), whose essays published in I588 had a significant intellectual impact at the time. 1593 - Christopher Marlowe dies in an accident. 1596 - Birth of René Descartes. I600 - Giordano Bruno burned at the stake for siding with Copernicus and holding pantheistic beliefs. 1601 - William Shakespeare's mature Hamlet is performed. The age of questioning begins. 1604 - Shakespeare’s King Lear performed. 1604 - Francis Bacon’s Advancement of Learning. 1604 - Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote published. 1606 - Birth of Rembrandt van Rijn. 1610 - Galileo builds a telescope. His study of the stars leads him to adopt Copernicus's views on movements of the sun and earth. 1616 - Shakespeare dies at fifty-two, still revising Hamlet. 1616 - Cervantes, sixty-nine, dies on the same day. 1629 - Birth of Christiaan Huygens (died: 1695), astronomer and physicist. Intellectual peer, correspondent, sometime neighbor, and lens customer of Spinoza. 1632 - Birth of John Locke. 1632 - Birth of Spinoza. 1632 - Rembrandt paints The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp. I633 - Galileo is convicted and placed under house arrest. Descartes thinks twice about publishing views on human nature resulting from his research on human anatomy and physiology. 1633 - William Harvey describes the circulation of blood. 1638 - Birth of Louis XIV, who eventually reigns until 1715. 1640 - Uriel da Costa, a Portuguese philosopher of Jewish origin, praised as a Catholic and later converted to Judaism, is first excommunicated and then reintegrated but physically punished by the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam. He commits suicide shortly thereafter but not before finishing his book, Exemplar Vitae Humrmae. 1642 - Death of Galileo. 1642 - Birth of Isaac Newton (died: 1727). 1650 - Death of Descartes. 1652 - Death of Spinoza’s father, Miguel de Espinoza. 1656 - Spinoza is excommunicated by the Portuguese Synagogue and prevented from contact with any Jews, including family and friends. Thereafter he lives alone, in various Dutch cities, until 1670. 1670 - Spinoza moves to The Hague. 1670 - Anonymous publication of Spinoza’s Tractatus Politicus Religiosus in Latin. 1677 - Death of Spinoza. 1677 - Near anonymous publication of Spinoza’s Opera. Posthuma in Latin. Collection includes The Ethics. 1678 - Publication of the body of Spinoza's Work in Dutch and French. Secular and ecclesiastical authorities enforce prohibition of Spinoza’s books throughout Europe. His work circulates illegally. 1684 - John Locke’s exile in Holland to I689. 1687 - Publication of Newton's treatise on gravitation. 1690 - Locke publishes Essays Concerning Human Understanding and Two Treatises on Government at age sixty. I704 - Locke dies at age seventy-two. I743 - Birth of Thomas Jefferson. 1748 - Montesquieu publishes L’Esprit des Lois. 1764 - Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary is published five years after his Candide. 1772 - Conclusion of the publication of the Eneyclopédie, the centerpiece work of the Enlightenment, under the direction of Denis Diderot and Jean-le-Rond d’Alembert. 1776 - Jefferson Writes the Declaration of Independence. I789 - The French Revolution. 1791 CE - The First Amendment to the United States Constitution. APPENDIX 2 — (295-296) Brain diagrams show brain anatomy (295) and somatosensory and motor cortex (296) and insula (297). NOTES (299-332) GLOSSARY (333-336) ACTION POTENTIAL = The all or none electrical pulse conducted along the neuron’s axon from the cell body towards the multiple branches at the far end of the axon. AXONS = The typically singular output fiber of a neuron. One single axon can make contacts (synapses) with the dendrites of numerous other neurons and thus disseminate signals extensively. BASIL FOREBRAIN = A set of small nuclei located in front and beneath the basal ganglia. These nuclei are involved in the execution of regulatory behaviors, including emotions, and also play a role in learning and memory. BRAINSTEM = A set of small nuclei and white matter pathways placed between the diencephalon (the aggregate of the thalamus and hypothalamus) and the spinal cord. The nuclei in the brainstem are involved in the regulation of life, for example, the regulation of metabolism. The execution of emotions depends on many such nuclei. Extensive damage to nuclei in the upper and posterior part of the brainstem leads to loss of consciousness. The brainstem is a conduit for pathways from the brain to the body (carrying signals related to movement); and from the body to the brain (carrying the signals that inform the brain’s body maps). CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM = The aggregate constituted by the cerebral hemispheres, the cerebellum, the diencephalon (which is formed by the thalamus and hypothalamus), the brain stem, and the spinal cord. See Appendix 2, Figure 1. CEREBRAL CORTEX = The all-encompassing mantle that covers the cerebrum (the combination of the left and right cerebral hemispheres). The cortex covers the entire cerebral surfaces including those that are located in the depth of crevices that give the brain its characteristic folded appearance and are known as fissures and sulci (The sulci and fissures are both grooves in the cortex, but they are differentiated by size. A sulcus is a shallower groove that surrounds a gyrus. A fissure is a large furrow that divides the brain into lobes and also into the two hemispheres as the longitudinal fissure). The cerebral cortex is organized in layers parallel to one another and to the brain’s surface. The layers are not unlike those of a cake and are made of neurons. The neurons in the cerebral cortex receive signals from other neurons (in other regions of the cerebral cortex or elsewhere in the brain) and initiate signals toward other neurons in many other regions (both inside and outside the cerebral cortex). The cerebral cortex has evolutionarily old components (for example, the so-called limbic cortices of which the cingulate region is a part) and evolutionarily modern components (known as the "neocortex"). The cellular architecture of the cortex varies from region to region and is easily identified by the numbers of Brodmann’s map (see Figure 2, Appendix 1). CEREBELLUM = A sort of minibrain located under the posterior part of the big brain (the cerebrum). As is the case with the cerebrum, the cerebellum has two hemispheres, left and right, and each hemisphere is covered by a cortex. The cerebellum is involved in the planning and execution of movements. It is indispensable for precise movements. There is good reason to believe, however, that the cerebellum is also involved in cognitive processes. Without a doubt, it plays a part in the production and the tuning of emotional responses. CEREBRUM = A virtual synonym of brain. It is formed by two large structures, the cerebral hemispheres, which occupy most of the intracranial cavity. Each cerebral hemisphere is entirely covered by the cerebral cortex. CORPUS CALLOSUM = A thick collection of axons connecting the neurons in the left and right hemispheres, in both directions, transversally [perpendicularly intersecting both hemispheres]. CT = The initials "CT" stand for Computerized Tomography and are frequently used to designate (x-ray computerized tomography scans.) CT was the first modern brain imaging technique [it appeared in 1973) and, although it has been overtaken by MR and PET, it remains a mainstay in the clinical neurological evaluation of conditions such as strokes. ENZYMES = Usually large protein molecules that serve as catalysts of biochemical reactions. GRAY MATTER = The darker sectors of the central nervous system are known as the “gray matter,” while the pale sectors are known as “white matter.” The gray matter corresponds to tightly packed collections of the neurons’ cell bodies, while the white matter corresponds mostly to the neuron’s axons, the usually singular fiber outputs of the neuron's cell body. The gray matter comes in two main varieties: the layered variety, found in the cortex of the cerebrum and cerebellum; and the nucleus variety, in which the neurons are organized like grapes in a bowl rather than in layers. LESION = An area of circumscribed damage to the central nervous system or to a peripheral nerve. It is usually caused by ischemia (a reduction or interruption of blood supply) or by mechanical injury. The normal neuron anatomical structure is destroyed in lesioned tissue. MRI AND FMRI = The initials MRI stand for magnetic resonance imaging, also known as "MR" for short. MR is one of the fundamental methods of brain imaging. It can provide extremely refined images of brain structure as well as functional images of the type offered by PET. When it is used for functional imaging purposes it is usually designated as fMR or fMRI. NEURONS = The fundamental kind of nerve cell. Neurons come in many sizes and shapes but are usually formed by a cell body (the part of the neuron that gives the darker tone to the so-called gray matter) and by an output fiber known as the axon. In general, the neuron’s input fibers are the dendrites, tree-like arborizations arising from the neurons cell body. In addition to cell bodies, axons, and dendrites, the mass of the central nervous system is also formed by glial cells. Glial cells provide scaffolding for neurons and support their metabolism in a variety of ways. It is not entirely clear if glial cells also provide an additional signaling function (but seem to speed signals when the glial cells are healthy). NEUROTRANSMITTERS AND NEUROMODULATORS = Molecules released by neurons that excite or inhibit the activity of other neurons (as glutamate and gamma-amino-butyric acid do), or modulate the activity of entire collections of neurons (as dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine do). NUCLEI = A non-layered aggregate of neurons (see gray matter). Nuclei can be large or small. Large nuclei include the caudate, the putamen, and the pallidum, which together form the basal ganglia. Examples of small nuclei include those in the thalamus, hypothalamus, and brainstem. The amygdala is a fairly large aggregate of small nuclei hidden inside the temporal lobe. PATHWAY = A collection of aligned axons carrying signals from one region to the other within the central nervous systems. It is the equivalent of a nerve in the peripheral nervous system. Also referred to as a “projection.” PERIAQUEDUCTAL GRAY = A collection of nuclei in the upper part of the brainstem involved in the production of emotions. PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM = The sum total of all the nerves that exit and enter the central nervous system. PET SCANNING = The initials PET stand for Positron Emission Tomography. This is one of the main techniques of functional imaging, and it permits the identification of the brain regions whose activity are either increased or reduced while the brain is engaged in performing a particular task. Projection. See PATHWAY SOMATOSENSORY = Having to do with sensory signaling from any part of the body ("soma") to the central nervous system. The term interoceptive designates the part of the body's signaling whose source is the interior of the body. SUBSTANTIA NIGRA = One of the small brain-stem nuclei that produces dopamine and delivers it to the brain structures located above it. Dopamine is essential for normal movement and is involved in reward. SYNAPSES = The microscopic region where the axon of one neuron connects with another neuron; for example, the region where the axon of one neuron connects with dendrites of another neuron. In essence, the synaptic connection is a gap rather than a bridge. The link is established by neurotransmitter molecules released on the axon side, as a result of the electrical impulse that traveled down the axon. The released molecules are taken up by receptors in the neuron they target and thus contribute to the activation of that neuron. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (337-338) INDEX (339-355] Amygdala Analgesia Anger Animal studies Anterior singular cortex Appetites Aristotle Autobiographical memory Basal forebrain Body images Body states Brain Brain imaging Brain stem Brain stem nuclei Brain stem tegmentum Calvinism Catholics and Catholic church Cerebellum Cerebral cortex Cerebral hemispheres Chalmers, David Churchland, Patricia Churchland, Paul M. Cingulate cortex Cocaine Cognitive processing Compassion Conditioning Consciousness Decision-making de Waal, Frans Diamond, Jared Dominance Drives Ecstacy [drug] Einstein, Albert Emotion/s Emotion-related signals Emotions-proper Empathy Ethical systems Enlightenment (13-14, 256, 257-258) Ethical systems Evolution Fear Feelings Feelings - Negativity and positivity Free will Goethe, Johann von Free will Grief Guilt Happiness Homeostasis Homeostasis and lack of Hormones Hypothalamus Immune system Indignation Inquisition Insula [insular cortex] Introceptive sense Jews and Judaism Joy Laughter LeDoux, Joseph E. Leibniz, Gottfried Machinery of emotion Mental phenomena Memory Metabolic regulation Mind-body problem Mirror Neurons Motivations Neural maps Neurobiology Pleasure (circuit) Sexual desire Socisl behavior Spinoza Spirituality Sympathy Testosterone Thalamus Thirst Ventromedial prefrontal region Ventrotegmental area Visual region Voltaire Well being Working memory AUTHOR NOTES, SUMMARY, AND BOOK DESCRIPTION ABOUT THE AUTHOR = Antonio Damasio is University Professor; David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Philosophy; and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California. Awards he has received include the Prince of Asturias Prize in Science and Technology, the Grawemeyer Award, the Honda Prize, and the Pessoa and Signoret prizes. In 2017 he received the Freud Medal from the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences. Damasio is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Damasio's newest book is The Strange Order of Things. His previous books are: Descartes' Error, The Feeling of What Happens, Looking for Spinoza and Self Comes to Mind, all of which have been published in translation and are taught in universities throughout the world. www.antoniodamasio.com SUMMARY = Completing the trilogy that began with Descartes' Error and continued withThe Feeling of What Happens, noted neuroscientist Antonio Damasio now focuses the full force of his research and wisdom on emotions. He shows how joy and sorrow are cornerstones of our survival. As he investigates the cerebral mechanisms behind emotions and feelings. BOOK DESCRIPTION = Damasio argues that the internal regulatory processes not only preserve life within ourselves, but they create, motivate, and even shape our greatest cultural accomplishments. If Descartes declared a split between mind and body, Spinoza not only unified the two but intuitively understood the role of emotions in human survival and culture. So it is Spinoza who accompanies Damasio as he journeys back to the 17th century in search of a philosopher who, in Damasio's view, prefigured modern neuroscience. In the book, Damasio brings us closer to understanding the delicate interaction between affect, consciousness, and memory: the processes that both keep us alive and make life worth living. REMEMBER ALWAYS: You Are Your Adaptable Memory! Click or Tap Star to: HUMANIST HUB OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS ALPHABETICAL BRAIN® VOCABULARY produced by Infinite Interactive Ideas®