In his new book The Deep History of Ourselves: The Four-Billion-Year Story of How We Got Conscious Brains respected neuroscientist Joseph Ledoux reaches two controversial conclusions. He say that emotion evolved after consciousness and that emotions are not the product of natural selection. We explore these ideas and much more in this month’s episode of Brain Science (BS 161). This is the second in our four part series about the neuroscience of consciousness.

We also discuss why the term “Limbic System” has become outdated and should be avoided.

Whether or not you agree with his conclusions, I know you will find Dr. Ledoux’s ideas to be extremely interesting and thought provoking.

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Links and References:

• Joseph Ledoux’s website

• Anxious: Using the Brain to Understand and Treat Fear and Anxiety by Joseph LeDoux

• The Deep History of Ourselves: The Four-Billion-Year Story of How We Got Conscious Brains

  by Joseph LeDoux

• Brown R, Lau H, LeDoux JE. "Understanding the Higher-Order Approach to Consciousness." Trends Cogn Sci. 2019 Sep; 23(9):754-768.

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