A Government of Systems
The complex architecture of the human brain illustrates the underlying mechanisms that give rise to who we are. Our brains aren’t monolithic, but rather a complex government of neural systems. Like any bureaucracy, these specialized neural systems are hierarchical, interactive, and fluid networks that perform all of our adaptive functions-- from seeing and walking, to thinking and feeling. Each neural network has a specific set of functions, its own evolutionary history, and developmental course. Optimal brain functioning, as well as good mental health, require the proper development, integration, and communication of the various neural networks related to cognition, emotion, sensory and motor experience, and social interactions.
Biology, genetics, and our experiences combine to build the neural networks of our brains. As a result, each of us ends up with a unique neural architecture and patterns of activity reflected in our abilities, disabilities, personalities, and behaviors. Some people are born with a more active amygdala which makes them more cautious while others are more exploratory, love to take risks, and are excited to find out what’s around the next curve. Still others may have a higher number of neurons and glial cells in their parietal lobes that result in extraordinary visual-spatial and imaginative abilities. The strength of one function does not guarantee strength in another. The result is that each of us is a unique experiment of nature with distinct talents and skills, as well as inadequacies and gaps in our abilities.
The brain is a social organ and its development occurs in the context of social relationships. This begins prenatally and continues with the thousands of interactions with our caretakers which shape the neuroanatomy and biochemistry of our brains. These internal structures, in turn, influence our emotional regulation, self-esteem, and our ability to relate to others. The OMPFC-amygdala circuit is likely the neural system that serves as the core of attachment schema. The amygdala is fully matured by seven months of gestation while the cortical systems which will come to modulate and inhibit it take many years to develop. During the first year of life, the OMPFC-amygdala circuit stores our early experiences with caretakers, shaping our earliest expectations of relationships. These interactions become translated into our brains' architecture, creating a mental blueprint – attachment schema - for future relationships. Our attachment circuitry is just one set of neural networks which shape our experience of the social world.
Our brains, just like our governments, become distorted when communication becomes dysfunctional or breaks down. If our neural systems are not developing, integrating, and communicating with one another, we may observe what we understand as psychological symptoms. For example, if we don’t develop the systems needed to process the internal emotional states of another, we are vulnerable to experience others as objects and not anticipate their reactions to our behaviors (sociopathy). If messages from our bodies aren’t communicated from our insular to cingulate cortex, we may find it impossible to be consciously aware of our bodily states and our emotions (alexithymia).
In high states of arousal, our cortical executive systems may become inhibited, resulting in an ongoing dissociation among networks of thinking, feeling, sensing and behaving. This neural dissociation results in vulnerability to unregulated arousal, nightmares, flashbacks, and disconnection from others (PTSD). Not all occurrences of neural disintegration are this extreme. Most of us can relate to a state of temporary incongruence between our thoughts and feelings or disconnection between our brains and bodies that are caused by a disruption in the coordination of these systems. The delicate interplay of the networks that govern human functioning is vital in understanding ourselves and others.
This is an excerpt from Dr. Cozolino’s book The Pocketguide to Neuroscience for Clinicians.