Antonio Damasio

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Revision as of 04:25, 29 April 2008

ANTONIO R. DAMASIO, M.D. Ph.D completed his medical degree and doctorate at the University of Lisbon School in Portugal and was a research fellow at the Aphasia Research Center in Boston. He is the director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California where he studies the fundamental mechanisms of cognition and cognitive and behavioral disturbances caused by diseases of central nervous systems. Known internationally, his research in the area of neuroscience has provided a better understanding of the neural systems underlying memory, language and consciousness. His research focuses on emotions and the important role they play on social cognition and decision making. His clinical interests focus on disorders of behavior and cognition, and movement disorders such as parkinson's disease.

Honors and Awards

His honors and awards include but aren't limited to the:

Arnold Pfeffer Prize (2002)

Reenpaa Prize in Neuroscience (2000)

Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1997)

Elected into the Neurosciences Research Program (1997).

Publications

Not only has he been published in numerous journals and magazines he has also written several books including, "Decartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain" and "The feeling of what happens: Body and Emotion in the making of consciousness" and "Looking for Spinoza."

Damasio, A. R. (2000). The feeling of what happens: Body and emotion in the making of consciousness. NY: Harcourt Brace.

Damasio A. R., Grabowski T. J., Bechara A., Damasio, H, Ponto L. L. B., Parvizi J., Hichwa R. D. (2000). Subcortical and cortical brain activity during the feeling of self-generated emotions. Nature Neuroscience, 3, 1049-1056.

Bechara A., Damasio H., Tranel D., Damasio A. R. (1997). Deciding advantageously before knowing the advantageous strategy. Science, 275, 1293-1294.

Damasio A.R. (1996). The somatic marker hypothesis and the possible functions of the prefrontal cortex. Proceedings of The Royal Society, 351, 1413-1420.

Damasio A. R. (1994). Descartes' error: Emotion, reason and the human brain, NY: Grosset/Putnam

Interview with Damasio

During an interview discussing his third book he provides some information on what we now know about the nature and significance of feelings. "Now,we can speak with confidence about "what feelings are" - where they come from, how they happen, what they are made of biologically. That is why the book's subtitle is the "feeling brain." We have identified brain areas and brain pathways necessary to feel emotions. Armed with the new knowledge we can even venture to say what feelings are for. The new knowledge broadens our view of human nature. We can not really know who we are if we do not understand the brain mechanisms behind emotion and feeling - what causes emotions, what leads to feelings, how they affect our decisions, social behavior, and creativity, and where they fit in evolution." [1]

External Resources

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1580386,00.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbacW1HVZVk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agxMmhHn5G4