- The Biological Basis of Our Emotions
- The Limbic System
- The Emotional-Experience Cycle
- Clive Wearing
- Depression and Mood Disorders
- Judeo-Christianity
- Love, Bliss and Infatuation
- Degenerative Diseases
- Conclusion
The Biological Basis of Our Emotions
“Human thoughts and emotions emerge from exceedingly complex interconnections of physical entities within the brain.”
"The God Delusion"
Prof. Richard Dawkins, p14
The Limbic System is the vortex of emotions in the brain; we feel emotions as a result of the neurotransmitters that it inhibits or excites. Damage to the limbic system can cause severe behavioural disruption, as it is responsible for many of our basic survival instincts. But more, disruption to the limbic system effects our consciousness itself.
Likewise, brain damage in general can have severe and intrusive effects on our consciousness. Reality as we know it can become seriously skewed, and any book on abnormal psychology is filled with subjects who have lost important mental faculties, and sometimes, people whose consciousness is so disrupted due to physical damage to their brain, that we are not sure if they are conscious or even mentally alive.
Anyone who theorizes that a 'soul' is responsible for motivation or behaviour must account for the following facts:
- Drugs can alter states of mind, in both short and long term.
- Biochemical imbalances can cause abnormal emotions and feelings.
- No emotion ever studied by scientists has been to be without biochemical causes.
- No emotion has been found that we 'feel' before the relevant chemicals are secreted and the relevant brain circuits activated.
- Brain damage can alter consciousness.
- Altering or exciting mammalian brains causes emotional outbursts.
Biologists, neurologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, cognitive scientists and many other experts disbelieve that emotions are not caused by the same Earthly physical laws that govern other biochemical processes.
Emotions that we can control chemically are depression, pain, happiness, sexual excitement, anger, sleepiness, sleep-control; in fact the list is very long. We used to think that there were very few neurotransmitter chemicals that the brain used, but we realize now that there are a large number. It appears that every area of the brain, specific pathways, use specific neurotransmitters. It is now apparent that all aspects of our character and emotional states are controlled first by chemicals and then by conscious feedback. The spiritualists argument that the chemicals are stimulated by our soul no longer holds up as we understand the chemical processes involved in too great detail for there to be room for a mysterious soul influencing the processes.
The Limbic System
“A network of ring-shaped structures in the center of the brain's neocortex perched on top of the brainstem, associated with control of emotion and behavior - especially motivation, gratification, memory, and thought. [...] The limbic system's [...] neural function and connectedness of the limbic system are fundamentally similar in all mammals. [...] The most common symptoms of damage to this area of the brain include abnormalities of the emotions, including inappropriate crying or laughing, easily provoked rage, unwarranted fear, anxiety and depression, and excessive sexual interest.”"The Brain Encyclopedia" by Carol Turkington
“If we, as Humans, had to consider one part of our brains to be the core of our personal consciousness, it would be the Limbic System and, especially, the interaction between the limbic system and the cortex.”
The Human Limbic system is the most advanced known of all animals, more complicated than even those of our closest biological relations. What separates us further from other animals, though, is the complex association-areas of the cortex and their links to the limbic system. Our 'higher functions' reside within the cortex, our emotions within the limbic system, and our 'experiences' and 'consciousness' reside in the interaction between the two.
The Emotional-Experience Cycle
The physiological role of the limbic system and the rise of consciousness in the processes between it and the cortex result in the emotional-experience cycle. We take into account the situation and the levels of our hormones, etc, and then conclude that we are feeling a particular emotion. Once a conclusion is reached, our limbic system assists us in reinforcing the resultant experience. Psychologists, cognitive psychologists and sociologist have all concluded that our emotional reactions result from such an internal structure [Gross 1996, Myers 1999].
- We interpret our state of physiological arousal. Each emotion does not 'have' a particular physiological state, so, our various states are interpreted rather than read [Gross 1996, p130]. Experimenters have taken, or manipulated, our hormone and arousal levels and found that people easily mis-interpret their causes.
- We experience the most appropriate emotion depending on context and previous experience. If we are anxious we interpret this as an emotional response to our situation (even if the real reason is the drug that an experimenter has given us).
- Biofeedback: Once our cortex and limbic system is primed that a particular emotion is occurring, our limbic system inhibits and excites the correct pathways in order to orientate our bodies for the correct response. If we are afraid, then we pump blood even faster. Even if the real reason our heart initially started pumping was the result of manipulation by a neurologist, if we interpret it as a fear response, our emotions and body then take on a fear response.
- We then take in our changing surroundings, observing and thinking about what is happening, although much of this may be subconscious it still results in autonomous changes in our bodies state of arousal and alertness. So, we might start to sweat in response to heat (or due to an injection of adrenaline). We then proceed round to step 1, in a continuous cycle of interpretative emotional-experience.
To illustrate this with a simple behaviour, take the study reported on by the sociologist David Myers. "Sarah is hypnotized and told to take off her shoes when a book drops on the floor. Fifteen minutes later a book drops, and Sarah quietly slips out of her loafers. "Sarah," asks the hypnotist, "why did you take off your shoes?" "Well... my feet are hot and tired," Sarah replies. "It has been a long day." [Myers, p137]. The hypnotist knows that this is not the real reason why she acted - but - if we examine the emotional-experience cycle in the light of general behaviour, we can see that she has (1) analysed her state, (2) concluded subconsciously about the reasons. We would probably find that after giving this answer, she then displays other symptoms of being tired, in accordance with cognitive dissonance theory, and thus step (4) will have her interpret other internal states as being consistent with her new feeling that she is hot and tired.
The qualia of our experiences are heavily based on these biochemical and cognitive processes. Our very consciousness results from biochemistry, and can be tricked by experimenters. If there is such a thing as a soul, then it seemingly has no input at all on the emotional-experience cycle, and no input on our conscious experiences. Indeed, it is as if souls do not exist. If souls do exist for some reason, they must have an experience of life so completely different from ours (not being effected by all the physical chemicals that effect our brains, emotions and consciousness), that they are more like alien observers than parts of ourselves.
Clive Wearing
As a result of encaphilites resulting from a cold virus1, Clive Wearing cannot form any long-term memories.
“Clive Wearing [...] lives in a snapshot of time, constantly believing that he has just awoken from years of unconsciousness. For example, when his wife, Deborah, enters his hospital room for the third time in a single morning, he embraces her as if they had been parted for years, saying, 'I'm conscious for the first time' and 'It's the the first time I've seen anybody at all'.”
"Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour" by Richard Gross, p288
“He is so impaired that he cannot remember what happened more than 5 minutes before, with the result that he is convinced he has only just recovered consciousness. He keeps a diary and records this obsession - page upon page of records indicating the date, the time and the fact that consciousness has just been regained. When confronted with evidence ... he denies the evidence, even after many years of being in this condition [...]. Whenever his wife appears, Clive greets her with the joy appropriate to someone who has not seen a loved one for many months. She only has to leave the room for two or three minutes and return for the joy to be repeated, and always expressed in the same way.”
From 'Your Memory' by Alan Baddeley
Deborah Wearing, Clive's wife, says that "even if I just leave the room, he doesn't know if he's seen me just 10 minutes ago or 10 years ago"1. He is capable of showing all the emotions of any person, including his strong emotions for his wife, who he constantly misses. The brain damage that he suffered has caused all this, what are the implications for those that study the soul? Clive Wearing shows us that there is no 'soul' which is responsible for our emotions; or, if there is a soul, it is completely overridden by physical biochemistry. If damage to the brain effects Clive's emotions and experience of life in such a profound way, it is clear that no 'soul' plays a part in determining those emotions: life is purely biological.
Depression and Mood Disorders
In this area, the effect of drugs on our state of being is both well-known and frequently exploited. Serotonin and norepinephrine are both related to our mood, and their flow causes changes in mood. So, antidepressants such as tricyclics and monoamine oxidase inhibitors increase the effect of certain neurotransmitters, and thereby raise the mood. Panic and mood disorders are inheritable6. This means, before a person is even conscious, they are predisposed to a neurotransmitter dysfunction that causes certain moods and even some mental disorders. When these symptoms become serious, depression can be lifted by the correct medication. All this shows that if there is a soul, it is unnecessary for the feelings of happiness, sadness, depress, etc, and that these things can even be beyond our control at all.
“Three major categories of antidepressant drugs:
- Tricyclics, such as imipramine (Tofranil) and amitriptyline (Elavil);
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as fluoxetine (Prozac); and
- Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, such as Parnate. [...]
Tricyclic drugs are a group of antidepressant medications [that] prevent some of the reuptake of both norepinephrine and serotonin by the presynaptic neuron after it has fired, leaving more of the neurotransmitter in the synapse so that transmission of the next nerve impulse is made easier. [...]
All three types of drugs are believed to work by facilitating neural transmission. [...] People with the mood swings of bipolar disorder are often helped by carefully monitored dosages of lithium, an element, taken in a salt form, lithium carbonate.”
"Abnormal Psychology" by Davison & Neale, p240, 246-7
Judeo-Christianity
Judeo-Christianity states that only Human Beings have souls: That animals and plants do not. This is based on the account of creation where God 'breathes life' into Adam and Eve; but not into the various animals. But many modern Christians hesitate in saying that animals do not have souls - it is against common sense to say one set of advanced mammal, Humans, have souls and the others do not. The confusion is irrelevant - God can do whatever it wants with our conscious selves, even though souls don't exist.
“God does not need us to have "souls". God's memory is infinitely perfect. It knows our personality and memories better than we do. God itself can contain all of our souls, it doesn't need them to be actual, independent things. God could create precise copies of us anywhere at any time, duplicating our personality and consciousness perfectly because God knows precisely how we work and what we are. It doesn't need "souls" to be able to do this; the biological and chemical make-up of our brains is known perfectly to God, its own memory is sufficient to wipe-out any potential use in its scheme of things for existent souls.”"God Does Not Need Souls" by Vexen Crabtree 2004
Love, Bliss and Infatuation
It seems that the emotions of Love, Loss and emotion can all be invoked directly with brain chemicals, and medical cases where people have suffered brain damage, or are genetically incapable of producing or reacting to certain neurotransmitter chemicals enables us to pinpoint which emotions are caused by which neurotransmitters. As a result there is a huge catalogue of chemical treatments for various brain disorders.
Oxytocin is responsible for the loving, soothing tingly feeling we get in response to physical contact with a person whom we are attracted to physically. Dopamine is a hormone that allows oxytocin to be produced, and in a relationship Dopamine is released (through simple psychological association) by thinking about the person we love, or smelling them, or being aware that they are around. It is this association that creates the deeper-than infatuation love we associate with the person - and thus stimulates the production of the mind-chemical phenylethylamine which causes a feeling of bliss. It is phenylethylamine which makes us want to reproduce the event, such as being with that person.
People who have less oxytocin receptors, or a reduced ability to produce dopamine develop less relationships and do not become "settled down" in an relationship.
Oxytocin production can be artificially stimulated with Dopamine - causing a second-class sort of euphoria that is not associated with any particular person other than the current surroundings or situation. It is the association between person and oxytocin-euphoria that creates the deeper feeling of satisfaction which results from succeeding in obtaining what you are biologically programmed to want - human company and love. This positive-feedback system is also found in species of animals that form long term relationships.
The case of Clive Wearing shows that there is nothing extra required to cause such stimulus, and because he cannot form new memories the presence of his wife will always create the excitement response because he is unable to learn that she has not been away for very long. If there was the need for a soul to facilitate love then Clive Wearing's soul would be intrinsically controlled by the oxytocin-association cycle - and therefore without the soul our love and associated emotions can continue normally.
The parietal lobe, at the posterior of your cerebrum controls the mapping of our senses, the control of your sense of location and personal space and seriously aids the medulla in planning actions. Parts of the parietal lobe are specific for recording which areas of the body produce oxytocin and under what circumstances. It records which cuddling positions we like best.
Degenerative Diseases
There are many degenerative brain disorders, diseases that gradually wear away a persons brain and mental health. There are many videos and case studies available, documenting the onset of these diseases and the reactions of their respective families. It seems in all these cases that these diseases affect both the body and soul of the people involved. As the disease wears away their body, their soul too is worn away. If a soul is a persons inner, true self then it seems it is also affected by diseases that affect the brain.
The effects of degenerative diseases affect a person on the conscious level. We have knowledge to cure to slow the progress of some diseases, in which case the person maintains their consciousness including whatever long term damage has been done. What for the soul in these cases? It seems that the soul is an image of the body, unable to control or help, but merely reflecting the ills of the body as if it was nothing more than a result of the body's biochemistry. It is simpler and more logical to say the soul doesn't exist other than a metaphor for the inner self, and that the inner self is actually a result of purely biological and chemical processes.
Conclusion
It seems that the soul has no effect on our consciousness at all, it is as if it doesn't exist. We have to theorize that the soul is effected by the body. If the soul did exist in this way, as a recorder of our lives, then it still would not effect our conscious activities. People could have entirely normal lives without a soul and not suffer the loss of the emotions we have discussed above. The soul is merely a metaphor for one's inner self, not a physical reality but a psychological symbol.