The amygdala is responsible for emotions. Discuss Essay

The amygdala is responsible for emotions. Discuss - Essay Example Along this line, man for centuries had thought about an ultimate purpose for his existence and place in the grand scheme of things. He had thought about God and what happens after a life here on earth. Man likewise has considered a lot of things in his life for which there are no easy answers as yet. Among these considerations is how to define consciousness. Consciousness is something humans easily understand but this concept has defied so far any attempts to define it in a precise manner. Perhaps a common definition is it is an awareness of anything at any given moment. However, it is certainly something that is mysterious but also familiar to most of us. Consciousness can be narrowly defined in medical terms such as a person who is alert and responsive to various stimuli but in psychology, consciousness is different. In the same manner, humans are also interested in knowing the ultimate cause of his own emotions. There is no question that thoughts originate in the brain but there h ad been some types of dispute with regard to the origin of our emotions. People of earlier times had ascribed it to our hearts as the seat of emotions. This view is common among the hopeless romantics in our midst but lately, science has indicated otherwise. Recent scientific research studies had shown us our emotions emanate from a part of our brain to an almond-shaped mass in our temporal lobes. Discussion Much of what is known today about human behaviors is through a new branch of science known as bio-psychology. It is known by many other names such as psycho-biology, biological psychology and physiological psychology. However named, it is a study of complex relationship between our biology and human behavior. In other words, this science attempts to find biological links to our own behavior and foremost among its research objectives is to find a logical solution or explanation for our emotions. In particular, this branch of science tries to find biological basis for emotions suc h as joy, pleasure, laughter, sorrow, pain and grief. To narrow it down further, it attempts to explain emotions in terms of physiology (or our various bodily living systems) and in particular, how the brain controls our thinking and behavior patterns (Alder, 2000, p. 5). This paper deals with some of the theories being put forward on how to explain emotions. Moreover, the discussion here can hopefully help to shed light on some perplexing behaviors that are sometimes observed in humans and maybe make people understand them a bit more. Like the issue of consciousness given as an example earlier, emotions are quite complex and do not easily lend themselves to categorizations in terms of their origins or causes. The debate on where and how emotions originate is a bit contentious just like what is that observed or discussed with regards to consciousness. Emotions and consciousness are two very closely related topics of interest to psychology, and questions such as how to detect emotion s or consciousness in ill or comatose people are important as well as how to measure them precisely, or whether animals have consciousness or even if artificial intelligence can eventually have it. Learned Behavior – the human mind is a complex thing to observe and is therefore very mysterious. Much of what has been known and learned about it sometimes came by accident. A strange case like that of Phineas Gage is often cited in medical literature to show that even more serious injury can occur to the brain but without