The Origin and Nature of the Emotions; Miscellaneous PapersCrile, George Washington
Science
The Origin and Nature of the Emotions; Miscellaneous Papers
Crile, George Washington
Emotions; Psychophysiology
That the brain is definitely influenced--damaged even--
by fear has been proved by the following experiments:
Rabbits were frightened by a dog but were neither injured nor chased.
After various periods of time the animals were killed and their
brain-cells compared with the brain-cells of normal animals--
wide-spread changes were seen (Fig. 13). The principal clinical phenomena
expressed by the rabbit were rapid heart, accelerated respiration,
prostration, tremors, and a rise in temperature. The dog showed
similar phenomena, excepting that, instead of such muscular relaxation
as was shown by the rabbit, it exhibited aggressive muscular action.
Both the dog and the rabbit were exhausted but, although the dog
exerted himself actively and the rabbit remained physically passive,
the rabbit was much more exhausted.
Further observations were made upon the brain of a fox
which had been chased for two hours by members of a hunt club,
and had been finally overtaken by the hounds and killed.
Most of the brain-cells of this fox, as compared with those of a
normal fox, showed extensive physical changes (Fig. 4).
The next line of evidence is offered with some reservation,
but it has seemed to me to be more than mere idle speculation.
It relates to the phenomena of one of the most interesting diseases
in the entire category of human ailments--I refer to exophthalmic goiter,
or Graves' disease, a disease primarily involving the emotions.
This disease is frequently the direct sequence of severe
mental shock or of a long and intensely worrying strain.
The following case is typical: A broker was in his usual health up
to the panic of 1907; during this panic his fortune and that of others
were for almost a year in jeopardy, failure finally occurring.
During this heavy strain he became increasingly nervous and by
imperceptible degrees there developed a pulsating enlargement of
the thyroid gland, an increased prominence of the eyes, marked increase
in perspiration--profuse sweating even--palpitation of the heart,
increased respiration with frequent sighing, increase in blood-pressure;
there were tremor of many muscles, rapid loss of weight and strength,
frequent gastro-intestinal disturbances, loss of normal control
of his emotions, and marked impairment of his mental faculties.
He was as completely broken in health as in fortune.
These phenomena resembled closely those of fear and followed
in the wake of a strain which was due to fear.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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