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
(_a_) Fever is produced when animals are subjected to fear without
any consequent exertion of the skeletal muscles.
(_b_) The temperature of the anxious friends of patients will rise
while they await the outcome of an operation (Fig. 63).
(_c_) The temperature and pulse of patients will rise as a result
of the mere anticipation of a surgical operation (Fig. 64).
(_d_) There are innumerable clinical observations as to the effect
of emotional excitation on the temperature of patients.
A rise of a degree or more is a common result of a visit from
a tactless friend. There is a traditional Sunday increase
of temperature in hospital wards. Now the visitor does not bring
and administer more infection to the patient to cause this rise,
and the rise of temperature occurs even if the patient does
not make the least muscular exertion as a result of the visit.
I once observed an average increase of one and one-eighth degrees
of temperature in a ward of fifteen children as a result of a Fourth
of July celebration.
Is the contribution of the brain to the production of heat due
to the conversion of latent energy directly into heat, or does
the brain produce heat principally by converting its latent energy
into electricity or some similar form of transmissible energy which,
through nerve connections, stimulates other organs and tissues,
which in turn convert their stores of latent energy into heat?
According to Starling, when the connection between the brain
and the muscles of an animal is severed by curare, by anesthetics,
by the division of the cord and nerves, then the heat-producing power
of the animal so modified is on a level with that of cold-blooded animals.
With cold the temperature falls, with heat it rises. Such an animal
has no more control over the conversion of latent energy into heat
than it has over the conversion of latent energy into motion.
Electric stimulation done over a period of time causes brain-cell changes,
and electric stimulation of the muscles causes a rise in temperature.
Summary of Brain-cell Studies
In our crossed circulation experiments we found that neither waste
products nor metabolic poisons could be considered the principal
cause of the brain-cell changes. We found that in the production
both of muscular action and of fever there were brain-cell changes
which showed a quantita-tive relation to the temperature changes
or to the muscular work done. We observed that under deep
morphinization the febrile response or the muscular work done was
either diminished or eliminated and that the brain-cell changes were
correspondingly diminished or eliminated. We found also that brain-cell
changes and muscular work followed electric stimulation alone.
I conclude, therefore, that the brain-cell changes are work changes.
We shall next consider other organs of the kinetic system in their
relation to muscular activity, to emotion, to consciousness,
to sleep, to hibernation, and to heat production.
The Adrenals
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