Re: mind body problem - one who carries around world

From: Immortalist (Reanimater_2000_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 09/30/04 

Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 20:59:28 -0700

"tooly" <rdh11@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:0nI6d.126$DV3.117@bignews5.bellsouth.net...
>
> "Immortalist" <Reanimater_2000@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:eoWdneF-5YqCSsfcRVn-vw@comcast.com...
> > mind-body problem - Most generally, the problem of describing the
> relationship
> > between the mind and body (or brain). First explicitly raised by
> Descartes, it
> > is, perhaps, the best know problem in the philosophy of mind. See dualism,
> > epiphenomenalism, monism, and materialism.
> >
> > Perhaps the oldest problem in the philosophy of mind, the mind-body
> problem dates
> > back at least to Plato. By some counts, Plato was the first dualist, with
> the
> > first materialist, Aristotle, close at hand. Plato contends that the soul
> is
> > distinct from the body and is capable of maintaining a separate existence
> from
> > it. Aristotle, in contrast, feels that body and soul are two aspects of
> the same
> > underlying substance (form and matter). It should be noted that it is by
> no means
> > unanimous that Aristotle was not a dualist.
> >
> > Dualism has been the driving force behind the existence of the mind-body
> problem
> > and has been by far the majority view until recently. Partially due to the
> > influence of Descartes, the dualist position has reigned supreme. However,
> by
> > espousing a distinct type of substance for the mind, dualists invite the
> > question: What is it that makes it possible for two contraries (one
> spatially
> > existing and the other not) to interact as our minds seem to with our
> brains?
> >
> > In attempting to answer this question, Descartes claimed that the pineal
> gland
> > was the interface between the mind and the rest of the brain; he
> considered it
> > the seat of the soul. The causal interactions between mind and brain are
> two-way.
> > In perception, the physical states of the world influence our bodies which
> > influence our brains which, via the pineal gland, influence our soul. The
> reverse
> > is true for deliberate action. However, even on this account, it remains a
> > mystery how states of the non-spatial soul (or mind) are to causally
> interact
> > with the states of the spatial brain.
> >
> > Some ways of answering, or avoiding, this difficulty fall under the names
> of
> > epiphenomenalism, monism, and materialism.
> >
> >
>
> none of this would be a problem, except for the existence of 'fear'.
>

If fear is identical to particular activities of the brain and mind body debating
is about particular activities of the brain what criterion makes these two
examples of activity problematical and exceptional?

Whether you are ecstatic, dejected or frightened, emotions certainly can have a
grip on your life. In the world of science, however, emotions did not have such a
hold. In the past they took a back seat to more clear-cut scientific topics. But
now an increasing amount of evidence is showing that the emotion of fear is
decipherable. The identification of a specific brain system that processes fear
is spurring a great interest in the field.

A bang against the window draws you out of a snooze. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. You
bolt upright. A shadow dances outside the window. Is it the serial killer you
read about in the paper?

An almond-shaped area of the brain, the amygdala (uh-mig-dah-la) receives signals
of the potential danger and begins to set off a series of reactions that will
help you protect yourself, according to an increasing number of studies.

Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Additional messages sent to the amygdala determine that the
wavering image is only a branch. This time there is no need to bolt. The fear
response is snuffed out and you return to sleep.

Research is revealing the brain areas and mechanisms that are involved in this
amygdala-based fear circuit. There is hope that the detailed understanding of how
the brain processes fear will lead to: New methods to treat fear-related
disorders such as phobias, where specific fears are taken to an extreme; Insights
on how gender, age and illness affect fear interpretations.

Researchers began to find evidence that the amygdala was involved in the emotion
of fear in the late 1930s. Monkeys with damage to the brain cluster and
surrounding areas had a dramatic drop of fearfulness. Later, studies showed that
rats with targeted amygdala damage would snuggle up to cats. For years, however,
an understanding of how the amygdala fit into a brain system to process fear was
unclear.

Then starting in the 1970s some scientists began using precisely controlled study
designs to systematically map the brain's fear system. Research in rodents
revealed brain pathways, centering on the amygdala, that were preprogrammed to
respond to danger.

Accumulating revelations about this fear system led researchers recently to
examine the human brain's response to fear with imaging studies. One study showed
that pictures of frightening faces initiate a quick rise and fall of activity in
the amygdala. In the future, scientists believe imaging techniques may help
determine the course of treatment for disorders involving a malfunction in fear
processing. For example, a person with an extreme fear of germs who continuously
washes, known as an obsessive-compulsive disorder, often goes through months of
behavioral therapy. The idea is to train the person to learn to overcome their
fear. But what if imaging tests show that the amygdala is continuously active and
does not diminish its activity over time as it normally would to a fearful
stimulus? This could signify that the area is defective and a lifetime of therapy
designed to alter behavior would not be able to stifle the fear response. In this
case, drug treatment alone potentially may hold more benefits.

Currently, researchers are further deciphering the fear process in humans. They
hope to determine the effects of age, gender and illness on the system.

In addition, scientists are uncovering the biochemical reactions that run the
fear response and are searching for the brain regions that modify the response in
the amygdala. They also are hunting for the brain structures that help store
dreadful memories over time.

Insight on the fear system also is motivating researchers to untangle the
possible differences between fear and anxiety. Fear involves a quick hit-and-run
process in the brain. Anxiety stirs a slower reaction that lasts a while. This
suggests that the processing of the two emotions may be different. Indeed, early
studies show that different parts of the amygdala may process anxiety versus
fear. It also appears that some illnesses result from defects in these anxiety
areas while others are more linked to fear paths.

Researchers also are examining the role of the amygdala in less distressing types
of emotions, such as happiness.

http://www.sfn.org/content/Publications/BrainBriefings/fear.html

>

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