Secret Life of the Brain: The Adult Brain

Why do we have emotions? Emotions are vital for healthy decision making and avoiding negative experiences. The Secret Life of the Brain demonstrates a brain with abnormal processes in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. However, the life-constraining disorders produced from these abnormalities, including emotional paralysis, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression, can have treatments or preventions to help insure healthy lives.

Marvin was an ordinary, ambitious salesman, until he suffered a life-changing stroke. This stroke didn’t only paralyze one side of Marvin’s body, but it also caused permanent brain damage, cutting him off from his emotions. Researchers from the University of Iowa are figuring out why Marvin can’t feel emotions. Though Marvin’s brain is able to make emotions, he isn’t able to feel them. When looking at scans of the brain, it is seen that Marvin has dead areas in his brain that are responsible for creating feelings. When an emotional event occurs, the amygdala is the first to respond. The amygdala triggers a series of reactions through the brain core and stem, which are then supposed to be received from the body. However, the body isn’t able to receive these chemical responses. In other words, Marvin isn’t aware of his feelings because the response signal falls into a void. Marvin also isn’t able to feel emotions when remembering his memories. Each emotion has a specific neural circuitry. The emotions associated with memories help humans form decision-making skills based on whether they want to repeat a positive memory, or avoid a negative one. Instead, Marvin is stuck guessing the emotions of others, and struggling through making decisions with only facts and logic.

Johnny Cortex was driving to wo...

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...p cells communicate with each other, and send emotion and thinking. Prozac blocks the GAPS of mood-influencing Serotonin, to raise levels of serotonin, regulating mood. Prozac doesn’t cure depression, but it is able to limit its symptoms and harm. The first six months of Prozac were the best months of Lauren’s life. She achieved happiness, a doctorate in psychology, a family, and happiness overall. However, as her body builds a resistance to the drug, the does need to increase. Laruen has had to raise her dose from 10 to 80 milligrams over her years of taking Prozac. Though her dosage has risen eight times, Laruen had few side effects. The best combination of treatment for her is of drugs and talk therapy. Talk therapy is able to change how the brain processes information. Since Lauren has left the hospital, she has tamed her depression and became a prized author.