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Unraveling Biological Conceptions of the Mind: From Aristotle to Brain Laterality

Explore the evolution of beliefs about the mind from ancient times to modern neuroscience, including Phrenology, body types, clinical observations, brain lateralization, hormonal and neurotransmitter influences. Discover how research methods like MRI and EEG provide insights into brain disorders and behavioral traits.

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Unraveling Biological Conceptions of the Mind: From Aristotle to Brain Laterality

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  1. Biological/Genetic/Evolutionary Perspective

  2. Ancient Conceptions About Mind Plato correctly placed mind in the brain. However, his student Aristotle believed that mind was in the heart. Aristotle posited body humors that controlled personality

  3. Phrenology In 1800, Franz Gall suggested that bumps of the skull represented mental abilities. His theory, though incorrect, nevertheless proposed that different mental abilities were modular.

  4. Body types • Sheldon • Endomorph: plump (relaxed, social, complacent) • Mesomorph: muscular (assertive, adventurous) • Ectomorph: thin (reserved, anxious, uptight, self-conscious)

  5. Ways into the “black box” ????? • clinical observation • lesion/ablation studies • stimulation studies • EEG • CT, MRI, fMRI • PET scans

  6. Clinical Observation Clinical observations have shed light on a number of brain disorders. Alterations in brain morphology due to neurological and psychiatric diseases are now being catalogued.

  7. EEG

  8. MRI

  9. Limbic System

  10. CORTEX

  11. Eysenck • Introversion/Extroversion • ARAS (Ascending Reticular Activating System) • Extros: low • Intros: high • Geen (1984) study • recent fMRI evidence

  12. BAS/BIS (Gray) • BAS: “gas pedal” reward/pleasure seeking left frontal cortex dopaminergic • BIS: “brake pedal” inhibition, avoidance, caution right frontal cortex serotonergic

  13. Brain Laterality (Davidson) • Left brain/ Right brain (frontal lobes) • Positive emotion states/Negative emotion states • Pleasure, Calm/Anxiety, Depression • e.g., “monk studies”

  14. Hormones • Testosterone: a. correlational research b. animal studies c. genetic abnormality • Oxytocin “the love hormone”

  15. Neurotransmitters • Dopamine: reward/pleasure system • Serotonin: anxiety and depression • Psychopharmacology (Listening to Prozac) • Implications???

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