Reply to comment

Behavior and the brain are so deeply interconnected in ways that scientists can’t always explain. I read an article from last week about addiction in the New York Times titled, “Damage to part of the brain appears to end urge to smoke.” The article described how a man who suffered a stroke, and consequently damage to a portion of his brain, lost all desire to continue smoking. It had nothing to do with wanting to quit because of his health; he simply didn’t feel the urge. Scientists conducted a study regarding this case and several others just like it and they found that addictive behaviors show origins nestled in a specific region, the insula. It’s been linked not only to smoking but to all addictive behaviors. I find it interesting to think that the output functions for all addictive behaviors can be wrapped up in one designated location of the brain. As I read this article, I was thinking about our class discussion on input-output systems, and how does this situation fit into the input-output spaghetti-bowl or box inside box models. I wonder if all addictions are processed the same way within the brain, because they share a common origin and show similar signs of activity on MRI tests. If this were true then this could be an example where the same input of information leads to two separate outputs. The same addictive signals processed in the brain could potentially result in one person smoking a cigarette and another biting their nails. This variation on outputs fits into our discussion on the individual and how the 10^12 + neurons in our brains create the individual person with unique learned and innate behaviors that we are.