PROF. LADD ON BODY AND MIND

Neuropsychiatry: grasping the body-mind and mind-body problems.

I f the brain is the most complicated material object in the known universe, the mind is its most wondrous product (1). Precisely how the brain generates mental events is an unsolved mystery. The field of neuropsychiatry concerns itself with psychopathology caused by structural brain disease, brain electrical malfunction, and extrinsic toxic metabolic disturbances. As such, neuropsychiatry is i...

Spinoza on Mind, Body, and Numerical Identity

Spinoza claims that the mind and body are “one and the same.” But he also claims that the mind thinks and does not move, whereas the body moves and does not think. How can we reconcile these claims? As a way of sharpening the challenge, let’s restate it as a puzzle involving Spinoza’s favorite philosophical character: Peter. Suppose that Peter woke up one morning and decided to go for a run. Le...

Mind and Body

We are still far from full understanding of the precise relations of mind and body in health or in illness : and as often in medicine, the study of the latter may lead to more knowledge of the former. Developments in this field are therefore of interest not only to the doctor, but to the student of sociology, and certainly to anyone concerned with mental health. Work has been proceeding for yea...

Mind and Body

Taking a bite of a Granny Smith apple releases a torrent of sensory experiences—a tart tang on the tongue, a savory smell in the nose, a crisp crunch at the ear, a firm feel in the hand, a chartreuse color at the eye. This bite also releases a torrent of neural activity in multiple areas of the brain. It is natural to ask: What is the relation between sensory experiences and neural activity? Th...

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