The Brains behind Mediation: Reflections on Neuroscience, Conflict Resolution and Decision-making

On September 13, 1848, an explosives charge sent a three-foot tamping iron about an inch in diameter through the head of Phineas Gage. Although Gage survived, the tamping iron, which entered just under the left eye and exited through the frontal portion of his head, destroyed his prefrontal cortex. Prior to the accident, Gage was a popular foreman of a railroad construction crew. After the accident, he was a tactless, profane, and impulsive man with a dramatically altered personality. It is through extreme examples of severe deficits in the brain that scientists were able to develop our earliest descriptions of how the brain affects behavior. Today, advances in neuroscience have given us unprecedented insights into the workings of the human brain. A great deal has been discovered in disciplines ranging from cognitive-behavioral psychology and neuropsychology to molecular biology. To what extent these discoveries impact other fields, including the dispute resolution profession, is now a hotlypursued topic. While a quick survey of recent studies of the brain produces a flood of connections to the practice of mediation, even