REVISED MISSION STATEMENTChapter Excerpt from Challenges to World Peace: A Global Solution -- C. 2011 by John LaMuth
Behaviorism is perhaps the most rigid field in the discipline of psychology, although (like psychology in general) it cannot readily be classified as an exact science. Rather, behaviorism is technically considered more of a descriptive science, describing behavior patterns observed in a laboratory setting, as well as within a more free-style human social context. This rather broad range of contexts posits an inferred sense of motivation: implying a motivator (or mental agent) enacting adaptive behavior patterns for fulfilling suitably reinforced motives. Whereas the mind is not a physical entity that can be precisely measured, it therefore stands to reason that behaviorism can never be classified as an exact science to the same degree enjoyed by chemistry or physics. Researchers record outwardly observable signs of behavior and make inferences with respect to motivational states, but never actually measure a distinct state of motivation. Behaviorism is entirely descriptive in that predictions are never absolutely guaranteed. Indeed, a laboratory rat repeatedly pressing a lever can have a number of possible interpretations. Consequently, behavioral experimental design often occurs over long time-frames, when multiple trials distinguish between purposeful or accidental types of behavior.
With respect to sentient human beings, daring parallels can be made between subjectively reported feelings and those inferred from laboratory derived constructs, greatly enhancing correlative links across the animal kingdom. Here, the procedural shortcomings of behavioral science come through the clearest, always relegated to the status of a descriptive science, or what some term a soft science. As such, behaviorism can never achieve the exacting precision enjoyed hard sciences such as chemistry, physics, and the biological sciences: all of deal with physical subject matter. If it were possible to establish a behavioral link to a material sphere of influence, however, then behavioral psychology finally would become conceptually complete. The corresponding soft science parameters characterizing behavioral science would enjoy the additional precision of a hard science, reaching an enhanced degree of versatility.
NEUROANATOMICAL CORRELATES
Key conceptual insights towards this interdisciplinary linkage formally exist in relation to outwardly observable manifestations of the human brain. Numerous studies have established that the brain controls purposeful movement in a style outwardly suggestive of motivated behavior. Similarly, the brain further interprets sensory data in a manner conducive to motivating such behavior. The human brain is basically a two pound mass of neural tissue that works to mediate the interplay of sensory and motor systems. Philosophically, the brain is considered the seat of the human mind or soul, however one cares to define it. The ultimate paradox of this relationship is that the only way to understand this connection is by observing it, an aspect invoking the existence of an observer (or ego). Unlike the material brain, the mind knows no physical limits, extending as far as our senses can reach, or our behaviors can influence. The mind is intimately connected to the body insofar as consciousness follows wherever the body goes, although science cannot establish any specific mechanism for linking mind and brain.
The dominant theory in our modern times is that of epiphenomenalism, where the mind is considered an emergent property of the electrical activity naturally occurring within the brain. The brain operates through electrochemical processes equivalent to the output of a 25 Watt bulb. Through this rather modest expenditure of energy all of the miraculous manifestations of the mind become manifest in a conscious sense. Due to the extreme complexity of the brain, with estimates of multi-trillions of nerve connections, the precise mechanism for linking mind and brain has so far eluded modern science. Indeed, many researchers prefer to view the brain in terms of the circuitry concept of a black box, a notion derived from the field of electronic troubleshooting. In this latter respect, an electronic device of unknown origin and function can be studied by analyzing its input/output parameters without destructively dismantling the device. Consequently, a good indication of the function of the device may often be achieved, wherein enabling a simulation employing more familiar electrical means.
Similar parallels further hold true with respect to the neural attributes of the human brain. The input side encompasses sensory perceptions that serve to prompt the ongoing states of motivation. The output end equates to observable motivated behaviors conducive to the completion of the entire conditioned interaction. From this two-stage behavioral dynamic, one can technically infer that the organism/agent was motivated through sensory cues to take directed action towards resultant reinforcement. Indeed, this proves to be a key function governing the nervous system; namely, the reciprocal interplay of stimulus and response for maintain homeostatic stability in a variable environment. Consequently, from mankind's loftiest achievements to the simplest of instinctual behaviors, this recurrent cycle of stimulus and response dominates neural circuitry throughout the animal kingdom. This grand unifying feature proves crucial towards establishing the correlates of the mind/body connection. By tracing this complete range of behavioral parameters across an evolutionary timescale in relation to brain structure, then this underlying pattern of organization would ultimately permit entry into a degree of precision suitable to the hard sciences.
THE CROWNING CORTICAL LEVEL
The cerebral cortex represents the most logical initiation point for such an analysis, celebrated as the crowning culmination of human forebrain evolution. The dramatic expansion of the human nervous system occurs primarily in the cerebral cortex, the human neocortex expanding to roughly three times the size of mankind's nearest relative, the chimpanzee. The neocortex is anatomically structured as a planar surface, its radical expansion causing an elaborate pattern of wrinkles or sulci (plural of sulcus). The exposed region between the sulci is known as a gyrus (plural = gyri). Indeed, most of the surface area of the cortex it is buried from sight within this expanded system of fissures. This radical expansion of the neocortex is observed to occur in a discrete pattern suggestively termed cortical growth rings. The general pattern of neural evolution specifies that older structures are periodically modified to create newer functional areas, although the precursor circuitry is also preserved, so wherein new areas (and old) persist side by side.
The stepwise repetition of these processes over the course of mammalian evolution ultimately accounts for six sequential age levels of cortical evolution, schematically depicted on the facing page. This diagram is organized as a Mercator projection of the human cerebral cortex, a figure modified from an illustration originally devised by Schaltenbrand. This representation depicts the entire surface of the cortex folded flat so that the medial and sub-temporal surfaces of the hemisphere are fully exposed. The deep cortical wrinkles (the sulci) are also flattened-out so that areas hidden within the fissures approximate their true size. The uppermost margin of this diagram represents the limiting aspect of the corpus callosum, whereas the lower margin represents the boundaries of the insular lobe. The differing age levels of the cortex (the growth rings according to Sanides) are depicted as radiating away from either of these two margins.
The first and second cortical growth rings localized along these margins are represented by the evolutionarily ancient cingulate and insular gyri. Sanides designates the first cortical growth ring as periallocortex, further subdivided in it into the periarchaecortex (bordering the archaecortex) and the peripaleocortex (situated adjacent to the paleocortex). These two linked components collectively form a ring that encircles the remaining newer areas that evolved within the neocortex. Sanides, in turn, designates a second neocortical growth ring coined proisocortex: also subdivided into cingulate and insular sub-components collectively comprising a second-order growth ring. This initial pair of primitive growth rings are actually fairly narrow in relation to the overall diagram, although (for stylistic reasons) are thickened somewhat for sake of overall presentation.
A third cortical growth ring identified by Sanides is situated in the space immediately adjacent to the initial two growth rings. Sanides respectively subdivides this concentric structure into the paralimbic and parainsular components collectively comprising a third-order growth ring. This preliminary primordial sequence of three cortical growth rings is primarily hidden deep within the medial and insular areas of the human cerebral hemisphere. The more recent cortical growth core areas, however, directly extend outward to encompass the more expansive laterally exposed convexity of the hemisphere. Here, stepwise refinements to cellular organization result in the final neocortical growth core according to Sanides. He designates this final cortical age level koniocortex following the terminology for the major visual, auditory, and somatosensory representations. Koniocortex is situated as an unpaired growth core region (shown in white within the diagram) in contrast to the ring structure previously established for the preceding age levels.
Should this actually be the case, however, it is difficult to explain why there are so many other distinctive cortical areas that collectively comprise this final cortical growth core. Indeed, it seems highly inconsistent to group the heterotypical koniocortical areas with the surrounding homotypical class of association cortex. These organizational difficulties are ultimately resolved through a radical revision of this basic format, proposing that Sanides’ final koniocortical growth core actually represents two distinct cortical age levels: namely, an older growth ring (now designated as pleurokoniocortex) that now surrounds the most recent koniocortical growth core situated at the central-most position on the hemisphere convexity. The respective cortical areas for this final growth core focus are individually outlined in black within the master growth ring diagram. These most recent evolutionary areas are respectively situated along the central axial-sulcus represented by the stylized thick black line, a feature Sanides designates as the ur-trend limiting sulcus. According to Sanides, this sulcus marks the terminal juncture between those portions of the growth rings derived from the cingulate gyrus and those derived from the insular lobe. This juncture represents the precise location where the newest growth core is centrally located. Indeed, a very good correlation exists between the extent of the koniocortical growth core and the ur-trend limiting sulcus.
In summary, with respect to the cortical subdivisions of the human forebrain, a sequential gradient of five neocortical growth waves, plus the earliest precursor allocortical growth ring (not shown in the diagram) sums to a grand total of six individual cortical age levels. The master Mercator projection proved particularly effective for demonstrating this complete set of cortical growth rings. The broad range of numbers inscribed within this diagram denotes those cortical regions distinguished through measurable differences in cell structure and organization. Cortical areas comprising a given growth ring exhibit similar cellular characteristics, although minor variations exist within each growth ring resulting in a circular pattern of cortical variations similar to beads making up a necklace. The rationale behind these areal demarcations is attributed to the variations in input specificity across the entire extent of each cortical growth ring. Cortical areas receiving auditory inputs appear distinct from areas receiving visual inputs, as this distinctly affects the cellular appearance of within the various cortical layers.
This observation appears to be the chief rationale underlying the wide variety of cortical parcellation schemes that have emerged over the course of the preceding century. In hindsight, these ultimately accurately reflect this observed style of specificity of inputs, wherein permitting a number of crucial functional predictions in relation to the organization of the human neocortex. The first major system of cortical parcellation was proposed by German anatomist K. Broadman in 1909. This enduring system used Arabic numerals to specify roughly 50 distinct areas in the human cerebral cortex. A complementary parcellation system was further introduced by Austrian researcher Constantin von Economo in 1923 employing a lettering system of notation, the first letter of which indicates which lobe of the hemisphere a particular area is situated. These two dominant systems exhibit significant commonalties with respect to the identification of distinctive cortical areas, although a number of telling distinctions further emerge. Both systems rely upon the identification of distinctive areal demarcations within the cerebral hemisphere, as determined by cellular variations and/or fiber density criteria. Some transitions appear quite abrupt in microscopic section, as in dramatic increases in the size or density of the pyramidal cell layers. Other transitions appear more gradual, as in shifts in fiber density within the various cortical layers, hence, driving the structural rationale for the cortical parcellation schemes for both Broadman and von Economo.
Although the precise details underlying each of these formats is clearly beyond the basic scope of the current chapter, the major focus here concerns their relevant functional significance in relation to their specificity for the various classes of input. For instance, a thick granular layer IV relates predominantly to exteroceptive inputs such as vision or hearing, whereas agranular characteristics occur in cortical areas devoted to motor functions. It is this distinctive functional specificity, in concert with evolutionary perspectives that serve as the primary focus for the remainder of the current chapter, providing the elementary foundation for the proposed grand unified correlation linking behavioral principles with the neurosciences, as technically outlined below.
THE DUAL PARAMETER GRID DESCRIBING HUMAN FOREBRAI EVOLUTION
The two fundamental variables defining forebrain evolution are the parameters of phylogenetic age and input specificity. The par¬ameter of phylogenetic age was first quantitatively demonstrated in the marsupial neocortex as the set of “successive waves of circumfer¬ential differentiation” (Abbie, 1942). The analogous series of age levels detected in the cortex of placental mammals by Sanides (1969) were alternately designated “growth rings of the neocortex.” The remaining parameter of input specificity is manifest as a related series of cortical bands, each of which receives the thalamic relay of a specific forebrain input. These cortical input bands are distinguished according to the various sensory (Penfield & Rasmussen, 1950) or motor (Hassler, 1966) functional responses elicited during localized electro-cortical stimulation.
The precise number of elementary levels has accurately been deter¬mined for both basic forebrain parameters. Sanides (1972) proposed that the human cortex evolved as a sequence of five concentric growth rings comprising a medio-lateral hemisphere gradient. Furthermore, the interoceptive, exteroceptive and proprioceptive input categories each project to their own four-part complex of cortical bands that (when taken collect¬ively) define an antero-posterior hemisphere gradient. When the para-cor¬onal variable of phylogenetic age is plotted as the ordinate and the para-sagittal parameter of input specificity charted as the abscissa in a Cartesian coordinate system, the resulting dual parameter grid depicted in appendix Fig. 1 (shown overleaf) is spatially oriented in a pattern analogous to the standard cortical representation. Each unit square within this schematic chart depicts paired coordinate values specifying unique age and input forebrain parameters.
The areal demarcations characterizing the conventional cortical parcellation schemes coincide strongly with the boundaries interposed between individual levels for both forebrain parameters. Accordingly, the human cortical parcellation schemes of Broadman (1909) and von Economo (1929) correlate topographically on essentially a one-to-one basis with the theoretically-derived dual parameter grid. Each cortical area described by Broadman and von Economo corresponds (in hindsight) to schematically unique age/input parameter coordinates, wherein denoting a precise location within the dual parameter grid. Areas on the hemisphere convexity correlate quantitat¬ively on a one-to-one basis with the coordinate unit squares. A certain amount of correlative redundancy, nevertheless, is inevitable for the more ancient insular/cingulate regions.
The parallel evolution of both the neocortex and the dorsal thalamus dictates that the latter also differentiates as a function of these two basic forebrain parameters. The antero-posterior series of cortical input bands is or¬iented in a sequence matching the corresponding sagittal array of input nuclei in the dorsal thalamus. Furthermore, Rolf Hassler’s (1972) theory of hexapartition of the thalamus (in terms of input specificity) is exceedingly reminiscent of the identical number of growth waves within the neocortex. The equivalent number of parameter levels for both the dorsal thalamus and the cortex dictates that both major subdivisions follow an identical coordinate scheme. Consequently, the detailed classification of thalamic nuclei according to Hassler (1959) correlates topograph¬ically on a one-to-one basis with the specifics predicted within the dual parameter grid. Furthermore, each thalamic nucleus of specific age and input coordi¬nates projects principally to that cortical area comprising identical pair-coordi¬nate values, implying that thalamo-cortical interconnectivity is similarly defined in terms of the specifics for this dual parameter grid paradigm.
The dual parameter grid depicted in Fig. 1 represents a modified version of an original representation reproduced from an earlier journal article by the author (LaMuth, 1977). The initial journal diagram represented the first measured endeavor towards quantitatively ordering subdivisions of the forebrain into a globally coherent pattern. The currently modified version of the dual parameter grid aspires to designate the first "Periodic Table for the Human Forebrain,” analogous to the similar influence the Atomic Periodic Table enjoys respect to Chemistry and Physics. The respective neural counterpart imparts a crucial sense of systematic order and purpose to the fragmented state of affairs currently prevailing within the neurosciences. As such, it provides the long-anticipated link between the “hard” physical science of neuroanatomy with its “soft” correlates to behavioral and humanistic psychology. A more detailed review of cortical growth ring theory is definitely in order here, providing further welcome validation for the dual parameter paradigm.
THE CIRCUMFERENTIAL GROWTH RINGS OF NEOCORTICAL EVOLUTION
The cortical manifestation of the evolutionary parameter of phylogenetic age is most readily apparent in terms of the circumferential set of cortical growth rings. According to Sanides (1970) two discrete stages of differentiation have occurred within the human neocortex. The initial lamination of the paleocortical and archae¬cortical components of the primordial allocortex creates the periallocortical growth wave. In a second stage of differen¬tiation, the periallocortex, in turn, generates a sequence of three additional circumferential waves: designated by Sanides as pro-, para-, and konio-age levels. These latter three age levels are defined as variations on the hexal¬aminar organization of the periallocortex rather than any additional lam¬ination phases.
The final koniocortical growth core, however, covering virtually the entire hemisphere convexity, was further reeval¬uated to actually comprise an evolutionary sequence of two develop¬mentally distinct neocortical growth waves. Through cytoarchitectonic criteria, it proves inconsistent to group the heterotypical classical koniocortex and the homotypic association cortex within the same cortical growth wave. By myelographic standards, koniocortex represents a focal maximum within the hemisphere myelination trend (Sanides, 1969), signifying an evolutionarily later development than the less accentuated associa¬tion regions. According to these basic criteria, Sanides’ final neocortical growth wave is intrinsically modified into a sixth order konio¬cortical growth core, flanked by a pair of belt zones corresponding to a fifth-order growth ring. Retaining the format introduced by Sanides, it is proposed that this distinction be recognized by restricting the term “koniocortex” to the sixth wave of differentiation, while coining the term pleurokoniocortex to define the ring-like fifth cortical wave.
A REVISION OF NEOCORTICAL UR-TREND THEORY
Koniocortex appears unique among cortical waves in that it is manifest as a central core surrounded concentrically by all of the older growth rings. Those portions of the growth rings, positioned between the medial koniocortical border and the archaecortex are termed the medial ur-trend, while the growth ring segments intermediate to the paleocortex and lateral koniocortical boundary are termed the lateral ur-trend (Sanides, 1970). Using cytoarchitectonic and myelographic techniques, Sanides demonstrated that the classical sensorimotor representations developed via continuity across both ur-trends; with one ur-trend generally more accentuated than its counterpart.
The boldly accented line schematically depicted at the interface interposed between the medial and lateral ur-trends represents what is termed the ur-trend limiting sulcus (Sanides, 1969). This limiting sulcus is represented rostrally as the inferior frontal sulcus, intermediately as the sensorimotor sulcus between the arm and head representations, and caudally as the interparietal sulcus (Sanides, (1970). The position of each koniocortical representative area relative to this limiting sulcus proves a valuable criterion for determining its respective ur-trend of origin. For instance, for the frontal lobe, the inferior frontal gyrus comprises a sequence of three highly differentiated areas designated as pars opercularis (#44), pars triangularis (#45), and pars orbitalis (#12) - (Sanides, 1964). These three areas characteristically display giant pyramidal cells in lamina III-c: an essential property of areal maximums derived across the lateral ur-trend. The middle frontal gyrus is host to an analogous sequence of ur-trend maxima; namely, areas #46, #8δ, and #6aα. These three areas all display a size accentuation of pyra-midal cells in lamina V characteristic of medial ur-trend origin.
A close inspection of the posterior association region reveals the presence of a conspicuous pair of highly myelinated koniocortical bands. The visuo-auditory band is situated within area #39 of the visual association cortex, whereas the corresponding visuo-sensory band is located between areas #7 and #40 in the somatosensory association region. These bands were first detected during gross dissection as regions of dramatic myelin accentuation (Smith, 1907). These same cortical strips were subsequently shown to commence myelination much earlier than the surrounding associa¬tion regions (Flechsig, 1920). The medially derived visuo-sensory band is located on the dorsal wall of the interparietal sulcus denoting a medial ur-trend origin. Alternately, the visuo-auditory band is situated lateral to the occipital continuation of this sulcus indicative of a lateral ur-trend differentiation. Furthermore, the primary visual cortical area #17 was cited by Sanides (1970) as derived along a medial ur-trend gradient. Accordingly, area #17 exhibits the giant pyramidal cells of Meynert in cortical lamina V. In this same article, Sanides proposed that the primary auditory cortex developed along a lateral ur-trend gradient, at least in the case of lamina III-c accentuated area #42. Auditory area #41 does not exhibit giant III-c pyramidal cells, presumed to derive by way of a medial ur-trend gradient span¬ning the superior temporal gyrus.
The remaining intermediate segment of the koniocortical core is composed of sensorimotor areas #4γ, #3a, and #3b of the pre- and post-central gyri. The distended parallel orientation of all three areas (perpendicular to the ur-trend limiting sulcus) promotes somatotopic cross-modal continuity, but also invalidates the limiting sulcus as an ur-trend determining criterion. Unlike the classi¬cal somatosensory area #3b displaying giant pyramidal cells in lamina III-c, the cortical motor areas #4γ and #3a alternately exhibit large pyramidal cells in both inner and outer laminae (Bailey & von Bonin, 1951). Consequently, these latter two areas are provisionally included within the pattern of strict unit alternation for medially/laterally derived growth core areas.
In light of the preceding revision of evolutionary ur-trend theory, a corresponding modification must necessarily be made to Dart’s (1934) theory of the origin of the neocortex. Dart had noted continuity be¬tween the archaecortex and the internal cortical laminae on one hand, and between the paleocortex and the external laminae on the other. These observations had been interpreted to be the earliest manifestations of a primordial lamination of the paleocortex over the archaecortex to yield the characteristic hexalaminar organization of the neocortex, serving as further crucial criteria for specifying subsequent evolutionary development.
THALAMIC GROWTH SHELL THEORY
A more detailed mention of the other major subdivision of the forebrain, the dorsal thalamus, was deferred until now in order to exploit the many potential analogies to cortical phylogenesis. The implied parallel evolution of the dorsal thalamus and the neocortex specifies the existence of a parallel gradient of diencephalic differentiation analogous to the respective sequence of cortical growth rings demonstrated within the telencephalon. The three-¬dimensional organization of the dorsal thalamus, however, renders this diencephalic gradient more difficult to detect than the orderly growth rings within the planar pallium. Fortunately, in hindsight, Hassler’s paradigm of the hexaparti¬tion of input termination sites within the dorsal thalamus represents the diencephalic counterpart for the six distinct age levels demonstrated for the neocortical gradient. According to Hassler (1972) six distinct levels comprise the dorsal thalamus, ranked in order of specificity as (1) relay (2) first integrative level (3) second integrative level (4) composite multisensory (5) reticulate feedback, and (6) unspecific protopathic.
The primordial unspecific protopathic age level provides crucial clues towards specifying the precise mechanisms underlying dorsal thalamic differentiation. The anterior portion of the non-specific thalamic gray matter (consisting of the nucleus fasciculosus and reuniens, pars ventralis of nucleus medialis and centralis, and the rostral parts of nucleus parafascicularis and centro-median) have all been demonstrated to be of subthalamic origin (Reinoso-Suarez, 1966). In the same article, the reticulate nucleus of the next most recent age level was similarly cited as derived from the subthalamus: suggesting the existence of a subthalamic gradient of differentiation. The subthalamus borders the dorsal thalamus from below, dictating that this gradient be termed the “ventral ur-trend” of thalamic differentiation.
The alternate posterior segment of the unspecific age level includes the nucleus limitans, suprageniculatus, peripenduncularis, and posterior centro-median. This caudal series of nuclei collectively display a distinctively intense cholinesterasic staining activity (Poirer, 1974) denoting a common developmental origin. The close proximity and/or continuity of this posterior series of nuclei to the habenula (Hassler, 1959) suggests that the epithalamus represents the remaining elementary origin of dorsal thalamic differentiation. At least in lower vertebrates, the epi-thalamus borders the dorsal thalamus from above, dictating that this gradient be termed the “dorsal ur-trend” of the thalamic differentiation.
These primordial precursors for the dorsal thalamus serve as the terminus for a dual optic projection similar to the dual olfactory bulb projection to the allocortex. More specifically, the epithalamus receives direct visual input from the dorsal parietal eye of lower vertebrates, whereas the subthalamus is similarly affiliated to the main lateral eyes. The parietal eye of lower vertebrates develops embryologically from the distal end of the pineal (or parapineal) evagination of the epithalamic ependyma. In the primitive lamprey eel, both pineal and parapineal bodies develop ocular structures suggesting that a remote ancestral vertebrate had paired dorsal eyes in addition to the persistent lateral eyes (Sarnat & Netsky, 1974). Nerve fibers from the retina of the parietal eye project to the habenula (Kappers, 1965), however, all photosensory afferents to the habenula degenerate upon atrophy of the parietal eye in mammals. The primordial visual projection from the main paired lateral eyes is directed to the pregeniculate nucleus, cited as yet another subthalamic derivative (Reinoso-Suarez, 1966).
The six evolutionarily distinct “growth shells” detected within the three-dimensional structure of the dorsal thalamus developed as new anatomical variations across each basic ur-trend, designated in terms of the cor¬responding schematic levels from Hassler’s paradigm of hexapar-tition of thalamic inputs. Hence, both the cortex and the thalamus systematically evolved in response to a more comprehensive blen¬ding of inputs from differing neuraxial levels. Furthermore, each thalamic nucleus of specific parameter coordinates directs its main projection to cells of the cortex displaying identical coordinate values, establishing forebrain interconnectivity as yet a further function of the dual parameter grid.
EXTEROCEPTIVE, INTEROCEPTIVE, AND PROPRIOCEPTIVE MODALITIES
The precise number of component ur-trends proves an evolutionarily stable feature for both major forebrain divisions. The prefrontal cortex and the dorsomedial thalamic nucleus (to which it projects) are each subdivided into four component columns dealing with interoceptive inputs derived from the hypothalamus (Nauta & Hay¬maker, 1969) and the limbic midbrain area (Guillery, 1959; Massopust & Thompson, 1962). The agranular frontal motor cortex and the lateral thalamic nuclei are similarly split four ways each for dealing individually with specialized proprioceptive inputs reaching the forebrain. When the developmentally related auditory and somatosensory representations are taken as a unit, the exteroceptively-specialized posterior granular cortex and pulvinar/geniculate complex also display a similar four-part pattern of organization. This highly stable 4-4-4 arrangement makes it exceedingly unlikely that any new values for the parameter of input specificity would be added as a result of more comprehensive parcellation of the forebrain.
The ultimate test for the dual parameter grid, however, is based upon the odds that two such widely divergent divisions of the forebrain would both be correlated to the same dual coordinate system. The cortical relay of each thalamic input category (by way of the thalamic radiations) by defi¬nition predicts an equivalent complement of input specificity units within the cortex. The identical number of age levels for both the thalamus and the cortex further suggests that only correspondingly numbered age levels are reciprocally interconnected by way of the internal capsule. Theoretically, a thalamic cell on a discrete point within the time-differentiation continuum directs its main projection to cortical cells derived during the same phylogenetic age. These evolutionary restrictions specify that only thalamic and cortical areas of identical age and input coordinates, (e.g. within the same unit square) inter¬connect via the thalamic radiations. In his studies on the human thalamus, Hassler (1959) cites a wide assortment of thalamic projections correlating consistently to the specifics predicted for the dual parameter grid. Yakolev’s (et al. l966) documentation of the cortical pro¬jections for the composite-multi-sen-sory thalamic age level further cor¬roborates these unit-square restrictions. It is this precise topographical correlation to the dual parameter grid that establishes this new paradigm as a truly accurate account of human forebrain evolution.
In summary, through the aid of this breakthrough "periodic table" for the human forebrain (employing elementary exteroceptive, interoceptive, and proprioceptive input categories) an intimately detailed pattern of correspondence can be established with respect to the instinctual principles of behavioral psychology. Here, the human forebrain formally expands upon the basic stimulus/response (sensory/motor) reflex arcs implicit within the neuraxial spinal cord and brainstem. The intermediary neurons of the neuraxis mediating interoceptive sensations interposing emotional correlates within the sequence of exteroceptive stimuli and subsequent behavioral response, as schematically reflected in the operantly conditioned sequence. The nervous system never completely replaces basic circuitry, rather further modifying it: as evident in the vast expansion of the human forebrain based upon the visual and olfactory senses. Therefore, by applying these behavioral principles on an evolutionary scale clear on up to humans, it ultimately proves feasible to propose a grand unified synthesis of behavioral psychology with its corresponding “hard science” referent in the neurosciences.
The forebrain appears to have adaptively evolved as a dedicated motivational analyzer that attaches motivational significance to exteroceptive stimuli (such as vision and hearing) in preparation for appropriate action by the motor areas that also mediate proprioceptive feedback in terms of such operantly conditioned behaviors. Indeed, this behavioral dynamic exhibits many parallels to the black-box paradigm of input/output characteristics. The human forebrain (similar to the hypothetical black-box) still hides many of its secrets; although unprecedented progress is clearly in order with respect to the dual parameter grid. The current chapter represents only the most cursory outline of the theoretical subject matter at hand, the complete body of details requiring an entire book length manuscript to adequately document (an upcoming future release). This basic outline is boldly being appended here in order to further validate the systematic dynamics and versatility of the new science of Powerplay Politics with an eye towards enhancing global peace and harmony.
APPLICATIONS TO MENTAL PROCESSES
The preceding proposed correlation linking behavioral psychology and the neurosciences offers many exciting applications on the world scene today. Although the behavioral principles underlying operant conditioning were effectively proposed as the basic conceptual foundation for the ethical hierarchy of traditional virtues and values, extending these aspects to the realm of the neurosciences appears exceedingly more problematic. The key solution resides in a general overview of the general affective language traditions, where the respective virtuous terms are specified as metaperspectival variations within an abstract linguistic matrix, something routine behavioral science technically fails to address. Indeed, mankind's unique use of conceptually abstract language implies the emergence of a subjective "I" ego manifest through conscious mental reflection. Hence, a grand scale correlation of the reflective mind to the structure of the human brain is an achievement whose time has finally come. Countless lifetimes within in the fields of behavioral and philosophical psychology have aimed for the day when the gap separating these two grand disciplines might finally be bridged. The introspective discipline of philosophy has traditionally maintained a substantial lead in the search for such a mind/brain synthesis. The philosophical tradition of reflective awareness dates at least to the classical philosophers of antiquity. In contrast, neuroanatomical research dates only to the last few centuries, the bulk of research garnered within the last 50 years. Until a century or so ago, not enough was known about overall brain function to even hazard a guess as to the foundations for human reflection, much less its particular details.
The bilateral symmetry of the paired cerebral hemispheres is clearly suggestive of this pattern of reflective interaction, although experimental verification was long in coming. In this latter respect, virtually every neocortical area is connected to its mirror image area in the opposite hemisphere by way of a large bundle of nerve fibers known as the corpus callosum. Only a few minor exceptions, such as primary visual area #17 and the sensory representations for the hands and feet, circumvent this symmetrical pattern of bilateral connectivity. This missing contribution remains insignificant compared to the estimated 200 million total nerve fibers comprising this commissure bundle, a dual-directional conductivity rated at billions of nerve impulses per second. The magnitude of this inter-hemispheric connectivity rivals even the intra-cortical pattern of connectivity connecting the various areas within a single hemisphere.
Although both hemispheres are virtually indistinguishable at a gross anatomical level, a general asymmetry in function has recently become apparent during the latter half of the last century. Based upon brain-stroke studies, it had long been widely accepted that cortical speech areas are virtually always located within the left hemisphere (thusly designated as the dominant hemisphere). Any asymmetry in hemisphere function for normal subjects, however, is obscured by the massive connectivity of the corpus callosum linking corresponding points within each hemisphere. A later therapeutic regimen of surgical sections of the corpus callosum in epileptic patients gave the first major indications of the significance of this connective-bundle in the global realm of psychological reflection. Unobstructed accessibility to the corpus callosum via the dorsal cleft separating the two hemispheres permitted the selective cleavage of this tract without damage to the adjoining cerebral structures. This surgical procedure was undertaken as a course of last resort for over a dozen epileptic patients suffering from chronic seizures intractable even to medication. Unilateral seizures were effectively blocked from passing to the opposite hemisphere promoting a marked remission of the debilitating epileptic effects. Post-operative psychological testing of certain of these patients by Sperry (and associates, 1974) clearly indicated the potential for fully independent hemisphere function. Each hemisphere in split-brain patients receives its own spatially exclusive complement of sensory input determined through the bilateral localization of spinal/brainstem tracts ascending to the forebrain. The bilateral input restrictions imposed upon each hemisphere served as the basis for the clever experimental designs for testing the reactions of each functionally isolated hemisphere. For instance, the finer discriminative aspects of the tactile sense project only to the hemisphere situated contra-lateral from the side of the body that originally had been stimulated.
This sensory specificity is exploited experimentally by placing a familiar object into either the right or left hand of the patient out of line of sight and soliciting subjective impressions. The visual system exhibits a similar pattern of bilateral specificity in that the portions of the retina directed towards the left side of the visual field project to the right hemisphere, and vice-versa. Consequently, experimental design is modified so that a picture or written information is flashed to either the left or right visual field for a scant tenth of the second so as to defeat subsequent shifts in the gaze of the subject (that would tip off the contra-lateral hemisphere). The catalogued subjective reports of test subjects during various experimental contexts have yielded quite unexpected interpretation concerning the functional interactivity linking the two cerebral hemispheres. Sperry was able to show that the two hemispheres communicated in radically different spatial and linguistic styles, verifying the traditional distinctions of dominant and mute hemispheres.
The dominant hemisphere alone communicates through verbal syntax consistent with the localization of the major speech centers within this hemisphere. Sperry estimates that the left hemisphere exhibits this dominance aspect in roughly 98 percent of the cases studied, making this left/right dichotomy virtually synonymous for most practical purposes. Likewise, the right hemisphere is invariably associated with a mute expressive demeanor consistent with its relatively more minor role. The right hemisphere communicates primarily in terms of a nonverbal, gestural mode, further suggesting its descriptive designation as the “mute” hemisphere. The verbal communication of the dominant hemisphere and the gestural expression of the minor hemisphere were experimentally shown to independently occur, their communicational styles often completely at odds with one another.
In a classic series of controlled studies on split-brain patients, Sperry demonstrated that the dominant hemisphere operates in an essentially independent fashion from the minor hemisphere. For instance, a patient was situated so that words flashed on a screen were visible only to the left or right hemisphere. The word “pencil” was projected so as to reach only the right minor hemisphere. Upon questioning, the patient reported that no word had been seen, consistent with speech localized only to the left hemisphere. Simultaneous to this verbal denial, the left hand (controlled by the right hemisphere) proceeded to a tray of objects out of line of sight, and through tactile discrimination was consistently able to select the named object. The minor hemisphere exhibited the capacity for a sentient and intelligent course of action, yet it was unable to express itself verbally.
The dominant hemisphere, in contrast, is fully capable of reporting in a first-person tense denoting the functioning of a subjective “I” ego. Being that such a verbally expressive reflective ego is posited only in the dominant hemisphere, what then is the nature of the mute intelligence located within the minor hemisphere? By all outright appearances, the right hemisphere appears impersonal in its mode of expression, an aspect suggestive of pre-reflective aspects of consciousness. Perhaps the pre-reflective aspects of the subconscious mind are localized within the minor hemisphere, just as the reflective “I” ego is specialized within the dominant hemisphere. This definition of minor hemisphere activity in terms of the subconscious experience is certainly in agreement with experimental observations. Despite good performance of the right hemisphere with respect to names of common objects, even the simplest of verbs or verbal commands are not comprehended by it. The dominant hemisphere, however, is freely expressive in terms of syntax of verbal communication, suggesting functionality primarily within an active style of temporal dimension. The sequential ordering of word concepts into syntactical statements that define past or future contexts seemingly verifies such a time-ordered reflective capability. The “I” ego, as the sum-unity of subjective perceptions, is necessarily optimized for abstraction within a temporal dimension conducive to directing the intricacies of complex tasks. The dominant hemisphere appears much less incompetent in relation to spatial tasks, suggesting that that the time-oriented dominant hemisphere is complemented by the spatially-oriented minor hemisphere, and vice versa.
According to this cursory style of analysis, it would appear that the distinctive functional characteristics of the paired human cerebral hemispheres exhibit a precise correspondence to the existential notions of the “I” ego and the subconscious mind. The results of split-brain studies indicate that the two hemispheres interact in a reflective communicational capacity, suggesting a similar relationship for the subjective constructs of the subconscious mind and the ego. The psychological deficits apparent in split brain patients suggest that information interchange between the left and right hemispheres is crucial in terms of a reflective sphere of awareness. A description of the most familiar form of reflection (Cartesian reflection) serves to illustrate how the ego emerges during the reflective process. The classical Cartesian formula: “I think, therefore I am” represents a prime example of reflection concerning the prerequisites of the “I” ego. German philosopher, Edmund Husserl, in his Cartesian Meditations, demonstrates the dual character for this reflective formula: the components of which are, I think of a proposition (P), and I am aware I think (P).
Whereas general reflection characterizes a general function of the dominant hemisphere, then a parallel form of reflection must necessarily target the minor hemisphere (owing to the two-way information potential across the corpus callosum). Husserl suggests precisely such a solution in his 1906 publication, Ideas; A General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology, where he introduces an alternate form of reflective inquiry widely known as phenomenological reduction. Husserl’s phenomenological reduction comprises two distinct sequential stages similar to the thinking and knowing phases of Cartesian reflection. The first-stage in phenomenological reduction is designated transcendental reduction or phenomenological epoche (also known as bracketing). Epoche is defined as the observation of an object as experienced in the present, disavowing any judgment concerning its enduring existence, a timeless experience. With the temporal dimension attenuated, the subconscious dictates of the right hemisphere freely develop a holistic unification of gestalt qualities entirely within the here and now. Consequently, the pictorial/pattern sense of the right hemisphere is accented, while the temporal qualities of the left hemisphere are bracketed.
The second stage of phenomenological reduction is termed eidetic reduction by Husserl, from eidos (essence). Eidetic reduction builds upon the residuum remaining from the bracketing phase, translating it into a universal essence of experience. This essential universality of our perceptions inwardly lived are eidetically actualized according to their essential possibilities within pure experience. Therefore, phenomenological reduction formally appears to mirror the ego-driven dynamics of Cartesian reflection in relation to the mirror-image symmetry linking the paired cerebral hemispheres.
In conclusion, through the breakthrough prerequisites of the dual parameter grid, a suitably effective correlation between the principles of behavioral psychology and human forebrain organization finally becomes conceptually complete. This innovation was technically proposed in terms of a common exteroceptive, interoceptive, and proprioceptive organizational dynamic for both brain and behavior. This functional correlation to behavioral principles, however, only technically applies to the organizational dynamics restricted to a single cerebral hemisphere, necessitating a further degree of functional analysis targeting the interactivity linking the paired cerebral hemispheres for ultimately explaining the linguistic and ethical aspects specified within the three-digit coding system. Through the aid of the parallel reflective concepts of Cartesian reflection and phenomenological reduction, a thoroughly adequate model of the linguistic aspects of the ethical hierarchy is finally proposed, extending its underlying behavioral foundations to a parallel correlation within the realm of the pure neurosciences. Although this cursory sphere of speculation admittedly represents the briefest of outlines for such a grand unified endeavor, the full details are ultimately reserved for an upcoming book release. This grand-scale proposal was purposely restricted to an analysis within this accessory Appendix-(A) in order to provide an intriguing glimpse of avenues towards further research in relation to the neurosciences.