Are laughing & crying good for you?
Ennapadam Krishnamoorthy
Behavioural Neurologist & Neuropsychiatrist I Founder- Buddhi Clinic I Neurokrish
The evergreen & legendary Professor Michael R Trimble will address creativity & emotions in his keynote on neuroaesthetics at INA 2018 (the International Congress of the International Neuropsychiatric Association) & linked TS Srinivasan-NIMHANS Knowledge Conclave 15th, 16th and 17th February 2018 in Bengaluru.
Watch his lecture on "Laughing & Crying" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-B4-xJdppc
Join the discussion at INA 2018 by e-mailing [email protected] or logging into the website www.ina2018.com
Extracts from the Soul in the Brain by Michael Trimble:
The possibility that one could study the soul by associating inspirational human experience, religion, music, poetry and literature, with the brain, is tantalising to say the least. In his book The Soul in the Brain, Michael R. Trimble, Emeritus Professor of Behavioural Neurology at University College of London, expounds the neurological correlates of such inspirational human experiences that were once considered to be the exclusive purview of the heart. Trimble commences his book with the words, “If you fear that opening your mind will cause your brain to fall out, then this book is not for you. If you are unhappy discussing neuroscience in the context of poetry, music and, above all, religion, then again this text cannot be recommended.”
Basis of emotions
Trimble begins by exploring the brain anatomy of human emotion, implicating the Limbic System as the seat of human emotion. Seated deep within the brain and consisting of a network of critical structures, the Limbic System is the oldest part of the mammalian brain. There is considerable data today from brain imaging studies to show that this part is closely associated with emotional disorders. For example, the Amygdala, a multinucleated structure intricately connected with many brain parts, has been shown to both vary in size and to have different levels of neurochemical activity in various emotional disorders. The Amygdala is today the focus of much of the brain research that is concerned with human emotion and emotional disorders. Expounding on the neurobiology of emotion beyond these structures, Trimble discusses their links with other critical brain areas. He quotes extensively from the work of 20th century experts who have contributed to our understanding of emotional brain function, exploring brain anatomy beyond limbic structures that has a role in human emotion.
“While the hypothalamus was essential for the expression of emotion, the experience of emotion required the cortex, ‘the stream of feeling’ depending on strong interconnections between the cortex and the hypothalamus.” (Papez, 1937.)
Poetry and literature are areas that Trimble explores at some length in this book. He describes how the use of the language of poetry and metaphor produces heightened activity of the right hemisphere of the brain. Pointing out that certain neuropsychiatric conditions have strong associations with specific creative pursuits, he draws attention to the links between literary creativity and Bipolar Affective Disorder (Manic Depressive Illness), an association strangely not witnessed with another major mental illness, Schizophrenia. He quotes extensively from the works of several poets with Bipolar Affective Disorder such as William Cowper (1731-1800), Robert Lowell (1917- 1977) and Anne Sexton (1928-74).