a post I made in psychology

[novapsyche]

Electric impulses in our brains are not translated. They're transduced.

How is sound transduced by the ear? We don't know. We only know that there are electrochemical responses that modulate vibrations and render them as sound to our brains.

I surmise feelings follow a similar course. The limbic system is one of the oldest parts of the brain and is where our "feelings" arise. The amygdala is involved in the recognition of fear; the reward complex is involved in the recognition of pleasure. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine are directly involved in the limbic system. These partly determine one's reaction to any particular stimulus. The other part is based on memory, associations, connotations. We are influenced by all we've encountered before.

Now thoughts, I still can't tell you what thought is.

Comments

[kittenkissies.livejournal.com]

Tranduced from where?

[kittenkissies.livejournal.com]

+ another "s"

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

In the book I've been rabbiting on about, "Destructive Emotions," they say that emotions aren't really a whole separate class from thoughts, that much of the activity is in the frontal regions where we usually think of "rational thought" occuring (though, as you point out, the amygdala has a role to play in fear, and other "primitive" parts of the brain have a role to play in anger and some other emotions).

I think it puts a lie to the idea that we "can't control our feelings" or that we're somehow helpless in the face of our emotions.