The brain’s layered structure and separate wanting-liking circuits explain human misery

Evidence

Actually, according to neurologists, the brain is in effect, three distinct brains — the “reptilian brain”, which is responsible for basic survival functions, such as breathing, sleeping, eating; the “mammalian brain”, which encompasses neural units associated with social emotions; and the “hominid” brain, which is unique to humans and includes much of our oversized cortex — the thin, folded, layer covering the brain that is responsible for such “higher” functions as language, consciousness and long-term planning. … Crucially for Burroughs’ analysis, it provides an account of why humans are so endemically prone to addictive behaviour. This is because there are actually two separate circuits, one for motivation and one liking. In the latter stages of addiction, you want to consume the drug, but it is improbable that you will also like jacking up. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2325

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Harsh corporal punishment reduces gray matter in the brain’s empathy region — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 5813; Depression correlates with literal loss of neuronal connections — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 161; Neurotic structure combines environmental pressures with the individual’s own mode of reacting to them — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 299 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Harsh corporal punishment reduces gray matter in the brain’s empathy region #complicates (0.75) — , The Rod and the Child, 5813
• Depression correlates with literal loss of neuronal connections #expands (0.75) — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 161
• Neurotic structure combines environmental pressures with the individual’s own mode of reacting to them #expands (0.70) — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 299