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雅思閱讀模擬試題學術類（6）

The neocortex is also responsible for the process by which we decide on and commit to

particular courses of action. Strung together over time, these choices can accumulate

into feats of progress unknown to other animals. Anticipating a better grade on the

following morning’s exam, a student can ignore the limbic urge to socialise and go to

sleep early instead. Over three years, this ongoing sacrifice translates into a first class

degree and a scholarship to graduate school; over a lifetime, it can mean groundbreaking contributions to human knowledge and development. The ability to sacrifice our

drive for immediate satisfaction in order to benefit later is a product of the neocortex.

Understanding the triune brain can help us appreciate the different natures of brain

damage and psychological disorders. The most devastating form of brain damage, for

example, is a condition in which someone is understood to be brain dead. In this state a

person appears merely unconscious – sleeping, perhaps – but this is illusory. Here, the

reptilian brain is functioning on autopilot despite the permanent loss of other cortexes.

Disturbances to the limbic cortex are registered in a different manner. Pups with limbic

damage can move around and feed themselves well enough but do not register the

presence of their littermates. Scientists have observed how, after a limbic lobotomy2

,

“one impaired monkey stepped on his outraged peers as if treading on a log or a rock”.

In our own species, limbic damage is closely related to sociopathic behaviour.

Sociopaths in possession of fully-functioning neocortexes are often shrewd and

emotionally intelligent people but lack any ability to relate to, empathise with or express

concern for others.

One of the neurological wonders of history occurred when a railway worker named

Phineas Gage survived an incident during which a metal rod skewered his skull, taking a

considerable amount of his neocortex with it. Though Gage continued to live and work

as before, his fellow employees observed a shift in the equilibrium of his personality.

Gage’s animal propensities were now sharply pronounced while his intellectual abilities

suffered; garrulous or obscene jokes replaced his once quick wit. New findings suggest,

however, that Gage managed to soften these abrupt changes over time and rediscover

an appropriate social manner. This would indicate that reparative therapy has the

potential to help patients with advanced brain trauma to gain an improved quality of life.

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