Nowhere in Africa

“Body am I entirely, and nothing more; and soul is only the name of something in the body.”The body is a big sagacity, a plurality with one sense, a war and a peace, a flock and a shepherd.An instrument of thy body is also thy little sagacity, my brother, which thou callest “spirit”—a little instrument and plaything of thy big sagacity.“Ego,” sayest thou, and art proud of that word. But the greater thing—in which thou art unwilling to believe—is thy body with its big sagacity; it saith not “ego,” but doeth it.What the sense feeleth, what the spirit discerneth, hath never its end in itself. But sense and spirit would fain persuade thee that they are the end of all things: so vain are they.Instruments and playthings are sense and spirit: behind them there is still the Self. The Self seeketh with the eyes of the senses, it hearkeneth also with the ears of the spirit.Ever hearkeneth the Self, and seeketh; it compareth, mastereth, conquereth, and destroyeth. It ruleth, and is also the ego’s ruler.Behind thy thoughts and feelings, my brother, there is a mighty lord, an unknown sage—it is called Self; it dwelleth in thy body, it is thy body.There is more sagacity in thy body than in thy best wisdom. And who then knoweth why thy body requireth just thy best wisdom?Thy Self laugheth at thine ego, and its proud prancings. “What are these prancings and flights of thought unto me?” it saith to itself. “A by-way to my purpose. I am the leading-string of the ego, and the prompter of its notions.”The Self saith unto the ego: “Feel pain!” And thereupon it suffereth, and thinketh how it may put an end thereto—and for that very purpose it IS MEANT to think.The Self saith unto the ego: “Feel pleasure!” Thereupon it rejoiceth, and thinketh how it may ofttimes rejoice—and for that very purpose it IS MEANT to think.To the despisers of the body will I speak a word. That they despise is caused by their esteem. What is it that created esteeming and despising and worth and will?The creating Self created for itself esteeming and despising, it created for itself joy and woe. The creating body created for itself spirit, as a hand to its will. “

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of organs and structures inside the body

• Structural analysis

FMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging)

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) is a functional neuroimaging procedure using MRI technology that measures brain activity by detecting associated changes in blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area of the brain is in use, blood flow to that region also increases

• Functional analysis• BOLD signal: Blood-oxygen-level dependent contrast

imaging• Difference in magnetic pull of oxygen-rich and oxygen-

poor blood

Volumetric fMRI signals were processed to identify brain locations that responded similarly to the movies. For visualization the volumetric fMRI signals were projected onto a flattened representation of the neocortical sheet. Each point in the flat map was then colored to reflect similar measurements. Known functional areas are identified by white outlines, and major cortical sulci are identified by long black lines. The insets at lower left and lower right show postero-lateral views of the inflated hemispheres. Similar colors on these maps indicate brain regions that responded similarly to the film (Nowhere in Africa). Films tend to elicit similar responses from early and intermediate visual areas, and motor regions associated with eye movements (bright purple and red). Higher visual areas, areas associated with the default network and some regions of frontal cortex appear to form a separate functional cluster (yellow and orange).

My reactions to specific scenes…

Anticipation - prior expectation of an event or occurrence, sometimes accompanied by

an emotional reaction

Inferior Frontal Gyrus

• Go-no go tasks (the participant has to inhibit a prepotent response (for instance stop pressing a button when a red signal appears)

• Risk aversion• Extremely important for language production

and verb comprehension

Anticipation - Scene

Arousal - physiological activation or readiness for activity

Brain Stem

• Integrative functions (it is involved in cardiovascular system control, respiratory control, pain sensitivity control, alertness, awareness, and consciousness)

• Conduction - all information relayed from the body to the cerebrum and cerebellum and vice versa, must traverse the brain stem

• Arousal - connections extending throughout the cortex, are based on the brain's neurotransmitters, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin (originating from brainstem)

Arousal - Scene

Audiovisual perception - a single unified awareness derived from the integration of auditory and visual sensory processes when a audiovisual stimulus is present.

Emotion - a complex of psychological phenomena that involve some degree of arousal and valence (positive/negative)

Hippocampus

• Three major functions: memory/learning, inhibition, and space (perception).

• Part of the limbic system (olfactory bulbs, hippocampus, amygdala, anterior thalamic nuclei, fornix, column of fornix, mamillary body, Septum pellucidum, habenular commisure, cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, limbic cortex, and limbic midbrain areas)– Limbic system important for emotion, behavior,

motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction

Emotion - Scene

Empathy - The act of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and or

experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.

Empathy - Scene

More on Empathy…

• Brodmann area 44 (pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus) to be critical for emotional empathy while areas 11 (frontal cortex) and 10 (frontopolar prefrontal cortex) are necessary for cognitive empathy

Sadness - an emotion characterized by feelings of unhappiness, disadvantage,

loss, and helplessness.

Cingulate gyrus

• Receives inputs from the thalamus and the neocortex, and projects to the entorhinal cortex via the cingulum.

• Integral part of limbic system (emotion formation and processing, learning, motivation, and memory)

Sadness - Scene

Frustration/Anger - dissatisfaction arising from unresolved problems or unfulfilled needs.

Frustration - Scene