STRIATUM – BOHLER – Linwood Messina

Information

Author:

Sébastien Bohler

Date:

Bouquins
October 2023

Author:

Additional Info

STRIATUM

Rights Holder: Bouquins
Original Language: French

All hope is not lost. The solution is in our heads...

Saving the planet depends on the winner of the battle of the striatum vs. the prefrontal cortex, a war that has been waging for thousands of years. The former is a structure that creates pleasure while the latter is designed to control our urges.

The two have worked together to help develop humankind as a species. The problem is that since the industrial era, the striatum has been overpowering the prefrontal cortex. The increase of wealth in the West and remarkable technological advances have made us little, insatiable kings, slaves to our desires, to the detriment of the planet.

Is it possible for us to get a hold of ourselves? The answer is YES.

Neuroscientist Sébastien Bohler demonstrates how the activity of the prefrontal cortex, the organ that puts limitations on our desires, constitutes a distinctive human trait. We are not condemned to blindly increase in size until the moment when we die from suffocation, exposed to anunbreathable atmosphere.

The prefrontal cortex is that part of our brain that allows us to get our impulses under control is the solution. Thanks to it, we have the power to agree to common rules and act in the best interest of all. When the prefrontal cortex feels threatened, it rebels.

No, the battle between the striatum and the prefrontal cortex is definitely not over.

Sébastien Bohler, a doctor in neurosciences is the founder of Cerveau & Psycho, a magazine of reference in the field of neurosciences and behavior. His previous works inclue Le Bug Humain (Robert Laffont), Où est le sens? (Robert Laffont) and Human Psycho (Bouquins).

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