György Buzsáki (1949--) The Brain from Inside Out (Oxford University Press, 2019)
Chapter 5. Internalization of Experience
Investigate the White of the Eyes
...As we discussed earlier in this chapter, cognition is a disengagement of the brain from the motor action system. Similarly, emotion can be conceptualized as disengagement from the autonomous action system. In both cases, the fundamental physiological mechanism is the corollary discharge system; in case of emotion, it is the reafference from the brain’s control mechanisms of visceral systems to the amygdala and neocortex. Although the phylogenetic roots of emotions may well be based on overt feedback from the autonomous system, more complex brains can disengage from it so that internalized feelings can occur in the absence of blushing, sweating, or pupil or respiration changes. In summary, internalization of the overt sensory feedback in the James-Lange theory can be an alternative way of conceptualizing and researching emotions.
...To recapitulate, the mirror neuron system allows us to read the intentions of others by interpreting body language. The expansion of the action system to spoken language permitted us to establish an extensive and effective communication system by interpreting speech, which can be viewed as a metaphoric form of action. The invention of language accelerated externalization of brain function, creating a collective species memory (Chapter 9).
...In other words, even small brains have elements of internal operations (“cognition”), but, as the complexity of neural networks increases, the share and efficacy of internalized computation also increases. Therefore, complex neuronal networks with numerous interactive loops in larger brains can predict the consequences of the brain's action over a much longer time scale and in more complex environments than smaller brains.
Investigate the White of the Eyes
...As we discussed earlier in this chapter, cognition is a disengagement of the brain from the motor action system. Similarly, emotion can be conceptualized as disengagement from the autonomous action system. In both cases, the fundamental physiological mechanism is the corollary discharge system; in case of emotion, it is the reafference from the brain’s control mechanisms of visceral systems to the amygdala and neocortex. Although the phylogenetic roots of emotions may well be based on overt feedback from the autonomous system, more complex brains can disengage from it so that internalized feelings can occur in the absence of blushing, sweating, or pupil or respiration changes. In summary, internalization of the overt sensory feedback in the James-Lange theory can be an alternative way of conceptualizing and researching emotions.
...To recapitulate, the mirror neuron system allows us to read the intentions of others by interpreting body language. The expansion of the action system to spoken language permitted us to establish an extensive and effective communication system by interpreting speech, which can be viewed as a metaphoric form of action. The invention of language accelerated externalization of brain function, creating a collective species memory (Chapter 9).
...In other words, even small brains have elements of internal operations (“cognition”), but, as the complexity of neural networks increases, the share and efficacy of internalized computation also increases. Therefore, complex neuronal networks with numerous interactive loops in larger brains can predict the consequences of the brain's action over a much longer time scale and in more complex environments than smaller brains.