Back to Topics │Abstract Feelings and Abstract Senses│ Start: Relativity & Reaction
– Nerd Cheat Sheet: The Chemical Limitation of the Cortex
These works underpin the discussion of how the cortex and limbic system interact — the chemical and electrical dialogue that shapes emotion, thought, and mood.
They form the factual base for understanding why emotional bias has biological roots and how self-awareness can reframe reaction into reflection.
🧩 Neuroscience and Brain Physiology
Explains the core electrochemical and structural principles of cortical–limbic communication, brain plasticity, and sensory integration.
- Bear, M. F., Connors, B. W., & Paradiso, M. A. (2020). Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
- Kandel, E. R., Schwartz, J. H., & Jessell, T. M. (2013). Principles of Neural Science (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
- Logothetis, N. K. (2008). What we can do and what we cannot do with fMRI. Nature, 453, 869–878.
- Herculano-Houzel, S. (2012). The remarkable, yet not extraordinary, human brain as a scaled-up primate brain. PNAS, 109(Suppl. 1), 10661–10668.
- Striedter, G. F. (2005). Principles of Brain Evolution. Sinauer Associates.
💭 Emotion, Mood, and Cognitive Regulation
Describes the chemistry of emotion, the limbic system’s role in motivation, and the prefrontal cortex’s capacity for regulation and restraint.
- Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. Putnam.
- LeDoux, J. (2012). Rethinking the emotional brain. Neuron, 73(4), 653–676.
- Fuster, J. M. (2015). The Prefrontal Cortex (5th ed.). Academic Press.
- Miller, E. K., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24, 167–202.
- 🔄 Learning, Plasticity, and Emotional Conditioning
- The shaping of emotional bias during development — how early experiences and family modeling influence cortical–limbic patterns.
- Kolb, B., & Gibb, R. (2011). Brain plasticity and behaviour in the developing brain. Brain Research, 1389, 140–150.
- Sapolsky, R. M. (2004). Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping. Holt.
⚙️ Applied Perspective
Bridges biology and practice — understanding emotion as a system variable that can be tuned, not suppressed.
- Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Thaler & Sunstein (2008). Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness.
- Kahneman, Sibony & Sunstein (2021). Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment.
🧠 How to Use This Annex
Each of these sources supports the biological logic that underlies human bias and emotion.
They are not required reading but serve as anchors of truth — ensuring that every practical insight about emotion, reaction, and reflection rests on reliable science.
📖 Series Roadmap
- Forward: A Little Background
- Introduction: Action, Reaction, and the Human Paradox (16.09.2025)
- Looking Back in Time: The Development of the Human Brain (23.09.2025)
- Abstract Senses: Enhancing the way we see the world outside (30.09.2025)
- Bias as a Concept & Climbing the Stairs: Pattern Recognition & Everyday Tasks (07.10.2025)
- Abstract Feelings and Abstract Senses (14.10.2025)
- Motivation (04.11.2025)
- The Social Knowledge Base (11.11.2025)
- Potential (18.11.2025)
- The Subliminal Way We Go Through Life (26.11.2025)
- Taking Responsibility (02.12.2025)
- Fishing for Complements (22.12.2025)
- Peter and Fermi (22.12.2025)
🔗 R&R Navigation
Back to Topics │Abstract Feelings and Abstract Senses│ Start: Relativity & Reaction
– Nerd Cheat Sheet: The Chemical Limitation of the Cortex
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