Antonio R. Damasio (* 25 February 1944 in Lisbon), neuro scientist and director/conductor of the largest neurology station of the world in Iowa town center, became particularly by its work the consciousness research admits.

pink is married with Hanna Damasio (* 24 February 1942 in Lisbon), both at the University of Lisbon their academic training received and with the doctor title in medicine locked. In the year 1971 they created the "“center de Estudos de Linguagem Egas Moniz"” (study center for language Egas Moniz).

To construct briefly invited after the carnation revolution 1974 it the research department of the "“new University of Lisbon"”. The project could not be financed. Since 1976 they teach at the University OF Iowa. The married couple Damasio, which researches partly also together and publishes, belongs to at present most outstanding neurologists of the world.

Main points of research of Hanna Damasio are appropriate for that in the range of the neuroanatomical basis cognition and in the range of the development of new techniques of the Neuroimaging, which permits in-Vivo-investigations of brain structures.

Antonio R. Damasios investigations refer on the one hand to the range of the brain-anatomical substrates of complex behavior and on the other hand to the neural bases of language and cognition as well as the connection of feeling, emotion and reason. The neuro biology of the emotions received crucial impulses by Antonio R. Damasio.

One of its spheres of activity is the direct correlation the patient concerned by morphologic losses in the CT and NMR with the functional neurological losses with. In particular with the impact accumulation this method is very successful, in order to recognize located brain processes, since the function loss adjusts itself within shortest time and is more clearly recognizable thus.

Descartes' mistake

In its papers Descartes' mistake (in the original: Descartes' error: Emotion, Reason, and the human Brain), I feels, therefore am I (The Feeling OF What Happens: Body and emotion into the Making OF Consciousness) and the Spinoza effect (Looking for Spinoza) he examines above all the reciprocal effects between bodies and consciousness and comes - by numerous empirical vouchers - to the conclusion that the century-long accepted postulated, particularly from Descartes, separation between bodies and spirit a mistake is. Instead it states an unsolvable connection between bodies and spirit, which constantly affect each other mutually.

Case examples

Its thesis of the inseparableness between spirit and subject, supports Damasio among other things by two case examples:

Phineas fee

1848 become Phineas fee, at that time 25-year old foreman at a railway company, victim of a heavy accident. In the case of a breakup in the context of the transfer of rails by the US Federal State Vermont, 6 kg heavy bores itself, 1.98 m for a long time and for 3 cm a thick steel-pipe with a point of 6 mm from underneath the left cheek bone to the front head bones by Gages head and flies on thereafter still 30 m. One approx. 4-5 cm large, wound develop.

Despite the obviously heavy accident Gages is during the entire time with consciousness. It is able to report on the entire course of events of the accident and outlives it. Its injury heals within two months, only the loss of the left eye is physically irreversible. The physicians do not determine impairment of perception, memory achievement, intelligence, language ability or Motorik.

Nevertheless it comes in the time to the accident to remarkable personality changes Gages': was it consciously, deliberated, before balanced and friendly, appears it to its environment now increasingly impatiently, moodily, and irreverently. Beyond that it comes to a disturbance of its ability of decision: It does not make decisions, which contrary-run its interests obviously, it can its future any longer reasonably plan and suffers than consequence a vocational and social descent.

Elliot

As a "“modern Phineas fee"” describes Damasio a patient of it, for who due to a tumor a part of the Cortex was removed. After the operational interference, also Elliots personality changed radically. It comes also with it neither to the restriction of cognitive, motor or sensory abilities, however it exhibits a sensitive disturbance of its ability of decision and a lack of feelings. Pictures of situations, which excited him once, do not release now with it any reactions. The correlation between feeling poverty and decision inability, leads Damasio to the theory of the somatic markers.

The theory of the somatic markers

Damasio assumes that Elliots prevents him to attach to different action alternatives an emotional value which help other humans during decision making.

Damasio sets up the theory that all experiences of humans in the course of its growing up in an emotional experience memory are stored. This experience memory communicates itself according to Damasio about a physical signal system, which helps humans during decision making and which Damasio describes as somatic markers. With the conception of different action alternatives the somatic markers give thus one, by past experiences determined, to feedback, which help humans in the decision-making process, by excluding first all emotional not portable courses of action.

The somatic markers thus an automatic body-own system is for the evaluation of forecasts. They work often unconsciously as "“alarm bell"” or starting signal, remove not however in principle a thinking, but help when thinking, by letting alternatives which can be evaluated favorably or dangerously appear as - due to individual experience - as such.

As neural system, which permits the acquisition of the somatic markers, Damasio believes to have located the crust fields in the brain. Its theory of the somatic markers explains to decide the connection between Phineas Gages and Elliots feeling disturbances and their inability and sets up themselves the obviously unsolvable connection between rational decision-making processes and feelings.

Empirical vouchers

In order to prove the theory of the somatic markers, Damasio accomplished several experiments. One of it is the "“luck play experiment in such a way specified"”:

With this attempt, which with healthy patients and patient with damage of the Cortex was accomplished, these received a loan in each case from 2000 US Dollar and should this by means of a pack of cards, whose rules could not do them, as far as increasing.

To the selection four piles with Spielkarten, in the following A, stood for the pro gangs B, C and D mentioned. They took a map of piles A or B won them to 100 dollar, while taking up a map of piles C or D brought in only 50 dollar profit. After a coincidentally determined number of maps, taking up a map of the piles A and B brought them however a loss, which could amount to up to 1250 dollar. Also the admission of maps of the piles C and D came it in similar distances to losses. Here this amounted to however maximally 100 dollar, so that the piles C and D turned out on a long-term basis as profitable, while piles A and B led on a long-term basis to losses.

Damaged like damaged pro gangs did not show first a preference for the piles A and B, with which one won more. While due to the high losses, which changed not damaged persons after approximately 30 maps to C and D, the patients with damage of the front brain remained with their preference for the piles A and B, although it was perfectly conscious to them that these also too many higher punishments led. After the half before fixed Spieldauer these pro gangs were bankruptcy and had an additional loan to take up.

Damasio deduced from this experiment that the punishment and/or reward of the frontperson suffering from a brain injury - thus pro gangs without somatic markers - does not lead with these to the "“marking"” of bad action alternatives with emotional reactions, so that with these the directly recompencing option is always preferred. Damasios woman supported these realizations, by examining the skin line reactions of the pro gangs during such an experiment. While the not damaged test subjects before selection of the maps reacted with increasing Spieldauer with increasing intensity, the damaged patients did not show any reaction. Damasio closed from the fact to predict that brains damaged pro gangs not learned, bad results, which is automatic sighting process, by which the probable quality of the pile entrance into thinking finds, thus disturbed.

"“Basal monitoring systems of the body create [...] the condition for conscious cognitive processes."”

Antonio R. Damasio

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