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Are the brain's emotional circuits hardwired for speed?
« on: 2004-04-10 19:17:04 » |
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This is an awesome article. I spent a WHOLE dollar to share it with the =
rest of you ;)
I'm a big conciousness fan, and Damasio's "The Feeling of What Happens" =
was a great read.
Enjoy!
Walter
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Thinking Faster
Are the brain's emotional circuits hardwired for speed?
By Steven Johnson
DISCOVER Vol. 25 No. 05 | May 2004 | Mind & Brain
=20
Try to look inside yourself right now." Antonio Damasio and I are =
sitting in his office in Iowa City, rows upon rows of academic volumes =
lining the shelves behind him. He's talking about the importance of the =
body in understanding consciousness, and somehow we've slipped into what =
might pass for an impromptu meditation session. I close my eyes. Damasio =
has a soft voice, almost soothing, which suits the subject matter. =
"Don't think about words and ideas," he says. "Try to concentrate on =
what you feel. People very often say, 'I don't feel my body. I only feel =
my body if I feel pain.' But when you try to clear away thoughts about =
objects and ideas, what you have is this thing that's always breathing =
and always has some kind of tone. Maybe you're very relaxed, or you're =
tense, but it's always there. The only way you can say that you're tense =
or feeling fine is because there's a quality that you can sense."=20
Then he smiles. "Otherwise, how would you know?"
During a typically hectic day, Damasio, head of the department of =
neurology at the University of Iowa and author of Looking for Spinoza, =
seeks sanctuary in an office filled with books, family pictures, and =
art."This is the place where I make most of my decisions," he says, "a =
place where I am very comfortable."=20
Twenty years ago, talking to a neuroscientist about the body's sense of =
itself would have seemed off the topic. Neuroscience was the study of =
the brain, not the body. But Damasio has helped change all that. Best =
known for his widely read books on the connection between the brain and =
the body-Descartes' Error, The Feeling of What Happens, and his latest, =
Looking for Spinoza-Damasio heads the department of neurology at the =
University of Iowa, where he has worked with his wife, Hanna Damasio, a =
neuroanatomist, for nearly 30 years. The rise in Damasio's fortunes =
during that time also marks the decline of the computational theory of =
the brain. Instead of thinking of our minds as glorified computers, his =
research places a new emphasis on the brain's emotional =
architecture-particularly the way the body contributes to emotional =
experience.=20
On a number of fronts, Damasio's career has been connective in nature. =
In writing books laced with philosophical ruminations and literary =
references, he has served as an emissary from the brain sciences to the =
cultural milieu. (The week after I visited him in Iowa City, Damasio was =
a keynote speaker at a conference with the poet Jorie Graham, a longtime =
friend from her days at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.) His books have been =
translated into a dozen languages, and his lecture schedule is epic. He =
seems as much public intellectual as working scientist. In this sense, =
Damasio's career mirrors the evolution of the brain sciences, which no =
longer focus exclusively on the microscopic tanglings of neurons and =
have made steady inroads into a number of fields like economics, =
sociology, literary theory, and political science. For some time now =
we've heard stories about the long arm of genetics and how our growing =
understanding of DNA and Darwin will transform a wide range of =
disciplines. But the real cross-disciplinary conquistadores turn out not =
to be the geneticists after all. It's neuroscience that has traveled the =
most widely in the past few years, and it seems on the verge of more =
migrations.
=20
Perhaps more than anyone, Damasio has dictated the terms of that =
itinerary, and of late he has a new destination on his mind-one that =
lies at the frontier of the brain and the body, in the accelerations of =
modern life. In a society that channels information into our heads at an =
increasingly rapid pace, can the brain keep up? And what would it mean =
to live in a society that moves at a faster pace than the brains that =
created it?
"I am very interested," Damasio says, "in the notion of speed."
We're standing at a crosswalk, waiting for a light to change, just =
outside the University of Iowa Hospital where Damasio's lab is located. =
He's explaining to me how the normal faculty parking lot-100 feet closer =
to his office-is being renovated, thus forcing him to park in the =
visitor's lot. He feigns outrage as we cross the street. "And so I have =
to face the indignity of parking . . . here." He gestures dismissively =
toward the gates, eyes twinkling to let me in on the joke.=20
"With all the little people," I say, shaking my head, playing along.=20
"Exactly. Can you imagine?"
It's a typical Damasio moment, sending up his own vaunted image, and it =
suits his physical presence. He's well dressed and handsome but also =
somewhat vertically challenged. The playfulness takes the edge off the =
legendary intellect, makes you feel comfortable in the room with him, =
makes you feel like you can poke fun without drawing blood.=20
A recognition of the importance of our intuitive responses to others, =
based on body language as much as what they say, lies at the very center =
of Damasio's research into the brain. Humans make split-second emotional =
assessments of situations all the time, assessments that unfold so =
quickly that we're usually not aware of the process. But much of Western =
culture and science since the days of Ren=E9 Descartes, the 17th-century =
French polymath regarded as the father of modern philosophy, is based on =
the assumption that when we're being logical, we're cutting our emotions =
out of the loop. This was Descartes' fundamental error, says Damasio, =
who argues that emotions turn out to be essential to our rational =
decision-making processes. If we didn't have those gut responses, we'd =
get caught in an endless cycle of analysis, drawing infinite =
pros-and-cons lists in our heads. For example, I don't have to stop in =
the middle of the crosswalk and do a comprehensive survey to determine =
if Damasio is joking about parking with the commoners; I can instantly =
tell from his tone and physical carriage that he's kidding.=20
Damasio first recognized the importance of emotion in decision making by =
interacting with patients whose emotional centers had been damaged by =
strokes, accidents, or tumors. He found that the damage would reliably =
include at least one of three crucial areas of the brain: a section of =
the frontal lobes called the ventromedial prefrontal cortices, which are =
central to both emotional processing and decision making; the =
somatosensory cortices in the right hemisphere, which interpret =
information coming from the body; and the amygdala, the almond-shaped =
area within the temporal lobes that plays a crucial role in emotional =
response.=20
"The pattern in all these cases was very similar," says Damasio. "You =
had a person who had been doing very well in his or her life-someone who =
had relationships, friendships, marriage, and a successful career. And =
then because of a stroke or a tumor, everything changed. And the change =
took place in the realm of day-to-day decision making, not in the realm =
of knowledge and skills. They could speak perfectly well. They could =
deal with the logic of a problem. They could learn new things." =
Nonetheless, the lives of these tumor or stroke victims fell apart. =
Their marriages dissolved, and their careers were reduced to a series of =
odd jobs and disability checks. Even though they scored in a normal =
range on all standard measures of intelligence, somehow they couldn't =
navigate the branching decision trees of everyday life.=20
In Descartes' Error, Damasio tells the story of asking one patient to =
pick one of two dates for his next appointment: "The behavior that =
ensued . . . was remarkable," he writes. "For the better part of a =
half-hour, the patient enumerated reasons for and against each of the =
two dates: previous engagements, proximity to other engagements, =
possible meteorological conditions, virtually anything that one could =
reasonably think about concerning a simple date. . . . He was walking us =
through a tiresome cost-benefit analysis, an endless outlining and =
fruitless comparison of options and possible consequences." On the =
surface, this endless analysis sounds like a failure of reasoning, but =
Damasio suspected that there was a deeper cause.=20
=20
"All these people shared one common trait: their emotions were =
compromised," Damasio continues. "They were flattened, compared to the =
way they used to be, and compared to what we normally expect from =
people. Social emotions-shame, embarrassment-were specifically =
compromised." Damasio's colleague Dan Tranel did experiments in which =
people were shown a series of emotionally powerful images-towns =
destroyed by earthquakes, people drowning in floods-and monitored their =
body's autonomic response, which is partially regulated by the amygdala. =
Patients with damaged emotional centers had consistently flat responses =
while normal subjects showed distinct spikes in response to the gruesome =
images.=20
=20
The evaluation of these patients' mental skills was one of those classic =
moments right before a scientific paradigm shifts, when the precision of =
the existing tools reveals a blind spot in the overarching model. Here =
were people clearly incapable of making decisions in a rational manner, =
but somehow they managed to pass all the tests of logical aptitude with =
flying colors. Either the tests were wrong, or pure logic wasn't the =
only ingredient necessary for making rational decisions. Already =
familiar with the seminal case of Phineas Gage, the hardworking, =
entrepreneurial 19th-century construction foreman who became an =
antisocial itinerant after a pointed rod pierced his skull and damaged =
part of his brain's emotional system, Damasio began to suspect that his =
patients' inability to be emotional was getting in the way of their =
reasoning.=20
=20
Damasio built his theory around the idea of somatic markers. Somatic =
refers to something related to the body, as distinguished from the =
psyche. Somatic markers are analogous to marked cards buried in a deck. =
The markers come in the form of bodily responses: your gut tightening in =
fear, your shoulders convulsing with warm laughter. Events that trigger =
those types of rich bodily reactions are encoded in positive or negative =
memories that are largely subliminal and affect your intuitive responses =
to everyday situations. When confronting a given decision, the emotional =
system flags specific options as particularly inviting or repellent =
based on information encoded-or "marked" in Damasio's language-by past =
emotional experiences. For example, as you eye that last slice of cake =
at a dinner party, your emotional memories of past experiences-perhaps =
the guilt or shame you felt after behaving selfishly-flash in your head =
unconsciously, and you decide to offer the slice to your host. The =
somatic markers steer you toward a specific decision. Without those =
guides you would either devour the cake without any hint of =
embarrassment or spend 30 minutes running through all the potential =
consequences of eating or not eating it.=20
=20
In Damasio's view, such instinctual emotional responses result in =
behavior that seems more rational, not less so. "It's not that I'm =
saying the emotions decide things for you," Damasio says. "It's that the =
emotions help you concentrate on the right decision." You still have to =
do some of the work, but the emotions give you a head start.
=20
The body is not always a perfect guide, of course. The brain-damaged =
patient who was crippled with confusion when trying to choose an =
appointment date confronted another telling situation while driving home =
one stormy winter night. The car ahead of him hit a patch of ice and =
skidded into a ditch. Faced with the same circumstances, most of us =
would most likely feel an overwhelming gut instinct to slam on the =
brakes, a reaction that would deposit us in the ditch as well. But =
Damasio's patient made a purely rational decision and drove straight =
through the ice patch. In this exceptional situation, his lack of =
emotions was advantageous. Nonetheless, he was unable to hold a job and =
lead a normal life.
=20
Impaired emotions tend to have a devastating impact on an individual's =
ability to make rational decisions. The question that fascinates Damasio =
is whether our emotions can adapt to the increasing speed with which =
modern society confronts us with difficult choices.=20
=20
Damasio considers his argument for the role of the body in higher forms =
of cognition the most controversial insight of his career. "Ten, 15 =
years ago, people whom I very much respect said, 'You can't be =
serious.' Now they say, 'You were absolutely right.'" Indeed, some =
critics these days dismiss Damasio's once revolutionary ideas as old =
news-an updated version of William James, who famously argued in the =
late 1800s that emotions were simply a readout of the body's =
physiological state. But on a number of fronts, Damasio's ideas differ =
substantially from James's. One specific departure from the Jamesian =
model laid the groundwork for Damasio's interest in the speed of modern =
life. It involves a step away from the body, in the brain's "as-if body =
loop," as he calls it.
=20
The brain, Damasio says, learns from the body's response to external =
stimuli, but the brain is also a master simulator, capable of building =
mock versions of that emotional reaction. "You don't always need to go =
to the body," he says. "Because you've associated things over time, =
you're going to associate a certain triggering point in the frontal lobe =
or the basal forebrain and tell certain regions of the brain stem to =
adopt a state of activity as if it were receiving signals from the body =
that were consonant with emotion x. But you bypass the body altogether. =
You just go straight to the result."
=20
When we feel emotions, we're taking a survey of either our actual =
physiological state or an "as if" simulation. "People hear this and say: =
'Oh, it's the body,' but this is not James's idea at all," says Damasio. =
"Of course, he probably would have had that idea if he'd had the =
knowledge that we now have of the brain. But in 1880 he didn't have all =
that."
=20
What's the advantage of the as-if body loop? Speed. Triggering bodily =
changes throughout the organism is, relatively speaking, a sluggish =
process. Hormones have to find their way to muscle tissue, which then =
has to send feedback to the brain. That's fine if you plan to be in that =
state for a while-running from a predator in the classic fight-or-flight =
example-but if you're merely trying on the emotion in a moment of =
reflection ("Would I like to take her out?"), it's too time-consuming to =
wait for the body to react. Life is filled with split-second judgments =
enhanced by the brain's ability to simulate the body's reactions. You =
call up a friend to ask for a small favor, but before you get around to =
it, he complains about how overloaded he is with work. In your head, a =
rapid-fire simulation runs: If I were him and someone asked me for a =
favor when I was in such an overtaxed state, how would that make me =
feel? The as-if loop serves up the answer: stressed, on edge, maxed out. =
And so you decide not to ask the favor after all. In that moment, your =
body doesn't execute an entire stress response; there's not a flood of =
the stress hormone cortisol in your bloodstream. Instead, you get a =
flash of what it would feel like if your body were in a state of stress, =
and the flash helps you make a more considerate-and considered-decision.
"The as-if body loop allows you to play fast and loose with emotional =
states in relation to ideas," Damasio says. "And where you see that most =
of all is in reactions of empathy. When somebody tells you about =
something, and you feel a response-everything from real empathy to =
schadenfreude-it's a simulation. That can happen at an incredibly high =
speed-100 milliseconds instead of the long route from the body, which =
might take more than a second."=20
=20
As fast as it is, the system requires a supply of somatic markers, past =
emotional experiences that serve as guides for the present decision. If =
your brain is incapable of drawing upon those emotional cues-as =
Damasio's brain-damaged patients demonstrated-then all that speed is =
useless, because there's nothing to ground the process, no memory of =
what shame or stress feels like. This is where the accelerated pace of =
modern life becomes interesting.=20
=20
The trouble with forming somatic markers is that they take time-maybe =
too much time for an age of pure speed. "Events register faster and =
faster and more and more remotely, and you're not even given time to let =
them sink in," Damasio says. "For example, the lovers immortalized in =
the works of Jane Austen or George Eliot had a much longer experience of =
their feelings than we have today in a lot of circumstances. These days, =
by contrast, we have Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Your feelings =
for your wife-my feelings for my wife-those feelings that develop slowly =
are still very different; they're an island of safety. But on the news, =
things are shown one after another. No matter how terrifying, images are =
shown so briefly that we have no time to sense emotionally the horror of =
a particular event."=20
=20
It's not an accident that we're talking about these issues while =
surveying one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. I've =
paid a visit to the Damasios at the pied-=E0-terre that they keep on the =
Upper East Side of Manhattan: a prewar apartment opened up with spare, =
loftlike furnishings and sliver views of Central Park. Riding the subway =
uptown, I'd thought how much faster the physical environment of the =
metropolis is, compared with the slower world of Iowa City, and so when =
I arrived I asked Damasio if he'd ever thought about the neurological =
effects of urban life. He nods as if the question was already on his =
mind. "The city was the beginning of acceleration. You think of the =
gentlemen farmers and their lives versus the speed of 19th- and =
20th-century urbanization. Now, of course, you can get that acceleration =
anywhere because of the media. But the city was the beginning."=20
=20
On the face of it, the idea that the speed of modern life will lead to =
cognitive overload is a familiar complaint: Cultural critics like David =
Shenk and the late Neil Postman have warned of the dangers of an =
accelerated society. But Damasio has a twist. He's not saying that the =
brain can't keep up with it. He's saying that part of the brain can't =
keep up with it, while another part thus far has been game to go along =
for the ride.
=20
"We really have two systems that are totally integrated and work =
perfectly well with each other but are very different in their time =
constants. One is the emotional system, which is the basic regulatory =
system that works very slowly, with timescales of a second or more. Then =
you have the cognitive system, which is much faster because of the way =
it's wired and also because a lot of the fiber systems are totally =
myelinated, which means they work much faster. So you can do a lot of =
reasoning, a lot of recognition of objects, remembering names in just a =
few hundredths of a second. And in fact it has been suggested that we're =
optimizing those times-we're working faster and faster. Certainly people =
that are younger are now capable of working at faster rates." You need =
only watch a teenager running 15 simultaneous instant messenger chats to =
see how certain brain functions can, with adequate training, reach =
astonishing velocities.=20
=20
But other brain functions may have fixed ceilings. "There is no evidence =
whatsoever that the emotional system is going to speed up," Damasio =
tells me. "In fact, I think it's pretty clear that the emotional system, =
because it is a body regulatory system, is going to stay at those same =
slow time constants. There's this constant limit, which is that the =
fibers are unmyelinated. So the conduction is very slow." In a sense, =
this is an engineering problem. The system that builds somatic =
markers-the system that encodes the stream of consciousness with =
value-works more slowly than the system that feeds it data to encode. =
The result is not a danger that our cognitive machinery will short out. =
We can in fact process all that data, and perhaps more. The danger comes =
from the emotional system shorting out.=20
=20
"The image of an event or a person can appear in a flash, but it takes =
seconds to make an emotional marking," Damasio says. "So it stands to =
reason that we're going to have fewer and fewer chances to have =
appropriate somatic markers, which means we're going to have more and =
more events-particularly in our early years-that go by without the =
emotional grounding. Which means that you could potentially become =
ethically less grounded. You'd be in an emotionally neutral world."=20
=20
Emotional neutrality sounds like something from a daytime talk show, but =
for Damasio, these are strong words. He's seen firsthand the damage done =
to a person's life when those somatic markers can't be formed. "The risk =
of emotional neutrality becomes greater and greater as the speed of =
cognition increases," he explains. "There will be more and more people =
who will have to rely on the cognitive system entirely, without using =
their emotional memory, in order to decide what's good and what's evil." =
The danger of our high-speed society in coming generations is not that =
they'll be overloaded by the data; it's that they'll become like those =
patients Damasio started seeing back at Iowa years ago: brilliant on all =
the intelligence tests but ethically rudderless.=20
=20
"They can be told about good and evil," Damasio says with a wry smile, =
"but good and evil might not stick."=20
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