19TH JAMAADHUL AAKHIR 1419 - 11TH OCTOBER 1998
T H E B R A I N - LESSON 3.
ربّ اشرحلي صدري ويسّرلي أمري واحلل عُقدة مّن لُّلساني يفقهو قولي
الحمد لله ربّ العالَمين والعاقبة اللمتّقين والصّلوةُ والسّلام على رسولك سيّدنا محمّد
وأاله وأصحابه وأهل بيته وأهل طاعتك أجمعين - أمّا بعد
أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرّجيم
بسم الله الرّحمن الرّحيم
وَفِي الأرْضِ آيَاتٌ لِلْمُوقِنِينَ
51.20 On the earth are signs for those of assured Faith,
وَفِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَفَلا تُبْصِرُونَ
51.21 As also in your own selves: Will ye not then see?
وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ
51.22 And in heaven is your Sustenance, as (also) that which ye are promised.
فَوَرَبِّ السَّمَاءِ وَالأرْضِ إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ مِثْلَ مَا أَنَّكُمْ تَنْطِقُونَ
51.23 Then, by the Lord of heaven and earth, this is the very Truth, as much as the fact that ye can speak intelligently to each other.
Al-Qur'an, 51.20-23 (Adh-Dhariyat [The Winnowing winds])
The beauty of the brain lies in its incredible complexity. The Neuroscience challenge is to transform the mind boggling appreciation of the central nervous system's complexity into manageable proportions.
Continuing from last week on the same subject, we will just give you a very brief summary of what we said earlier and what we will be concentrating on:
Your brain has three main components: the Cerebrum (which consists of the Left and Right Cerebral Hemispheres), the Cerebellum and the Brain Stem. The Cerebral Hemispheres of the brain make up the largest part of your brain. The Cerebellum is the structure located behind the Brain Stem, and the Brain Stem is the lowest section of the brain and is connected to the Spinal Cord.
The central structures of the brain are the Thalamus, Hypothalamus, and Pituitary Gland. The Thalamus relays Sensory information to the Cerebrum; the Hypothalamus helps regulate body functions such as thirst and appetite, as well as sleep, aggression, and sexual behavior; and the Pituitary Gland produces hormones that play a role in growth, development, and various other physiological variables. The Pons, Medulla, and Midbrain are the three structures that compose the Brain Stem. The Ventricles are natural cavities inside the brain filled with Cerebrospinal fluid.
You would have noted in our earlier descriptions of the Cerebrum we have Left out many parts of the brain.
However, I would like to give you another Five positions in the brain which are very significant and you should be aware of them.:
Hippocampus: this plays a vital role in laying down long-term - permanent memories. the actual memories being
stored somewhere in the Cerebral cortex - probably in many places at once.
the brain can also retain images on a "short-term" basis in other ways and it can also hold them for some minutes or even hours perhaps by "keeping them in mind" - so to speak.
but inorder to be able to recall such images after they have Left one's mind or after having Left one's attention, it is necessary that they be laid down in a permanent position. And for this the Hippocampus is essential.
Damage to the Hippocampus causes a fearful condition in which no new memories are retained once they have Left the subject's attention.
Hypothalamus: this is the seat of emotion - pleasure, rage, anger, fear, despair, hunger.
Let us see the various Quranic Aayaths depicting these emotions:
فَلا تَخْشَوُا النَّاسَ وَاخْشَوْنِ وَلا تَشْتَرُوا بِآيَاتِي ثَمَنًا قَلِيلا وَمَنْ لَمْ يَحْكُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ
5.44: therefore fear not men, but fear me, and sell not my signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers.
وَلا تَهِنُوا وَلا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنْتُمُ الأعْلَوْنَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ
3.139 So lose not heart, nor fall into despair: For ye must gain mastery if ye are true in Faith.
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِنَ الأمْوَالِ وَالأنْفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ
2.155 Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere,
هَا أَنْتُمْ أُولاءِ تُحِبُّونَهُمْ وَلا يُحِبُّونَكُمْ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْكِتَابِ كُلِّهِ وَإِذَا لَقُوكُمْ قَالُوا آمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلَوْا عَضُّوا عَلَيْكُمُ الأنَامِلَ مِنَ الْغَيْظِ قُلْ مُوتُوا بِغَيْظِكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ
3.119 Ah! ye are those who love them, but they love you not,- though ye believe in the whole of the Book. When they meet you, they say, "We believe": But when they are alone, they bite off the very tips of their fingers at you in their rage. Say: "Perish in you rage; Allah knoweth well all the secrets of the heart."
إِنْ تَمْسَسْكُمْ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ وَإِنْ تُصِبْكُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَفْرَحُوا بِهَا وَإِنْ تَصْبِرُوا وَتَتَّقُوا لا يَضُرُّكُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْئًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطٌ
3.120 If aught that is good befalls you, it grieves them; but if some misfortune overtakes you, they rejoice at it. But if ye are constant and do Right, not the least harm will their cunning do to you; for Allah Compasseth round about all that they do.
الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
3.134 Those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and pardon (all) men;- for Allah loves those who do good;-
وَلَمَّا سَكَتَ عَنْ مُوسَى الْغَضَبُ أَخَذَ الألْوَاحَ وَفِي نُسْخَتِهَا هُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِرَبِّهِمْ يَرْهَبُونَ
7.154 When the anger of Moses was appeased, he took up the tablets: in the writing thereon was guidance and Mercy for such as fear their Lord.
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْرِي نَفْسَهُ ابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاةِ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ رَءُوفٌ بِالْعِبَادِ
2.207 And there is the type of man who gives his life to earn the pleasure of Allah: And Allah is full of kindness to (His) devotees.
And it is this Hypothalamus mediates both the mental physical manifestations of emotion.
There is a continuous flow of signals between the Hypothalamus and the different parts of the Cerebrum.
Thalamus: This acts as an important processing centre and relay station, and it conveys many of the nerve inputs from the external world to the Cerebral cortex.
Reticular Formation:
This is responsible for the general state of alertness or awareness involved in the brain as a whole or in different parts of the brain.
There are numerous pathways of nerves connecting these and many other vitally important areas
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا خُذُوا حِذْرَكُمْ
4.71 O ye who believe! Be Alert - Take your precautions,
** Corpus Callosum: there is another important section of the brain called the Corpus Callosum.
This is a region via which the Right and Left Cerebral Hemispheres communicate with one another.
We shall do this a little in detail when we go down the line.
The descriptions of the brain that we gave in the past few lessons gives only a sample of some of the more important parts of the brain.
I think we should wind up the section by giving a little more about the brain's organization as a whole.
The brain's different parts are classified into three Regions: taken in order – moving away from the spinal columns:
1. the Hindbrain or the Rhombencephalon
2. the Midbrain or the Mesencephalon
3. the Forebrain or Prosencephalon.
In the developing early embryo one finds these three Regions - in this order - as three swellings at the end of the spinal column. The one at the very end -
The developing Forebrain, sprouts two bulbous swellings, one on either side, which become the Cerebral Hemispheres.
The fully developed Forebrain includes many important sections of the brain - not just the Cerebrum - but the Corpus Callosum, Thalamus, Hypothalamus Hippocampus and many other parts as well.
the Cerebellum is part of the hind brain.
The Reticular Formation has one part in the Midbrain and another part in the Hindbrain.
The Forebrain is the "newest" in the sense of evolutionary development an the hindbrain is the most "ancient"
We sincerely hope that you have got some idea of the workings of the brain in a general way.
What I want to touch upon today is the central issue of consciousness as well.
Where is the seat of consciousness?
Let us do an analysis.. We find many Neurophysicians, research scientists giving us various views. The views are quite logical and very valid - but not conclusive. let us take them one by one
1. Researchers have hinted that the Cerebellum seems to be much of an 'automaton' than the Cerebrum.
Actions under Cerebellar control seem almost to take place by themselves - without having to think about them.
Say, a person starts walking - he does not become or he is not aware of the elaborate plan of the detailed muscle movements that would be necessary for controlled motion. The same may be said of unconscious of reflex actions -
removal of the Hand from a hot stove - which they say might be mediated not by the brain but by the upper part of the spinal column.
They infer that the phenomenon of consciousness is likely more to do with the action of the Cerebrum that with the Cerebellum or the Spinal Cord.
On the other Hand - we made it very clear in our previous lessons that the activity of the Cerebrum must always be a part and parcel of our awareness. Even just walking - where you may not be conscious of the detailed activity
of one's muscles and limbs - the control of this activity is largely Cerebellar, helped by other parts of the brain and Spinal Cord.
The Primary Motor Regions of the Cerebrum also seem to be involved and the Primary Sensory Regions are also involved. The pressures on the soles of one feet when walking - man may not be aware of it but the corresponding somatoSensory cortex would still be continually be activated.
Wilder Penfield – U.S.- Canadian Neurosurgeon - responsible for detailed mapping of the Motor and Sensory Regions of the human being. he says: “Awareness is not just simply with Cerebral activity.
He refers to the upper Brain Stem - consisting largely of the Thalamus and the Midbrain - actually the Reticular Formation is in this region - should be regarded as "the seat of consciousness"
He says conscious awareness or 'consciously willed action' would arise whenever this region of the brain-stem is in direct communication with the appropriate region of the Cerebral cortex. You know the Cerebral cortex where various specific sensations are being recorded - thoughts, memories or actions.
He says: supposing he stimulates the region of the Motor cortex - which causes the Right arm to move - but this would not cause the subject to want to move the Right Hand- the subject might even reach over with the Left Hand
and stop the Right arms's movement. He says that the 'desire' for movement might have to do more with the Thalamus than the Cerebral cortex. There is also an involvement of the main stem with some region of the Cerebral cortex.
Other Neurophysiologists argue - if there is such a thing as "a seat of consciousness" - it should be the Reticular Formation. Because this is responsible for the general state of the alertness.
If this is damaged - unconsciousness will result. When the brain is in a waking conscious state - the Reticular Formation is active - when there is no metabolism - when a person is asleep - this is not active.
Even where a person is dreaming - the person can also remember a dream - that means - the person has some awareness
- but... it had been observed that the normal active Reticular Formation of the brain is not active.
The ancient part of the brain is the Reticular Formation and the scientists say that for a person to be conscious is an active Reticular Formation then frogs, lizards, codfish are also conscious!
Another group scientists do not consider this argument valid.. because they ask: "what is the evidence we have that lizards and codfish do not possess some low-level of consciousness?
What Right do we have to claim - that human beings are the only inhabitants of our planet blessed with an actual ability to be aware?
Are we alone in this earth - we do not think so
Just look at a dog or a cat or even a chimpanzee, you can see it peering at you and you get the impression of a conscious presence. There is a possibility of an element of self-awareness that can be present. –
I shall discuss animal consciousness - in another lesson - it will be very interesting... Insha-allah.
Although it had not been proved - scientists feel that if the Reticular Formation is responsible for awareness then in a dream, state, there must be some form of activity even at very low levels.
Another scientist "O' Keefe" is of opinion that the action of "Hippocampus" has more to do with consciousness.
Remember the importance of Hippocampus - which is crucial to laying down of long term memories!
He says that a case can be made to the effect that : "laying down of long term memories is associated with consciousness. If this is correct, the Hippocampus would indeed play a central role in the phenomenon of conscious awareness.
There are others who hold that the Cerebral cortex itself which is responsible for awareness. Because mental activities closely associated with intelligence appear to be carried out by the Cerebrum - then surely here is that the soul of man resides! (Dolphins have Cerebrums as big as a human being's)
Many philosophers and psychologists seem to take the view that human consciousness is very much bound with the human language. It is because of our linguistic abilities that we can attain the subtlety of thinking - the very
hallmark of humanity - and the expression of our very souls. It is language that distinguishes us from the animals. It is the language that provides us the excuse for depriving them of their freedom.
We may convince others that we possess awareness of the outside world and are also aware of ourselves.
"convince" : from this viewpoint - our language is taken to be the key ingredient of our possession of consciousness.
Let us recall our previous lesson - where we stated that in the vast majority of people our language centres are just on the "Left-Hand" side of our brains - the Wernicke's and Broca's Areas. If the viewpoint that we have expressed is taken - then - it would imply that consciousness is something to be associated only with the Left Cerebral cortex and not with the Right. strangely enough - most of the Neurophysiologists are of this opinion -
but some of the scientists - say that it is a very odd view. We shall give you specific reasons - by giving you some experiments...
Now we come to Corpus Callosum and you know that the Left and Right Cerebral Hemispheres communicate through the Corpus Callosum.
There was a patient suffering from an unusual form of epilepsy - the effective treatment which the Neurosurgeons thought was to sever - remove the Corpus Callosum as a therapeutic operation.
Numerous psychological tests were given to these patients by Roger Sperry and his associates (first operations of this nature were performed on cats
- Sperry and Myers) –
Sometime after the surgery the patients were placed in such a way that the Left and Right fields of vision are presented with complete separate stimuli -
So the Left Hemisphere would receive visual information only of what was being displayed on the Right-Hand side
And the Right Hemisphere would receive visual information only what being displayed on the Left-Hand side.
Now - a picture of a pencil was flashed on the Right and a picture of a cup was flashed on the Left.
The patient said: "that's a pencil" - because the 'pencil' and not the cup would be perceived by the only side of the brain capable of speech.
He was now asked to take an object to associate with what he sees, now the Left Hand which is controlled by the Right Hemisphere which sees the cup on the Right visual cortex picked up a saucer and not a piece of paper.
As the appropriate object to associate with the cup.
The Left Hand would be under the control of the Right-Hemisphere - although incapable of speech - the Right Hemisphere would certainly perform quite complex and characteristically human actions.
Sperry and his team came to the conclusion and suggested that : 'geometrical thinking' - particularly in Three - dimensions - and also music - may
normally be carried out mainly with the "Right" Hemisphere, to give balance to the verbal and analytical abilities of the Left.
The Right brain "can" understand common nouns or elementary sentences and can carry out very simple arithmetic. This is called a split brain experiment.
The two sides of the patients - the Left and Right - seem to behave as virtually independent individuals -
Each side may be communicated separately by the experimenter - although communication with the Right side is more difficult and at a more primitive level - because of the lack of verbal ability.
Vague emotional feelings can still be passed from one side to the other - because of certain structures which are not split - such as the Hypothalamus - which is in communication with both sides.
Now we ask the question - "do we have two separately conscious individuals - both inhabiting the same body?"
This question had been a subject of much controversy -
Some have answered "yes" - while others claim "that neither side is to be regarded as an individual in its own Right.
Some would argue that the fact that emotional feelings can be common to the two sides is evidence that there is still just a single individual involved.
Another view point : only the Left-Hand Hemisphere represents a conscious individual and the Right one is an automaton.
And this view is strongly held by individuals who strongly feel that language is an essential ingredient of consciousness.
When we ask the question - a verbal question - "are you conscious?"
Only the Left Hemisphere can plead convincingly "yes"
Allah’s signs, miracles and wonders are innumerable.
The Right Hemisphere - like a dog, or a cat or a chimpanzee, might find it hard even to decipher the words that constitute the question and it may be unable to properly vocalize the answer. Yet we cannot just dismiss the issue - that lightly -
A very recent experiment of considerable was done by another Neurophysiologist - Donald Wilson and his team.
We shall refer to this split brain subject - the one whose Corpus Callosum had been removed - as a person identified by the initials P.S..
After the surgery only the Left Hemisphere could speak.
Both Hemispheres were able to comprehend speech -
Later the Right Hemisphere learned to speak also.
Evidently both Hemispheres were conscious.
Strangely enough they appeared to be "separately" conscious -
because they had different likes and desires.
the Left Hemisphere described that its wish to be a draughtsman
the Right Hemisphere vocalized its desire to be racing driver.
So the vague conclusion - that ordinary human language is necessary for thought or for consciousness is not to be believed..
The majority of the scientists agree on this and they support the side of those who believe, generally, that the two halves of a split-brain subject can be independently conscious.
The most important thing to note in P.S. is that his Right-Hand consciousness was able to actually convince others of its individual existence - because it learnt to speak -
P.S. has indeed two independent minds.
We are now presented with a remarkable situation.
Before the split-brain operation - P.S. possessed but a single consciousness-
Now there are two - in some way the original single consciousness has bi-furcated.
Have you heard of the teleportation machine of science fiction?
It is an intended means of transportation from say one planet to another. Instead of being physically transported in a space-ship in the normal way - the would be traveller is scanned from head to toe.
The accurate location and complete specification of every atom and every electron in his body being recorded in full detail. All this information is then beamed at the speed of light by an electromagnetic signal - to the distant planet of intended destination, and reassembled together with all his memories, his intentions, his hopes, his deepest feelings - every detail of the state of his brain has been faithfully recorded, transmitted and reconstructed. That means a precise duplicate of the traveller has been reassembled in a distant planet.
Assuming the mechanism has worked - the original copy of the traveller may be destroyed in the process or can be safely destroyed.
The moral question : Is this really a method of travelling from one place to another or is it merely construction of a duplicate with the murder of the original?
Supposing the travellers "awareness" is actually reawakened in the copy of himself in a distant planet, and if the original copy of the traveller were not destroyed as the rules of the games demand -would his awareness be in two
places at once?
Imagine you being told - Oh dear! the drug we gave you before placing you in the teleporter has worn off prematurely - it is a little unfortunate - but not matter - anyway you will be pleased to know that the other you – I mean the actual you has now arrived safely on Venus so we can dispose of you - because you are the redundant copy? imagine....
Anyway, if the traveller awoke to find that his allegedly actual self had arrived on Venus, there the bifurcation of his consciousness would seem to provide a paradox (that which is contrary to received opinion - apparently absurd, but may be true - self-contradictory statement).
For we may ask: "which route did his stream of consciousness 'actually' follow?"
"If you were the traveller, which one would end up as you?"
The teleportation machine is a science fiction - but P.S. is not.
Which of P.S.'s consciousness 'is' the P.S. before the operation?
Each Hemisphere would share memories of a conscious existence before the operation and no doubt, both would claim to be that person.
That may be remarkable, but it is not in itself a paradox. Nevertheless - there is something of a definite puzzle that we are still Left with.
The puzzle would become a larger puzzle - exacerbated - if somehow the two consciousness could later be brought together again.
It is totally impossible to re-attach the severed nerves of the Corpus Callosum of the individual....
But will there be a possibility - with modern day technology, where something could be done other than severing the nerves – say, these fibres could be frozen, or paralysed by drug or laser or whatever - seen their
individual personalities and then re-activate the Corpus Callosum to see what happens!
Imagine that this consciousness is you! How would it feel to have been two separate people with distinct 'selves' at sometime in the past.
I shall wind up this lesson – just to remove the over-saturation with an
Anecdote from Gulistan - Sheikh Sa'adi
A king was travelling in a boat - his slave too was with him but he had never before experienced the inconvenience of being at sea - the tossing about and all other discomforts - he began to cry - ramble - he was in hysterics -
No one was able to control him or pacify him - anger, kindness mmhmm - nothing worked- the king was also getting annoyed at the behaviour of his servant.
In that boat there was a sage seated - he asked the king "with your permission, majesty, I can quieten him"
the king gave him the permission.
He called a couple of seaman and asked them to throw the poor fellow out of the boat into the sea. They threw him into the sea. He started splattering and spluttering, swallowing the sea water and screaming in the water - then
he was caught hold of by his hair pulled when he clung onto the side of the boat with his Hands.
He was now taken into the vessel he sat in the stern of the vessel in a corner and was absolutely quiet.
The king was amazed and shocked and asked the sage what was the wisdom behind this act of his - i.e. the sage.
The sage replied:
Before he tasted the calamity of being drowned - he did not know the safety and the blessing of being in a boat. A man does not appreciate the value of immunity from a misfortune until it has befallen him. He does not appreciate the Mercy of Allah Azzawajall, until some calamity deprives him of that Mercy.
He says:
To those of paradise, purgatory seems hell -
Ask the denizens of hell - to them - purgatory is paradise.
Next week, we shall Insha Allah continue and possibly wind up the subject on the Brain.
وآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا اَن ِالْحَمْدُ لِلهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِيْن
السّلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته