Joseph E. LeDoux
Joseph E. LeDoux ( born December 7, 1949 in Eunice ( Louisiana)) is an American psychologist, a neuroscientist and professor at the Center for Neural Science at New York University.
Professional career
Research
One focus of his research is the neurophysiology of fear.
After LeDoux encounter fear -inducing stimuli on two processes in the central nervous system, both of which have their origin in the thalamus and then extend respectively along a separate route. The first process is the rapid adjustment of the stimulus with coarse stimulus patterns for categorization as dangerous or hazardous. He is described by LeDoux as emotional processing, and described as " quick and dirty". He serves his thesis (eg the run in dangerous situations ) and is prone to errors according to the preparation of fast reactions. This first route, according to LeDoux directly, without going through the cerebral cortex from the thalamus to the amygdala. The amygdala experience due habituated, so one can speak of the amygdala as emotional or implicit ( non- declarative ) memory.
The second process is called LeDoux " cognitive processing ". It serves to control the information gained during the emotional processing and is time consuming. This process begins, according to LeDoux at the thalamus ( gateway to consciousness ) and passes over the prefrontal cortex, and on a side route through the hippocampus. The hippocampus selected and coordinated the information and thus provide an explicit, declarative memory. Thus, the amygdala, the hippocampus and its surrounding cortex share ( EPPC ) embodies the declarative memory work, the memory contents even in the corresponding cortex ( visual cortex, auditory cortex ... ) are stored. The connections between the hippocampus and cortex are formed only with the fourth year of life to the full. How can content be true "emotional" saved before the age of 4, but it lacks the declarative context ( infantile amnesia).
Awards
Writings (selection )
- The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life. Simon and Schuster, New York 1996, ISBN 0-684-80382-8. German: The power of feelings. translated by Friedrich Griese. dtv, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-423-36253-7.
- German: The power of personality. translated by Christopher Trunk. dtv, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-423-34279- X.