Identity and intellect

1. Identity, intellect and
memory

2. The brain and identity
 It appears that identity is strongly linked with our
brains and what is happening in our minds.
 But which parts of our brains are most important to
identity?
 Scientists have been interested in answering
questions about which parts of our brains are involved
in our identity in recent years.
 They have tried to answer the question: Are our
identities formed by our personal memories, our
personality, our moral character or our intellect?

3. The case of Phineas
Gage

4. The case of Phineas
Gage
 In 1848, an iron rod shot through the skull
of a 25-year-old man named Phineas
Gage, taking a chunk of his brain with it.
 This case is interesting to doctors and
scientists as the parts of Gage's brain
that were damaged seemed to play a role
in changing his identity.

5. The case of Phineas
Gage
 Before the accident Gage was described as
mild-mannered and responsible.
 But after the accident Gage became
impulsive and foul-tempered.
 He became rude to his friends and lost his
job.
 His identity changed so dramatically that
those who knew him said he was ‘‘no
longer the same person’’.

6.  Although his personality changed,
Phineas Gage kept most of his
memories.
 So what does this case tell us about the
brain, identity and memory?

7. What does research tell
us?
New research entitled 'The essential Moral
self' by psychologist Nina Strohminger and
philosopher Shaun Nichols, looks at
neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s,
in which a person often loses many of their
personal memories.

8.  This research examined the question of
identity by looking at the neural connections
that make up the brain.
 It asked when those connections begin to
unravel in Alzheimer’s patients, what
happens to the person and their identity?
 Does our identity come more from our
moral character than from our memory or
intellect?

9. Alzheimer’s vs Dementia
 The researchers compared different kinds
of neurodegenerative diseases in 248
people.
 They compared Alzheimer’s patients to
patients who suffer from dementia.
 Alzheimer’s patients have difficulty
remembering newly learned information. It
can result in serious memory loss and
behavioural changes.

10. Dementia
 Dementia damages the frontal control areas of the
brain. The same areas that Phineas Gage damaged
in his accident with the rod.
 These areas of the brain are involved in impulse
control and empathy, abilities that play a particularly
important role in our moral lives and personalities.
 Dementia patients may change morally even though
they retain memory and intellect. They can become
indifferent to other people or be unable to control
impulses or be rude to others.

11. How did others perceive
these people?
 The researchers asked partners or children caring
for people with either Dementia or Alzheimer’s to fill
out a questionnaire about how the patients had
changed, including changes in their memory,
intellect and moral behavior.
 They also asked questions like, “How much do you
sense that the patient is still the same person
underneath?” or, “Do you feel like you still know who
the patient is?”

12. What did they find out?
 The researchers found out that the people
who cared for the Dementia patients were
much more likely to feel that they had
become different people than the caregivers
of the Alzheimer’s patients.
 In all of the groups of caregivers, changes in
a person’s moral behavior predicted changes
in perceived identity.
 But changes in memory or intellect did not
cause the caregiver to perceive the person
differently.

13. So what does this tell us
about identity?
 The results suggest something profound.
 Our moral character, is what links us to other
people most.
 It’s the part of us that goes beyond our own
tangle of neurons to touch the brains and lives of
others.
 Moral character is central to who we are, even if
our memories and intellect begin to fail.

14. What do you think?
 Think about:
 Are we who we are because of our personal
memories?
 Are we who we are because of our learned
knowledge or our intellect?
 Or are we who we are due to our personality
or moral qualities? Our kindness, our sense
of humour etc.?
 Where in our brain is our identity most
defined?