The theory of the three brains has spawned a number of myths in the popular imagination about brain function since the 1960s: it divides the organ into a reptilian, paleemamammal and neomammial brain, but the reality is a little different from this theory. The brain is the most complex organ of the body in vertebrates: it contains between 15 and 33 billion interconnected neurons and is also the structural seat of each person’s consciousness and the source of all our unconscious decisions. about the rest of the body.
But how has this body acquired such structure and complexity, and what or what parts of the brain are responsible for each function?In the 1960s, American physicist and neuroscientist Paul MacLean tried to answer these questions by developing what he called Trinitarian brain theory. The theory is based on the idea that it is possible to identify in the human brain three different brains that would have appeared at different times of evolution.
- This scheme proposed by this theory is.
- In fact.
- Very simplistic.
- This simplicity was responsible for its non-acceptance in academia.
- In any case seems to have been popularized and captivated in the minds of the general public.
- It allowed the dissemination of several ideas that do not correspond to reality.
“Trinitarian brain theory never mentions any scientific research. It’s just a poetic picture of how the brain has evolved and works in today’s men. It’s sad to have fallen into the taste of the public and not to be right, but isn’t that completely wrong?-Paul King-
The brain has not only evolved with the addition of bits that reflect a gradual and one-way improvement as can be inferred from the MacLean model, but all the central circuits of the brain have been organized over time, which has led some of them to expand and become more complex.
In addition, the evolutionary stages do not coincide with those mentioned by MacLean: what he calls reptile brain has structures very similar to fish and amphibians, and the reptiles themselves have a limbic system and a simplified equivalent of our neocortex.
If we look for consumption and neuromarketing on the Internet, we will find a series of references to MacLean’s theory, as well as to the importance of the reptilian brain in the consumer’s purchase decision process, are these references based on the theoretical cause of activation functional of this part of the brain, what would happen from emotional responses? unconscious decisions – in the face of sensory stimuli such as a beautiful landscape, the dark color of blood or the smell of coffee.
This discourse, however, is imperfect in attributing all decisions that do not reach our consciousness to the instincts of the imaginary reptile brain; in fact, such decisions are widely disseminated by the structures of the limbic system. an important part. Moreover, in humans, instinctive and emotional decisions are also strongly linked to the whole of neocortex. More recent studies using neuroimaging techniques have already determined that most mental decisions are made by a network of very well-distributed brain areas.
A decade ago, research conducted by neurologist John Dylan Haynes found that a spike in brain activity during a decision-making period occurs 10 seconds before the outcome of the decision-making process reaches consciousness, that is, 10 seconds before people actually realize it. “Our decisions are unconsciously defaulted long before our own conscience realizes them. “The funny thing is that most of this activity took place in the rational brain, specifically in the prefrontal and parietal cortex.
Humans, as social animals, owe much of their evolutionary success to the cerebral cortex, which has developed in a way that has allowed men to relate to their fellowmen through feelings of belonging, in this way, we often unconsciously socialize through imitation behaviors. The first requirement of empathy, for example, is always “knowing how to put yourself in each other’s place”.
To think about it: when we choose to have a coffee in a particular franchise or buy clothes in a particular store, do we do it by primary instinct, such as thirst or cold protection?Or for a more complex impulse of belonging, to a group or community that is considered interesting?