This chapter is outlining the core of the bioevolutionary basic principle conveyed here. It is assumed that the ‘body sense’ consisting of skin and interior receptors plays a central role in (psychological) existence, subjectively to ‘feel that you are there’. As it also has to do with basic needs of attachment and objectively, reproduction, the body sense is of central meaning to the psyche.
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As a conclusion of the previous chapters a DEFINITION of consciousness can be derived:
Consciousness is by the degree of differentiated impressions (neurons) in their weighted association-by-emotion.
In this chapter, the role of emotion will be specified.
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“The skin in common with the nervous system arises from the outermost of the three embryonic cell layers, the ectoderm. The ectoderm constitutes the general surface covering of the embryonic body. The ectoderm also gives rise to hair, teeth, and the sense organs of smell, taste, hearing, vision and touch – everything involved with what goes on outside the organism. The central nervous system .. developes as the inturned portion of the general surface of the embryonic body… The nervous system is, then, a buried part of the skin, or alternatively the skin may be regarded as an exposed portion of the nervous system.” (Ashley Montagu)
Finding the rather simple mechanism of association to make our thought system I became a little nervous. And felt turned to another method (than reading). A method recently neglected by psychologists though it is always part of any research: Introspection. The bad word ..
Do we just consist in primitive associations? What am I if all of my thinking consists of downright primitive associative processes depending on happenings in the outside world? The purely cognitive conclusion was that I could not be more than a robot. And this is actually quite close to what some psychologists have tried to convey since the late 60s when computer modelling became a favourite fling for some. The next conclusion deduced from the robot-fact clearly would have been to kill myself. What worth would there be in living being a primitive, calculable structure moping around only ruled by external circumstance? Instead of killing me I witnessed myself go on living.
Doing so I went on trying to find the source of this ‘going on’. Thought was to dismiss. What made me live (on)? An outstanding experience in my personal life came to my mind. An experience that made me feel free. It was though not totally uncomplicated my first experience of what I would call ‘real love’. So? Simple cognitive association or roboting or ‘just thought’ seemed was not my (only) nature. There was more. There was a capacity of freedom. Even without specifying psychic entity that would be. Something that I believe every single one of us is carrying at the least within their DNA. By definition: The capacity to LOVE (on).
(Back then I was quite young, and we know youth can be quite a cognitive/intellectual condition. This over-thought tendency of the psyche might be found in scientists generally complicating the matters for psychological research. People who have a overly strong emphasis on thought might tend to overly emphasize thought as a research object. But treating emotion in science can be differentiated from losing objectivity. And neglecting emotional dealings might severly research limit progress.)
So the experience of love would be included in my reasoning on the search for a ‘living’ motivation, or, justification. It also came to my mind that wise men and women come to tell this approach. Before I go on I want to state (and as we get to the very source of matters here it should be allowed) that I did not come here to fix this thing called love to any physiological matter of affairs, structures or processes. Despite what’s to come I allow this thing called love to be anything anyone wants it to be not wanting to specify it more.. than may be a spiritual experience somehow connected to the living force of our beating heart?!
Still, going on this line of seeking as a ‘researcher’ this was pointing me to the potential role of the psychic entity called ‘emotion’. Despite some approaches made elsewhere here emotion is NOT included by the term ‘cognition’ but a clearly and obviously distinct experience by those with an active capacity to have it – 'non-over-cognitives'. Of course, emotions and cognitions (thoughts) are interacting (normally).
Going further as psychologist meaning also materialist, natural scientist, I wanted to seek what it was or what its origin was in the concretest terms. What is emotion in concrete? What is love in concrete?
Body contact.
In the most general terms. To make it short here it is meant a sort of body contact that is experienced in some way as positive by the involved. Also ‘hate’ may be connected to bodily sentiments. This leads to a conception of emotion made by some drafting bodily sentiments as the base of (experiencing) emotion. The logic here is in line with that. As our body, and body sentiments are the basic mediator of all our basic needs, like love, food, motion, health, warmth, security.. .
These basic needs and at the same time basic terms of evolutionary purpose are to be fulfilled, in the beginning by our parents and social network, later we may have capacities to seek their fulfillment on our own and together with partners.
The scientist Kerstin Uvnäs-Moberg recently brought the mighty role of a positive, love related physiological system up to the scientific platform whereas before the focus rather lay on the (sometimes more obvious because problem-related) system of fight and flight. The new approach signifies a complement basic system of behaviour and brings a rebalancing of psychological matters in terms of a ‘positive Psychology’. (Knowing about the 'self-fullfiling prophecy' it is pragmatic to always conceptualize psychological affairs in optimistic terms poiting only to positive behavioural alternatives.)
The positive behaviour system is based on a physiological behaviour system to mediate processes of cooperation, bonding (attachment), sexuality, and brood care. So it is a system active over the whole life span or cycle. Once established in a certain way it may hold itself up even over generations by the interaction of experience and DNA. Furthering our explicit knowledge about this gives us the chance to intervene in disturbing situations. Yet, a situation that developed over years might need some time and care to be turned in some way. And this is always concerning a system/group of people tending to interact in their learned way holding up their ‘conditions’.
The positive physiological system is mediated by the neurohormone oxytocin that is prompted by touch, warmth, pressure, vibration, on the body through skin. These actions mediate as well as enhance, as indicated by subjective and objective measures, healthy hormone release/protein, relaxation, well-being, neuronal and body growth (in children) and metabolic processing in general. Oxitocin has analgetic effects in general, and to note, during delivery/’labour’!.
The release of oxytocin and dopamine in the brain is originated in vibrant skin stimulation such as caressing, hugging.. and comes also with sexual arousal and orgasm. Apart from this probably highest to be experienced pleasure on a subjective level what happens in the body is that oxytocin will be released to flood the brain with a lasting beyond the moment effect. It may serve to embed (and make) an integrated psychic functioning. It also seems that oxytocin might correspond rather to general well-being and relaxation, whereas dopamine might parallel genuine pleasure or reward. Also we know that the circuits of both are interacting.
The sexual climax can be seen as both an objective and subjective vehicle to make life and love in the human flourish. Why do we live on? Because it’s nice. Because we are able to feel well-being and high emotions! Tenderness, joy.. lust, passion! love!
The positive physiological behaviour system makes totally sense in terms of a positivistic interpretation of Darwin’s ideas:
"(Darwin on his term ‘fight for survival’) ..first I want to point out the fact that I am using this expression in a sense where not only the life of the individual is included but moreover their success as to the creation of a new breed."
It means that not only it is important to fight an enemy or have the greatest abilities/succes, but that we need social abilities to reproduce and educate a breed with faculties to love on, themselves.
(Strategies of survival and reproduction may also depend strongly on actual living conditions of the individual, looking at the different living conditions in the world.)
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“The skin may be regarded as an exposed portion of the nervous system.” (Ashley Montagu)
When the child is born it doesn’t have a concept system and conscience like an adult (not meaning to say it would not feel or have an amount of different from adult consciousness). Accordingly wide spaces of the brain are still un(der)developed. Concepts and according nervous tissue of the different senses in the brain and also association networks are to be constructed to a huge amount during the first three years of life. Only then is it that our capacity to remember sets in. Consciousness is going with the ability to memorize and the establishment/growth of the neocortex. This is paralleling the establishment of cross-modal association (thought) according experience (see chapters ‘covariation’, ‘association’, also ‘contrast’).
The body that was before kept 'safe' and warm in the liquid of the mother’s womb now outside the body much only depends on touch of the skin and the body being held to ‘orientate’ itself and ‘feel’ safe. The different contact forms may bring with them by evolution the well-being of the child, like holding, caressing, carrying, breast feeding,… . Closeness means protection for the baby. The way a baby is cared for (and can/might hardly remember explicitly or report at that time, or later) may strongly impact their present and future well-being as an adult and their ways of interacting, communicating and attending to things in the world. (Not meaning to say it could not be subject to change later by certain inherent seeking behaviours and/or (according) new experiences.)
A child that is born may depend to the strongest degree on being held, on body contact to its bonders because all senses apart from touch are at this point still rather inactive. Right after birth the brain regions of all senses are minor apart from the somatosensory cortical tissue! Also the motion and motivation spaces motor cortex, cingular cortex and hippocampus are already notably strong. The cortical areas of the other senses that stand for representations in the mind (thoughts) are still un(der)developed.
Interestingly it was shown that skin-to-skin-contact with the baby by both parents will soon further the communication of the whole family (bonder-baby, bonder-bonder). A permanent total lack of contact on the other hand leads to the death of the baby child as old investigations in children’s home imply. Also a great lack of contact leads to body growth inhibition and psychic retarding. Pivotal seems to be the act of hugging: the caressing or holding of the torso. So, it is important contacting the ‘center-body’, giving positive and lively contact to the stomach and back by the arms and body of the caregivers.
Those children whose parents permanently avoid holding their child close to their own body become unbalanced to a degree where they show aggressive behavior towards their parents. In a classical study by Harlow it became obvious that the faculty to lean and wrap around a body-like torso (even inanimate) serves the survival of the individual (ape) whereas lack thereof leads to death after 5 days. Though their approach is highly diputable and might be not be undertaken any more, such study has shown us the mighty importance of the faculty to lean the body against another body, to stay in the world.
A lot of investigation might be possible without doing harm to a human or animal. We might need more studies to learn about our body sense. But we have impressive work already done pointing unambiguously at the crucial role of body contact for psychological well-being. One of them is a study that shows the relaxing and also analgetic effect of stomach stimulation through so induced oxytocin release in the rat:
“When given the massage the rat was held across the scapula and neck region. The trunk was stroked 50-75 times in 30-45 minutes on both lateral sides simultaneously, alternating with the ventral and dorsal side until the rat was hanging limp.”
We have data also towards according mechanisms in the human making for our positive physiological, ‘love-system’. For instance, women who report frequent and regular embraces in their relationship show significantly heightened oxytocin levels in their blood. Body contact has positive effects on blood pressure and heart rate and is furthering healthy proteins in the body. This leading to better health for people in relationships compared to singles. Also, Oxytocin lowers birth pain. This is supported also by so-called 'Doulas' practices.
Notably, concerning psychological 'off-balance conditions' Uvnäs-Moberg found a relation of lack in oxytocin and high intend in suicide attempters.
Another line of research comes from the professor of psychology Temple Grandin. Being diagnosed as autistic she denotes the relaxing effect of self-controllable torso-stimulation for autist people. Autist children wrap themselves up in carpets or put their body’s under heavy blankets or matrasses. Respectively, Grandin developed a 'hug-machine' that would help her relax and get used to body stimulation. Using this device even helped her to finally be comfortable hugging humans which before she was oversensitive to. The aplicability of the hug machine yet might differ between individuals. There also 'normal' persons that find relaxation by this.
- A movie designates Grandins work, and her neat scientific approach of gathering as much information as possible to find out about the state of things. She shows us how flourishing scientific progress is based on an ongoing cycle of experience, open reflection, logic and trial. As Sherlock Holmes, and Grounded Theory, put it: We are to collect facts to build (preliminary) theories of a matter, rather than putting up theories, and building the data around them. Hypthesizing and 'playing around' are crucial to a healthy science. Also, they are not a danger if we keep in mind that we never have a final truth but are in a 'process' towards the 'truth'. -
Concerning Autism, establishing the habit of massage in families is another method to to strenthen the familial system by furthering the well-being both for children and their parents.
Ways of interacting have been shown to be transmitted through generations, by action and gene. We now know that our behaviour is fed back to and inscribed in our genes. So, a genetic and familiary predisposition might be ‘harder’ to be changed as both strenthen each other. Yet, knowing that our behaviour will if repeated finally be integrated genetically can strengthen our thriving knowing it will finally be rewarded. And once achieved it will be hard to transform and easy to perform in the same way as the unhealthy behaviour from before.
So, the pivot here is the assertion of positive body contact throughout the life span mediating psychological well-being and appropriate cognitive processes, and at the same time the evolutional ‘goal’ of reproduction in general.
It is important to note that a middle degree of contact and coordination of the expressions/actions of both partners seems to be best. (As one could assume till here that the more contact the better which is not the case.) Investigations by Beatrice Beebe and Mary Ainsworth show that a mean amount of coordination between the communicating partners (here mother and child) is optimal. In this way free spaces for the unfolding of both outside the specific bond, towards the world, will be assured. Ainsworth is calling this ‘exploration’. Beebe is using the suitable term of a 'loose coupling' to signify the balance of bonding and exploration, or, flexibility, or, degrees of freedom in a close relationship.
On the other hand, lacking body contact can have devastating effects on the human. Yet again, there can be an overdose of contact. And it is important, that is a positive kind of stimulation. Hertenstein found out more about this. Also, different kinds of contacting convey different kinds of messages. Also it is clear, that hurting contact like beating, too strong a grip or others are negative for the human. But also static, unlively contact is conceived as negative speaking of rigidity rather than flexibility, or, loose coupling, or, freedom.
A crucial dimension of human body contact is intimacy. What’s this? Despite the fact that nice body contact has a positive connotation in general, in reality it is not shared inflationary between anyone any place at least in most western cultures. The reasons for this will not be discussed here in length. It is to be mentioned that closeness and contact also includes a danger of damage to the integrity of the body and so, soul. That is why here also a middle way of action in approaching between strangers serves best. Morris for example identifies different steps of approaching of romantic partners. So the first step are more distal like watching, then taking the others hand, getting closer and closer. Also intimacy may be connected to a tendency of exclusivity of the chosen partner(s) and happening rather in somehow private circumstance in general. So intimacy may also depend strongly on security, on a ‘safe’ space to let go.
The complexity of this not to be discussed in length here it seems to make sense that building trust and showing of sensitivity are important steps towards getting closer. This might concern different types of interpersonal relationships. The manifold qualities, also negative and abusive types of body contact are not discussed here. Body contact communicates. This is in interpersonal relationships of different type.
The somatosensory system is active first in a human live plus important subcortical structures for emotion and motivation, notably the hippocampus. The other senses are added rather further on. This is also indicated by a research field named ‘embodied cognition’. If we look at phrases, words we use for certain concepts and also emotional states, all too often we find that they seem to come from somatosensory experiences (‘tough’ experience, ‘easy going’ person,..). In one interesting study by Bargh et al. it was shown nicly how bodily experiences shape our opinion or estimation of situations. For example sitting in a soft chair while reading a description of someone would rather lead to rating them as more sociable.
We have indications towards the prerogative of the body sense in gating and orchestrating cognition. Hassler points out that touch and balance play the main role in activating neocortical patterns/areas by the thalamus. Adrian found that tactile stimulation is the only kind not to be habituated in the hippocampus. See more about this below. Early rat handling leads to specific effects in the hippocampus which in turn regulates spacial orienting and immune function and stress response. There are interesting findings from rat studies that must be seen as useful hints.
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What is this all meaning to say taken together with the ideas from the other chapters on contrast, concepts and association? It is crucial to note the intertwined construction of concept system and bodily interaction-patterns, the first relying on the quality of the second. The positive (or negative) values of certain contact forms and their amount will serve to ‘condition’ certain values to associated sensual input, concepts, to make life goals in the human. Here we can simply insert the internal working model as a central useful concept (Bowlby).
Giving the child and adult a system of orienting in the world (that can also happen to be 'dysfunctional'). The central thesis of the approach made here is that all our striving is, sooner or later, (originated and) directed towards receiving love. Intermediately: to maintain a condition of suscebtibility for that. That means whether you are making yourself a sandwich, trying to paint the most touching peace of art or doing science… you might find, that the bottom of it is (at the same time source and strive to) love!
Surely, we love to do things just for themselves, for the fun of it. This might concern the explorative, world oriented part of our being and bonding as shown by the work of Mary Ainsworth. Still, it seems that a basic amount of love, appreciation and closeness will always be the fundament to start any ambitious or fun enterprise. A lack of body contact makes the little ape unexploring, developing strange behaviour, inactive, ill (Harlow).
Depressive states are thought here to result from a discoordination or lack of relational interaction and appreciation with our most important bonders (parents or/and partner). The adult may have the capacity to bridge times without close relationships rather than a child would or could handle it. Also, adults can rely more on intermediate support given by language/approval. Still, longer periods without love might not be our destiny to stay happy alive.
As to somehow find out more about these assumptions an investigation of the effects of bodily stimuliation on the brain was conducted. In this investigation three aspects of a hug were modelled technically: warmth, torso-pressure, and softness. So one group of participants got all these three stimuli over a short period of time, the other group did not get them. While and after the input was given we recorded the EEG. First a short introduction to the existing knowledge.
Research indicated that different types of waves or rhythms in the EEG may parallel different psychic processes and also states of consciousness. So there is the faster gamma rhythm that goes together with close attention to a present item. There are other rhythms too. Much of interest here seems to be the theta and the alpha-rhythm. As for theta it is found as the grounding rhythm in animals, and also, in children (turning more and more to alpha ground rhythm with growing age). Theta appears in animals while orienting and also grooming. In adult humans larger amounts of theta are found in soldiers but also in other people while conducting difficult tasks that need concentration.
Alpha is the ground rhythm in adult humans. It appears in the EEG with closed eyes relaxed state. Also it was noted that it seems to go together with ‘nonchalant’ states of mind where an individual is relaxed about the outcome of their action (for example while doing arithmetics). We know that in apes the habit of grooming came up and at the same time the ability to relationships much like friendship and cooperation that don’t exist in lower animals but also in humans. At the same time a significant rise of relative neocortical volume can be measured in these animals compared to the lower ones. And also, at the same time, the amount of alpha waves is increased in these animals. Also we know that alpha goes together with associative semantic memory (of the neocortex).
In geneal it seems that theta has to do with the integritiy of the body/being and so ‘emotional’ value. Whereas alpha seemes to stand more for a relaxed and secure state of psyche where the immediate link of sensory input and action is not urgent.
According the approach here, the very origin of emotion always lies in body perception and bodily integrity and needs. Emotion means ‘to move out’. It is the pivot of perceiving and acting. With growing relative proportion of the neocortex and also alpha rhythm a sense of relaxation and ability to delay rewards or actions is coming. As might be the ability to have the goal in mind yet being able to postpone action. This is what children are not rather able to and soldiers should not do. Theta might have to do with excitation and immediate ‘reward’ of some kind whereas alpha seems to stand for more sovereign attitude.
Interestingly theta seems strongly connected with the subcortical brain structure of the hippocampus. As we know the hippocampus is important for explicit memory (thought) and reward. Alpha is rather seen as originated in the thalamus performing a gating function of all sensory input towards the neocortex. This is very interesting for us here.
The thalamus has unspecific cores that are grouped around specific cores (groups of neurons). The unspecific cores conduct the activation of differentiated cortical spaces and suppressing others at the same time. These unspecific cores base on input of all the senses but mostly on inputs of touch and the sense of balance. Die activation of these cores happens totally independently of the neocortex and happens in delay. Adrian found, that only one tactile stimulation led to a serial of alpha waves in the thalamus. These did just have the frequency of the 10 Hz alpha ground tonus and they went by thalamo-cortical pathways to the cortex. So alpha seems to be connected in a special way to tactile input, and concerting neocortical activation. These are the ways of attention according the here proposed view of psychic matters.
In an investigation three facets of body contact, more specifically, of an embrace (based on findings by Uvnäs-Moberg) where modelled in a rather technical way. There are different reasons for avoiding an interpersonal design. The facets modelled were: pressure to stomach (pressing a tissue around one's own body), warmth (warm water bottle) and softness (soft blanket an chair). So, there where two groups, one group had all the three stimuli in combination, the other had none of them. Again, there are reasons for this, and limitations to account for. The movement of the arms was controlled for. Each participant was recorded on EEG in a solo session. A logistic regression analysis was performed leading to significant results in trials with low load. Here, a shift to the right hemisphere of alpha and theta band was found in the group with body stimuli. This is despite the fact of small sample (N=42) and very short experiment of about 10 minutes. As designated by Shore the right hemisphere is especially concerned with and connected to limbic and bonding functions in children and adults. Devinsky points to the right brain as most important for psychic processes concerning at the same time body feel, conscioussness, and self.
[description of research soon to be added!]