António Damásio is a renowned neurologist that researches emotions and their influence in the cognitive process. Contrary to popular notions, he argues that emotions do not get in the way of rational thinking; emotions are essential to rationality.
"For instance, people with damage to the ventro-medial part of the pre-frontal cortex (VMPFC) may be able to perform to a high level on most language and intelligence tests, but they display gross defects of planning, judgement and social appropriateness. Damásio’s group have shown that these defects in patients with VMPFC damage are caused by their inability to respond emotionally to the content of their thoughts."
The root of consciousness is a inner-directed attention." Damásio argues that consciousness is based upon an awareness of the ‘somatic’ milieu, and that awareness of inner states evolved because this enables us to use somatic states (ie. emotions) to ‘mark’, and thereby ‘evaluate’, external perceptual information."
"It seems that Damásio’s work stands at the very heart of our attempts to understand what it is to be distinctively human, and to be a human among other humans."
