Evening star., 1936-01-28
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

almost any indignity can be offered the
other side without arousirfg any sign OF
anger.
The most obvious explanation would
be that the mad" side has been rem
dered abnormally sensitive so that any
pressure causes pain. Yet when it is
left alone the animal rubs that side
against table legs without any reaction
to the pressure. If to touch it meant
pain. the reaction should be the same
as if the side was touched by somebody
else.
This little emotion area in the hypoth-
alanus, DR.. Bard explains, doubtless is
an important part of the mechanism OF
the primitive emotional response pat
terms
It is, phylogenetically, very old part
Of the brain-just on the borderllne OF
The most primitive sort of consciousness.
These primitive emotional patterns al
ways have been-as they are today-es-
sential for the preservation Of the indi-
vidual and of the race. The sensory
nerve fibers carry an impulse to the
hypothalamus Immediately an auto
matte reaction is set up which throws
the whole body into the most effective
condition for defense and aggression.
There is no time to be wasted in thinking
about it. No top brain" is necessary.
The reaction was we'll established before
the vertebrate race had evolved top
brain.
Another type OF automatic reaction es-
cential for the preservation Of the indi-
vidual is the fear reSponse-the running
away from danger. For long time only
the rage reaction was shown by the de-
Drained cats, but DR.. Bard has found
that fear also is activated from the hy-
pothalamus. One day an autoclave used
in the laboratory went off Unexpectedly
with a loud noise. One of the animals
Immediately began running until 1t
bumped into the wall which 1t could not
recognize because it cannot consciously
recognize anything.
Since then he has found that almost
any sudden loud noise will set up the
same sort of behavior. It is evoked best
by blowing on bugle. He also has made
successful attempts to bring about other
essential primitive emotional responses
in the unconscious animals.
The area, as described by DR.. Bard,
may be considered as vital nerve relay
center. The incoming impulses activate
a group of nerve cells so joined together
that they cause all over the body the
discharge of other nerve impulses which
together make up the essential response
pattern of the different primitive emo
tions. Without the top brain there IS
nothing to inhibit them. The emotions
lash out blindly for the protection OF
the animal.
They operate. of course. with the cere-
bral cortex intact. But in this case they
are more or less modified, depending on
the intensity of the emotion, by intelli-
gent observation and judgment. Even in
a so-called blind rage" man or an
animal does not act entirely automat-
ically. One strikes out at something one
can see and recognize.
The rage Of these decorticated animals
must be essentially without feeling"
or without the recognition Of 1t. For
without the brain cortex it is hardly pos
sible that there can be any recognition
OF anything. In fsss, the cats are re-
ferred to by the Psychologists not as ami
mails any longer, but as preparations
living test tubes for the study Of physio-
logical reactions.