As we saw, without the dlPFC, the metaphorical superego is gone, resulting in individuals who are now hyperaggressive, hypersexual ids. But without a vmPFC, behavior is inappropriate in a detached way. This is the person who, encountering someone after a long time, says, “Hello, I see you’ve put on some weight.” And when castigated later by their mortified spouse, they will say with calm puzzlement, “But it’s true.” The vmPFC is not the vestigial appendix of the frontal cortex, where emotion is something akin to appendicitis, inflaming a sensible brain. Instead it’s essential.64 It wouldn’t be
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One of the coolest synergies between philosophy and science i have ever read
