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
The injection of adrenalin causes striking brain-cell changes:
first, a hyperchromatism, then a chromatolysis. Now if adrenalin
caused these changes merely as a metabolic phenomenon and not as a
"work" phenomenon, then the injection of adrenalin into the carotid
artery of a crossed circulation dog would cause no change in its
circulation and its respiration, since the brain thus injected
is in exclusive vascular connection with the body of another dog.
In our experiment the blood-pressures of both dogs were recorded
on a drum when adrenalin was injected into the common carotid.
The adrenalin caused a rise in blood-pressure, an increase
in the force of cardiac contraction, increase in respiration,
and a characteristic adrenalin rise in the blood-pressure of both dogs.
The rise was seen first in the dog whose brain alone received adrenalin
and about a minute later in the dog whose body alone received adrenalin
(Fig. 59). Histologic examinations of the brains of both dogs
showed marked hyperchromatism in the brain receiving adrenalin,
while the brain receiving no adrenalin showed no change.
Here is a clear-cut observation on the action of adrenalin
on the brain, for both the functional and the histologic
tests showed that adrenalin causes increased brain action.
The significance of this affinity of the brain for adrenalin begins
to be seen when I call attention to the following striking facts:
1. Adrenalin alone causes hyperchromatism followed by chromatolysis,
and in overdosage causes the destruction of some brain-cells.
2. When both adrenal glands are excised and no other factor
is introduced, the Nissl substance progressively disappears from
the brain-cells until death. This far-reaching point will be taken
up later (Fig. 60).
Here our purpose is to discuss the cause of the brain-cell changes.
We have seen that in crossed brain and body circulation trauma
causes changes in the cells of the brain which is disconnected
from the traumatized body by its circulation, but which is
connected with the traumatized body by the nervous system.
We have seen that adrenalin causes activation of the body connected
with its brain by the nervous system, and histologic changes in
the brain acted on directly by the adrenalin, but we found no notable
brain-cell changes in the other brain through which the products
of metabolism have circulated.
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