From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Fri Apr 30 1999 - 03:33:45 MDT
"Gina Miller" <echoz@hotmail.com> writes:
> They found their spindle cells in the anterior cingulate cortex of
> the brain, which controls automatic functions such as heart rate but
> which also has been linked to emotions -- including the emotional
> response to pain -- and facial expressions.
It is deeper than that; the anterior cingulate cortex is closely
related to our decisionmaking processes. It could be seen as the
bridge between the limbic systems (emotions, valuations) and the
frontal cortices (planning). Damage to this area has rendered people
catatonic: some survivors described afterwards that they dimply didn't
feel they wanted to do anything (see Damasio's _Descartes' Error_). In
many ways it could be seen as a part of what we call the will; a guess
is that it ties values to actions, so that we can decide what to do.
Maybe the higher intelligence of homids is due to a better ability to
evaluate the pros and cons of different actions, or maybe in a more
flexible way.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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