PSY BEH 11A Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Antonio Damasio, Phineas Gage, Oliver Sacks

• School: UC-Irvine
• Department: Psychology and Social Behavior
• Course: PSY BEH 11A
• Professor: Bruce Berg

Document Summary

The human brain is the seat of our mental life, the material basis of all psychology: change in brain (e. g. , via drugs or trauma) can cause change in psychology. Aristotle thought the function of the brain was to cool the blood: however, modern brain scans and prescription drugs confirm importance of brain to mind and behavior. Antonio damasio, des(cid:272)artes" error (1994: phineas gage, railway construction worker who miraculously survived an accident explosion that drove an iron rod straight through his head, yet damage to brain permanently altered personality and cognitive capacities. Neuropsychology: field that seeks to understand the mind by studying people with brain injuries. Oliver sacks, the man who mistook his wife for a hat (1985: dr. p. Patient with visual agnosia, a neurological condition that leaves him unable to recognize even familiar faces and objects (cid:894)e(cid:454)(cid:895) a (cid:396)ose is a (cid:862)(cid:272)o(cid:374)(cid:448)oluted (cid:396)ed fo(cid:396)(cid:373) (cid:449)ith a li(cid:374)ea(cid:396) g(cid:396)ee(cid:374) atta(cid:272)h(cid:373)e(cid:374)t(cid:863) Oli(cid:448)e(cid:396) a(cid:272)ks, (cid:862)the tale of the dise(cid:373)(cid:271)odied lad(cid:455)(cid:863: christina.