Brain Study pt. 6 - A Case of Cooperation(truth or dare?)

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A Case of Cooperation

Usually it is best to approach a complex problem by way of simple

detail first, then the combinations leading to the complex. The end

result of that approach in the study of the brain is so bizarre with

respect to the way we appear to ourselves, that it becomes confusing.

If one should be unsuspecting, much is lost in the explanation of the

detail.

 

The cause of this unusual situation is the manner in which the brain

developed. It was not built at one time, nor as a single object. It

is not an entity that one can explain as an entity. Neural decision

mechanisms in mobile complex organisms have been around more than 680

million years. The human developed from one of those early creatures.

Early neural mechanisms were quite simple. Evolution, over time and

with much trial and error experimentation, increased the number of

neural components while constantly increasing the complexity of each.

The end result, the human brain, is a cooperative of hundreds,

perhaps thousands, of 'mini-brains'. The cooperative is so much in

tune that it appears and functions as one.

 

The human brain, then, is a cooperative composed of perhaps thousands

of individual reactive decision mechanisms, each with its own memory,

interconnection with all others, and judgement. The voting of these

mechanisms is so fast and so in harmony that we perceive the entire

system as being the thought of one mechanism, which, in effect, the

overall system becomes.

 

As we use our minds, it is obvious to us that we are one. There is no

hint that we are actually many, in fact a great many, and that our

consciousness (awareness) is the summation (vote) of these entities

in the closest possible cooperation. To gain this concept of more

than one contributing to our single consciousness, consider the

partitioning of the brain into hemispheres.

 

Figure 2: Dang no pix..but they aren't to interesting anyway..bn

 

 

 

Three views of the brain are shown in figure 2. As can be seen, most

of the brain is split into two hemispheres, the left and right, by a

deep fissure. In general, the left half of the brain is associated

with things on the right side of the body and the right half is

associated with things on the left side of the body. This inversion

idea also extends to sight, where the image processing area on the

surface of the occipital lobes is both inverted and reversed.

 

Between these two halves and hidden from view, there is a massive

communication link, the corpus callosum, which connects the two,

allowing information to pass between. Under normal conditions,

anything known by one side is also known by the other, and as

quickly. Our self, then, is composed of two thinking mechanisms, so

totally interconnected that it appears to us to be one. Indeed, it

functions as one.

 

Certain forms of epilepsy do not respond to drug therapy and surgery

becomes necessary. One of the surgical procedures consists of

severing a large portion of the corpus callosum, thereby almost

completely isolating one half of the brain from the other. There is

an optimum ratio severed. Too much will unduly harm the function of

the patient, whereas, too little will not sufficiently diminish the

rate and severity of seizures.

 

Whereas formerly each side of the brain was kept informed of the

happenings to the other by way of the corpus callosum, they are now

partially isolated. Bizarre effects result. Things seen only with the

left eye (right hemisphere) become difficult, if not impossible, to

verbalize (the left hemisphere contains the speaking vocabulary).

Things seen with only the right eye are not recognized when viewed

again with only the left. It is now possible for one half of the

brain to have experiences and learn things that will never be known

by the other.

 

Adjustments are made quickly. The patient begins to talk a lot. It is

a way of overcoming the communication difficulty introduced by the

surgery. When the right eye sees anything, the left side of the brain

will verbalize it (speech center is on left side of the brain). The

left ear picks up the verbal symbols (phonemes), then the right side

of the brain knows how to verbalize it also. A new vocal and external

communication link is established between the two sides that

partially offsets the internal one that has been partially disabled.

 

The point is that these two sides of the brain are now separate

entities with respect to conscious thought. They still have common

control of the bodily functions and they still think they are one

being, but external communication between the two is now necessary

for cooperation.

 

Before the corpus callosum was severed, the two sides of the brain

functioned as an entity. Behavioral decisions were in perfect and

immediate harmony, so harmonious in fact that the division between

the two is intellectually and consciously invisible.

 

Keep this in mind, as we turn toward studying the entire nervous

system. The idea of separate entities cooperating so closely that

they function as one is a common theme, repeated many times,

throughout the brain.

 

The evolution of the human body was incredible in its complexity. As

we study the process we are continually amazed at the intricacy of

its action and the beauty of its final product. As astounding as that

process was and its product is, both are as nothing compared to the

evolution of the human neural system and its product. The awesome

complexity and exquisite beauty of the human neural system is

staggering.