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U.S. researchers map emotional intelligence of the brain
We tend to think of reason and emotion as being two different things, but it turns out that there may not be a choice between the heart and the head. A University of Illinois team, led by neuroscience professor Aron Barbey, has made the first detailed 3D map of emotional and general intelligence in the brain, that shows a strong overlap of general and emotional intelligence.
Reason and emotions aren’t opposites, but rather two types of intelligence or, perhaps, two aspects of one intelligence. Reason comes under the heading of general intelligence. That covers higher-order mental processes that include reasoning, attention and perception, and memory and language. Emotions are described as emotional intelligence, which takes in perceiving, immediate processing and applying emotional and social content, information and knowledge.
There are a number of theories about how general and emotional intelligence are related. One generally accepted view is that they’re associated with different parts of the brain, with general intelligence in the prefrontal cortex and emotions residing in the limbic system, which includes the hippocampus and the amygdala. However, there hasn’t been much empirical evidence to support this idea, and the Illinois study indicates that general and emotional intelligence share a great deal of brain real estate.
Relationships between general and emotional intelligence
The study was based on computed tomography (CT) scans taken of the brains of 152 US Vietnam War veterans. They were chosen because their particular type of combat-related brain injuries made them excellent subjects for mapping brain functions. Injuries due to shrapnel or low-velocity rounds were very specific, in that they affected individual brain structures and left the rest untouched. This means that any changes in emotional or general intelligence could be identified and mapped with great accuracy.
The CT scans provided the first detailed 3D map of the regions of the brain associated with general and emotional intelligence. These were then mapped against a comparison with a control group of people with undamaged brains. The subjects were then given a battery of neuropsychological tests to highlight deficiencies in general and emotional intelligence in each of the subjects, which could be mapped back to the affected areas.
“This was a remarkable group of patients to study, mainly because it allowed us to determine the degree to which damage to specific brain areas was related to impairment in specific aspects of general and emotional intelligence,” said Barbey.
According to Barbey, the results of the study showed a strong overlap both in the brain and in behavior, between general and emotional intelligence. Those subjects who had higher scores on general intelligence tests that measured neurological processes also showed better emotional intelligence scores.
CT scan showing overlaps of different general and emotional intelligence functions
“Intelligence, to a large extent, does depend on basic cognitive abilities, like attention and perception and memory and language," said Barbey. “But it also depends on interacting with other people. We’re fundamentally social beings and our understanding not only involves basic cognitive abilities, but also involves productively applying those abilities to social situations so that we can navigate the social world and understand others.”
The study also found that, generally, the frontal cortex regulates behavior, but also handles feelings of reward, attention, planning and memory. Meanwhile, the parietal cortex integrates sensory information, helps body coordination and processes language.
According to Barbey, this study will not only aid in the treatment and therapy of neurological patients, but also provides better insights into the relationship between general and emotional intelligence
The study was published in the journal Social Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience.
In the video below, Aron Barbey discusses the study.
Source: University of Illinois
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/emotional-intelligence-brain-mapped/25980/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
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Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
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2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
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