Basic HTML Version
36
Why the
vast
difference
between
animal brain and
HUMAN
MINO?
(Contimred from page 6)
biochemical actions - every character–
istic of the human brain was easily
found in all other mammalian brains.
Returning to their labs, the physi–
ologists soon realized thei r oversight:
the brain worked by continuous
elect1'0·
chemical activity. Electro-physiological
studies were required.
Jnformation in all brains was found
to be simply the presence or absence
of a weak (one-tenth volt) electro–
chemical discharge - a brief (one–
thousandth-of-a-second) spark of elec–
tricity - at multiple triJlions of loca–
tions. This was the
f/ei'Ve imp11he.
Comparative
ph)'siological
studies
disclosed a profound
identÍI)'
of neu–
rological mechanisms among all crea–
tures. All information in every nervous
system was found to be transmitted by
the same sec¡uences and trains of nerve
impulses. Sensory receptors worked by
the same process in all mammals,
transducing visual (sight), auditory
( sound), somesthetic ( touch), olfactory
(smell), gustatory ( taste) and proprio–
ceptive (posítion) stimuli into neuronal
information.
Spinal retlexes (e. g., knee-jerk)
worked by the same processes in al!
the creatures under investigation. Sen–
sory and motor relay stations cnabled
the same kind of progressively more
complex integration. Autonomic-meta–
bolíc arcas, controlling heart rate, blood
pressure, breathing, digestion, etc., were
located
in
the same place and worked
the same way in al! living beings exam–
ined. The attention-di recting mechanism
- the reticular activating sys tem, which
also controlled sleep and wakefulness
- was likewise p resent in al! brain
stems. Emotion and drive-cont roll ing
centers we.re always within the hypo–
thalamus. Coordination of muscles (as
The
PLAIN TRUTH
for walkíng) was always a cerebel–
lar function. The thalamus was always a
sensory-motor relay statíon. Sensory
awareness always reached its highest
leve! in specilic arcas of the cerebral
cortex. The corpus callosum transferred
information back and forth between the
cerebral hemispheres. Again, in
a/L
creatures - including man.
To the nth dimensional physiologists,
the human brain worked like any ani–
mal brain. When any sensation (stimu·
lus) occurred in any animal, a large
electrical signa! was evoked at specilic
locations in the brain. This electrical
"waveform" was recorded by locally
implanted electrodes and then displayed
on an oscilloscope.
Now the critica! question: Was
hmnan
electrical activity markedly supe–
rior to
animal
electrical activity?
No!
It was astonishing -
no!
Thc
same stimulus (e. g., a pin prick on
the toe) triggered
Jimila1'
waveforms
in analogous brain locations of
al/
creatures.
Furthermore, the electrical brain pat–
terns (EEG waves) seen in the human
brain during alert and relaxed mental
states were practically indistinguishable
from the similar EEG waves in animal
brains during similar mental states (see
illustration on the opposíte page).
The surprising evidence of the spy
report was now incorporated; all the
data were neatly lit together; the jig–
saw puzzle was complete - and the
physiologists con fidently compi led their
cond usions.
1)
Human brain was the most
advanced.
2) Chímp brain and dolphin-whale
brain were both a very
close second.
The Con f rontation
The physiologists smugly predicted
that the psychologists would lind man
to be only slightly pre-eminent on
earth
in
both individual and collec–
tive bebavior- but chimp and dolphin
would both be a
vel')' close second.
The
rest of the mammals would then follow.
Savoring the expected satisfaction of
crushing the psychology profession once
and for all, the physiologists received
the official report of the psychologists'
conclusions (published simultaneously
with theír own to avoid additional
antagonisms).
They were visibly
shaken by what they read.
It seemed impossible.
The chief psychologists had
instantaneously perceived that
man was utterly unique.
So
without
hesitation, they appropriated the study
of man for themselves. All other ani–
mals were relegated to graduate students,
who in turn assigned the work to under·
graduate studeots as "dass projects."
With all thei r jangled imaginations,
psychologists are a hard bunch to
startle. But now they
were
shocked.
Their investigations into human behav–
ior concluded that man was
t1tterly
dif–
ferent - in a dass by himself -
having produced automobiles and as–
tronauts, bridges and brushes, books
and buttons, solemnities and societies,
symphonies and soliloquies, calum–
nies and calamities. Man knew
that he existed; he communi–
cated symbolically; he
in–
quired about himself; he
delved ínto his origin, his
future, his purpose; he was aware
of beauty and order; he wrote his
history.
None
of these characteristics
were even
mmored
to exist in chimp,
dolph in, elephant or any other animal.
Flushed wíth pride, the nth dimen–
sional psychologists had then launched
themselves into the realm of physiology.
They speculated that the portion of the
body which sat upon the neck encased
the vital mechanisms underlying behav–
ior.
But it was obvious that the com–
ponents of the human head would have
to
vasl/y
excel the components of the
animal head in order to account for the
human mind. At the very least, a
unique anatomical structure or novel
functional principie must exist in man.
And so it was a humble group of
psychologists and physiologists who
met in their fust joint symposium. The
antagonisms were gone, for both had
been humiliated. A reconciliation had
occurred, for both shared a common
despair.