References to dopamine and the left hemisphere in 'the Master and His Emissary'

  • References to dopamine and the left hemisphere in 'the Master and His Emissary'

    Posted by Matt Dorsey on October 16, 2022 at 11:20 pm

    In ‘the Master and His Emissary’, Dr. McGilchrist mentions that dopamine tends to preferentially activate the left hemisphere on several occasions. Here are all the passages I could find:

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    Neurochemically the hemispheres differ in their sensitivity to hormones (for example, the right hemisphere is more sensitive to testosterone), and to pharmacological agents; and they depend on preponderantly different neurotransmitters (the left hemisphere is more reliant on dopamine and the right hemisphere on noradrenaline).”

    -Page 33

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    The one exception to the right hemisphere superiority for the expression of emotion is anger. Anger is robustly connected with left frontal activation. Aggression is motivating and dopamine plays a crucial role in the rewards it offers.”

    -Page 61

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    And in keeping with the left-hemisphere hypothesis, more hypnotisable subjects display higher levels of dopaminergic activity (dopamine transmission is more extensive in the left hemisphere).”

    -Page 236

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    “…drugs that help stabilise schizophrenia act to reduce dopaminergic activity, a form of neurotransmission on which the left hemisphere is dependent to a greater extent than the right.”

    -Page 392

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    “It is particularly relevant that the current version of the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia, the most widely espoused theory of the genesis of schizophrenia, proposes an interaction between a posterior dopamine hyperactivity and a frontal dopamine hypoactivity, which, on the basis that the frontal lobe inhibits posterior activity in the same hemisphere, compounds the effect of a preponderant, though aberrant, left hemisphere in schizophrenia…”

    -Page 509 (Chapter 12, footnote 13)

    Anthony Farnsworth replied 1 year, 10 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
  • 1 Reply
  • Anthony Farnsworth

    Member
    November 12, 2022 at 9:27 am

    Hi there, what is the importance of dopamines relationship to the left hemisphere?

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