Post by mgm on Nov 3, 2017 14:35:34 GMT
Explain in more detail Damasio's hypothesis about what a feeling is (p. 86) - for example elaborate the hypothesis with examples of what is meant by "perception", "certain state of the body", "certain mode of thinking", etc.
Damasio believes that feelings arise from the awareness of our particular body state at ay given moment. In each moment all of the nerve sensors in our body are feeding information regarding their current state (for example sensors in muscle tissue sending info to the brain as to the state of the muscles; tight, relaxed, variations in between, etc.) to regions in the brain whose job it is to compile the input from this multitude of sources and construct an overall ‘map’ of the current state of the body. Damasio hypothesizes that feelings arise from this mental representation or ’map’ of the state of the body. If the internal processes that regulate the bodies homeostatic state are operating in a manner that could be considered unstrained, flowing, optimal, effortless then this harmonious functioning will be represented in the somatic sensory regions of the brain and will produce feelings that have a positive/pleasurable hue to them. Conversely, if the bodies regulatory processes are strained, unbalanced, requiring much effort in an attempt to retain an equilibrium, then these states will also be represented in the neural map of the current body state and will likely lead to feelings taking on a more negative and paining tone. Damasio also describes that accompanying the mental maps of the body state are certain modes of thinking that correspond to the specific emotions. For example, when the brain’s body-state map is representing a negative emotion, then the cognitive activity tends to slow in the production of images and tends to become very fixated and narrowed-in on the images that it does produce. On the other hand, when the brain’s body-state map is representing a harmonious and positive body state, then the speed of mental activity increases, producing images at a rapid rate, with a shortened attention span. From the perception of these two processes - the perception of the state of the body as represented in the somatic sensory brain regions and from the perception of the accompanying mode of thinking - feelings arise.
Damasio believes that feelings arise from the awareness of our particular body state at ay given moment. In each moment all of the nerve sensors in our body are feeding information regarding their current state (for example sensors in muscle tissue sending info to the brain as to the state of the muscles; tight, relaxed, variations in between, etc.) to regions in the brain whose job it is to compile the input from this multitude of sources and construct an overall ‘map’ of the current state of the body. Damasio hypothesizes that feelings arise from this mental representation or ’map’ of the state of the body. If the internal processes that regulate the bodies homeostatic state are operating in a manner that could be considered unstrained, flowing, optimal, effortless then this harmonious functioning will be represented in the somatic sensory regions of the brain and will produce feelings that have a positive/pleasurable hue to them. Conversely, if the bodies regulatory processes are strained, unbalanced, requiring much effort in an attempt to retain an equilibrium, then these states will also be represented in the neural map of the current body state and will likely lead to feelings taking on a more negative and paining tone. Damasio also describes that accompanying the mental maps of the body state are certain modes of thinking that correspond to the specific emotions. For example, when the brain’s body-state map is representing a negative emotion, then the cognitive activity tends to slow in the production of images and tends to become very fixated and narrowed-in on the images that it does produce. On the other hand, when the brain’s body-state map is representing a harmonious and positive body state, then the speed of mental activity increases, producing images at a rapid rate, with a shortened attention span. From the perception of these two processes - the perception of the state of the body as represented in the somatic sensory brain regions and from the perception of the accompanying mode of thinking - feelings arise.