Antonio Damasio, the neurologist of emotions

Thanks to the countless contributions of Antonio Damasio we understand mental processes in another way. Professor of neuroscience, neurology and psychology at the University of Southern California. He is a Prince of Asturias Award winner. Furthermore, his studies on emotions and the mechanisms of consciousness make him an indisputable reference figure.

It is very possible that his name is already familiar to us, that we have admired him for years or that we have once chanced upon one of his books. One of his best-known titles, «And the brain created man”, It is quite a challenge. Thus, the brain, far from being a mystery to Antonio Damasio, It is a well-defined entity.

On the other hand, there are those who say that Damasio, more than a neuroscientist, is above all a neurophilosopher. In his books he reveals the brain as an entity where not only our individuality, our emotional, ethical or moral worlds reside. It contains society itself and our essence as humanity. As Damasio (2005) says «“Only when we know more deeply how the brain works will we achieve it… will we be happier.”

Antonio Damasio, a different neuroscientist

There are many types of neuroscientists. However, until not long ago, those marked by a mechanical and reductionist approach were in excess.. They told us, for example, that our thoughts, reflections and decisions were the result of a simple connection of a set of neurons.

Now… Where is our conscience then? Is there a specific region for it? And emotions and feelings, where are they produced? Many of these scientists, in the not-so-distant past, smiled wryly at such ideas. Currentlywe already have inspiring figures such as Antonio Damasio, who put aside this reductionist perspective to open up new points of view for us. and make us understand the importance of concepts such as consciousness and the world of emotions.

First of all, consciousness is not in any specific place in the brain. Consciousness is a process and an entity that is present in all species. In fact, as he explains, even single-celled organisms, such as bacteria or amoebas, have a minimal sense of consciousness. They work to preserve their integrity, to survive. Thus, each organism, each living being, has a more or less sophisticated level of consciousness with which to adapt to its environment and develop.

We, for our part, have taken a great evolutionary leap by including dimensions such as memory, imagination, creativity or logical reasoning in our consciousness.

Antonio Damasio: the world of emotions and feelings

Talk about Antonio Damasio is also talking about Hanna Damasio, his wife and also a neurologist. Person with whom he shares his research career. Thanks to her experiences with various patients, The Damasio couple were able to collect various data that has helped them formulate important hypotheses.

One of them is that emotions are actually a set of chemical and neuronal responses that make up a distinctive pattern. Antonio Damasio He defined it as a “somatic marker”; With this name he meant that We all have an emotional imprint that makes us react, that influences us when it comes to showing certain behaviors. or to implement a certain type of decisions and not others. Even more, according to this neuroscientist, emotions precede feelings.

Let’s take an example: we are walking down the street and suddenly we hear a scream. What we experience instantly is a physical reaction. Thus, our heart accelerates, we remain paralyzed, our pupil dilates… And instantly we feel a sensation of alarm, of fear… Emotions, for Damasio, belong to the body. Therefore, they trigger a series of certain chemical and organic alterations. After emotions come feelings, which already have a deeper relationship with thoughts.

Damásio (2011) defines feelings as the «perception of a certain state of the body together with the perception of a certain way of thinking and thoughts with certain themes» (p. 100). The awareness that our body is in a certain way is the key to all feelings.

The essential content of these is the particular representation of the body. The substrate of what we feel is found in the set of neuronal patterns that map the body state from which a mental image of our body can arise (Damásio, 2011).

So, Feelings are closely related to a perception and to the ability to be aware of what happens to us in the body. In this sense, feelings are not necessarily products of an emotion. They are a broader process that emerges from any set of homeostatic reactions, thus encompassing everything that refers to the body.

Learning to discern with Antonio Damasio

Antonio Damasio consider that It is very important that we learn to consider that emotions and feelings are two different things, and that the former precede the latter. Let’s think, for example, about stress, about those negative emotions that grip us, about the physical discomfort that they cause us, that makes us sick, and about what these mental states that cause us: we begin to have more pessimistic and less flexible thoughts, we stop to see solutions to day-to-day problems…

In short, one of Our purposes should be to cultivate positive emotions. We can remember, for this, the classic saying of “be well to think better”. However, something like this requires making our body feel calm, in harmony… In addition, we can all experiment, for example, by practicing meditation or relaxation. A calm body also translates into a relaxed mind. A calm and focused mind, which thinks and decides better…

You might be interested…