The Primordial Emotions The Dawning of Consciousness

by Denton, Derek

• ISBN13: 9780199203147
• ISBN10: 0199203148
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-08-10
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

To understand what is happening in the brain in the moment you decide, at will, to summon to consciousness a passage of Mozart's music, or decide to take a deep breath, is like trying to "catch a phantom by the tail". Consciousness remains that most elusive of all human phenomena - one so mysterious, one that even our highly developed knowledge of brain function can only partly explain. This book is unique in tracing the origins of consciousness. It takes the investigation backmany years in an attempt to uncover just how consciousness might have first emerged.Consciousness did not develop suddenly in humans - it evolved gradually. In 'The Primordial Emotions', Derek Denton, a world renowned expert on animal instinct and a leader in integrative physiology, investigates the evolution of consciousness. Central to the book is the idea that the primal emotions - elements of instinctive behaviour - were the first dawning of consciousness. Throughout he examines instinctive behaviours, such as hunger for air, hunger for minerals, thirst, and pain, arguingthat the emotions elicited from these behaviours and desire for gratification culminated in the first conscious states. To develop the theory he looks at behaviour at different levels of the evolutionary tree, for example of octopuses, fish, snakes, birds, and elephants. Coupled with findings fromneuroimaging studies, and the viewpoints on consciousness from some of the key figures in philosophy and neuroscience, the book presents an accessible and groundbreaking new look at the problem of consciousness.

Author Biography

Derek Denton is the world authority on instinctive behaviour regulating apt intake of water and minerals - particularly salt. He was Founding Director of the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine at Melbourne University. His discoveries have been recognized by election to the National Academies of Science of France, Sweden, the United States and Australia and also the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Society (London). He was First Vice President of the International Union of Physiological Sciences and was a member of the Lasker Jury for 12 years. His previous books include 'The Hunger for Salt', described by Emeritus Professor John Pappenheimer of Harvard as 'the best example of integrative physiology to come out of the second half of the 20th century' and 'The PInnacle of Life', written for a general audience, and published by Flammarion (Paris), Harper Collins (USA), and Allen & Unwin (Australia).

Table of Contents

Foreword	v
Jean-Pierre Changeux
Acknowledgements	xi
Permissions	xix
List of illustrations	xxi
Part A The hypothesis
1 Introduction: the idea and context	3	(12)
Summary of the aim of this book	6	(5)
The scope of the book	11	(4)
2 The definition of consciousness, and self-awareness	15	(14)
Bridgman and concepts	17	(2)
The concept of self-awareness and an operational definition of it	19	(1)
Self-awareness in apes: mirror self-recognition and effect of 'circus' distorting mirrors	19	(2)
Distorting mirrors and chimpanzees	21	(1)
Dolphins	22	(2)
Body image and animals	24	(5)
3 What some distinguished scientists have proposed on the nature of consciousness: John Searle, Homer Smith, Vernon Mountcastle, and Roger Sperry	29	(20)
John Searle	29	(2)
Homer Smith	31	(4)
Vernon Mountcastle	35	(4)
Roger Sperry and the split brain	39	(5)
Discussion with Sir John Eccles on dualism	44	(5)
4 Consciousness in animals	49	(26)
Intentional behaviour at different levels of the phylogenetic tree	49	(22)
Invertebrates	53	(7)
Fish	60	(1)
Argument against or favouring consciousness in fish	61	(3)
Reptiles	64	(3)
Sleep—wakefulness cycle	67	(1)
Birds	68	(1)
Mammals	69	(1)
Overview of some aspects of evolution of the vertebrate brain and cognitive processes	70	(1)
Ethology or comparative behaviour studies	71	(4)
The clear difference between impetus to gratification and biological purpose	71	(4)
5 The appetite for salt and the mind: intention in salt mining elephants	75	(20)
Mount Elgon in Kenya	75	(1)
Formation of caves on Mount Elgon	76	(2)
Elephant behaviour within the caves	78	(2)
Slaughter of the elephants	80	(1)
Why do the elephants become salt deficient and seek it?	80	(1)
The colonization during evolution of the salt and/or water impoverished ecosystems of the planet. Body fluid regulation and the emergence of intention	81	(1)
The ancient ocean	82	(2)
Thirst	84	(1)
Salt appetite	84	(2)
Validation of sodium deficiency in wild animals	86	(3)
An alternative conjecture on elephant behaviour	89	(6)
Part B Experimental analysis
6 Phylogeny, and the emergence of primary consciousness: Edelman's theory	95	(12)
The phylogenetic tree: first, to consider the phylogenetic tree as the framework of this account	95	(4)
Edelman's theory on the emergence of primary consciousness	99	(2)
The development of the brain	99	(2)
The parallel to antibody formation	101	(1)
The emergence of primary consciousness	101	(6)
7 An interoceptor driven theory of origin of primary consciousness	107	(10)
An interoceptor theory	107	(1)
The limbic system	108	(1)
Genetically programmed neural connections	109	(1)
Instincts	110	(1)
Instinct and emotion	111	(1)
The primitive motor system, the sense of self and the body image	112	(5)
8 The physiology of the primordial emotion of thirst	117	(14)
The issues to be disussed	117	(1)
Section A—the mechanisms producing thirst	117	(1)
Change of osmotic pressure and sodium concentration	118	(1)
The location of the sensors of change of osmotic pressure	119	(1)
Evolution of thirst and drinking behaviour	120	(4)
Aquatic animals	120	(1)
Reptiles and birds	121	(1)
Migration	122	(1)
Mammals	123	(1)
Medical considerations of thirst	124	(1)
The dry mouth theory of genesis of thirst	125	(2)
Section B—Rapid gratification of desire for water	127	(4)
9 The neuroimaging of thirst by positron emission tomography	131	(22)
The experimental plan	131	(5)
The sequence of the experimental plan	136	(1)
Results of imaging 25-30 minutes after start of infusion of concentrated salt solution	136	(2)
Imaging when thirst was maximal	138	(3)
Wetting the mouth with water	141	(1)
Drinking water to satiation	142	(5)
The fMRI imaging of thirst (functional magnetic resonance imaging)	147	(6)
10 Neuroimaging of other primordial emotions, and also the second level distance receptor evoked emotions	153	(36)
Breathing	153	(2)
Neuroimaging of breathing	155	(1)
Concurrent action of high blood carbon dioxide and breathlessness	156	(1)
Air hunger or breathlessness	156	(4)
Commonality of brain elements subserving the primordial emotions	160	(1)
Food hunger	160	(2)
Pain	162	(4)
The thalamus and the waking state	166	(1)
Sleep	167	(3)
Micturition	170	(2)
Sexual orgasm and ejaculation	172	(1)
Temperature control	173	(3)
The anterior cingulate and primordial emotion	176	(2)
Elective recall to consciousness of emotional states: heirachical organization	178	(2)
Neuroimaging of the principal second level emotions: situational perception evoked by distance receptors	180	(3)
Anger	183	(1)
Fear	183	(2)
Happiness	185	(1)
Sadness	185	(4)
Part C Higher cognition and emotion
11 Anatomical structure and physiological functions subserving higher order consciousness	189	(16)
Vernon Mountcastle	189	(1)
Changeux on the global neuronal workspace	190	(3)
Bernard Baars	193	(7)
The binding hypothesis	200	(1)
Anaesthesia	201	(1)
Qualia	202	(3)
12 The biology of emotion	205	(32)
Definition	205	(1)
A core element of Antonio Damasio's viewpoint	206	(2)
Dictionary definitions	208	(2)
Sensation	210	(1)
The ideas of Panksepp on emotion	211	(8)
The rational and emotion—suppression by act of will	219	(1)
Elective summoning to consciousness of emotion	220	(5)
Hearing	221	(1)
Sight	221	(1)
Smell	221	(3)
Taste	224	(1)
A further consideration of analysis of emotion and how Antonio Damasio sees it	225	(4)
Concluding remarks on emotion	229	(3)
Summary	232	(5)
Glossary	237	(10)
References	247	(12)
Author Index	259	(4)
Subject Index	263