Mystery of the Mind: A Critical Study of Consciousness and the Human Brain

157 Pages·2015·6.7 MB·English

by  Wilder Penfield

The Mystery of the Mind
Books by Wilder Penfield
Scientific Studies:
Cytology and Cellular Pathology of the Nervous System,
Editor, 1932.
The Cerebral Cortex of Man (with T. B. Rasmussen),
1950.
Epileptic Seizure Patterns (with K. Kristiansen), 1950.
Epilepsy and the Functional Anatomy of the Human Brain
(with H. Jasper), 1954.
The Excitable Cortex in Conscious Man, 1958.
Speech and Brain Mechanisms (with L. Roberts), 1959.
Historical Novels:
No Other Gods, a story of Abraham, 1954.
The Torch, a story of Hippocrates, 1960.
Biography:
The Difficult Art of Giving, The Epic of Alan Gregg, 1967.
Essays:
The Second Career, 1963.
Science, the Arts and the Spirit, 1970.
yr eethsTyM fo edhntiM
A Critical Study of
Consciousness and the Human Brain
yb redliW ,dleifneP ,.M.O ,.B.TTIL ,.D.M .S.R.F
Foreword by Charles W. Hendel
Introduction by William Feindel
Reflections by Sir Charles Symonds
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright ' 1975 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Guildford, Surrey
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data will
be found on the last printed page of this book
This book has been composed in Linotype Times Roman
Printed in the United States of America
by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
First Princeton Paperback printing, 1978
Dedicated to
Sir CharlesS herrington, O.M., F.R.S.
physiologist and pioneer-explorer
of the nervous system

Contents
Preface ix
Foreword by Charles W.H endel, philosopher xvii
Introduction by William Feindel, neuro­
surgeon xxiv
1 · SherringtonianA lternatives—TwoF unda­
mental Elementso r Only One? 3
2 · To Consciousness the Brain Is Messenger 7
3 ·N euronal Action within the Brain 11
4 ·S ensory and Voluntary-Motor Organization 14
5 ·T he IndispensableS ubstratumo f
Consciousness 18
6 · The Streamo f ConsciousnesEs lectrically
Reactivated 21
7 · Physiological Interpretation oaf n Epileptic
Seizure 28
8 ·A n Early Conceptiono f Memory Mechanisms
—And a Late Conclusion 31
9 * The InterpretiveC ortex 34
10 · An Automatic Sensory-MotoMr echanism 37
11 ·C entrencephalic Integration anCdo ordination 44
12 · The HighestB rain-Mechanism 46
13 ·T he Stream ofC onsciousness 49
14 · Introspectionb y Patient and Surgeon 51
15 • Doubling of Awareness 55
16 · Brain asC omputer, Minda s Programmer 57
viii • Contents
17 • Wh atht eAutom Mateiccha nCisa mnDo 60
18 • Recapitulation 62
19 • Relatio nos fMhiipn tdo Brain —CAase
Example 67
20 • Man B'seing —ChAo iBceetw eTewno
Explanations 73
21 • Comprehensibility 83
Reflect bio ySns irChar lSeysmonds,
neurologist 91
Aftertho ubg ythh teAsuthor 102
16 1
Bibliography
Index 119
Preface
I began this writing when I was called upon to prepare
an address forth e annualg eneral meetingo f the Ameri­
can Philosophical Societhye ld in Philadelphia, April 21,
1973, undert he chairmanship oFf rancis Schmitt. It was
subsequently elaboratead month later for the HansB er-
ger CentenniaSl ymposium onB rain-Mind Relationships
at the Montreal NeurologicalI nstitute.
When I reviewed the functional mechanismso f the
human brain that could now be clearly recognized,I
realized that the time had come to apply this knowledge
in a modern reconsiderationo f the nature of the mind.
I could not myself refuseto accept this exciting challenge,
and soI turned away from other writing to the prepara­
tion of this monograph.
A PILGRIMAGE
Since I becamea neurosurgeonI, have always beenc on­
cerned primarily,o f course,w ith the problemo f one pa­
tient after another,a nd patients prompted many an in­
quiry. The patient continuedt o be in the foregroundo f
my concern,b ut in the backgroundth ere wasa n urge to
exploration. It hadb een awakeneidn me first, I suppose,
by the Professor ofB iology at Princeton,E . G. Conklin.
A Uttle later, while listening toth e lectures ofS ir Charles
Sherrington,a s a medical studenti n Oxford, I realized
that there was a thrilling undiscoveredc ountry to be
explored in the mechanismso f the mammaliann ervous
system.T hrough it, one might approacht he mystery of
the mind, if only one could deawl ith the humanb rain as
Sherrington had analyzetdh e reflexes oft he animal brain.