The Triune Brain in Evolution: Role in Paleocerebral Functions

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Summary:

The Triune Brain...A Provocative Theory Goes Unchallenged
Review:

Paul D. MacLean has distinguished himself as a foremost figure in neuroscience. His early contributions to the understanding of the brain lie most notably in the area that he has named the limbic system. For the past thirty years, he has dedicated his research efforts at the NIMH Laboratory of Brain Evolution and Behavior, which he heads, to the promotion of his theory of the triune nature of the modern mammalian brain. His latest work, _The Triune Brain in Evolution: Role in Paleocerebral Functions_, is the paramount testament to that effort. The book is an impressive volume incorporating research from evolutionary biology, neuroscience, physiology, animal behavior, ethology, etc., into an insightful framework from which he draws many interesting, provocative conclusions, implications, and suppositions.

The triune theory has gained wide recognition, attention, and application in fields as diverse as psychiatry, education, and theology. However, neuroscientists have made little comment on the theory, pro or con, and, for the most part, have ignored it. Although chapters dedicated to the topic have appeared in a number of symposia, MacLean is usually the author. Since MacLean's peers, professional neuroscientists, have almost unequivocally declined comment, it thus becomes quite difficult for a novice to gain a critical view of the theory. In fact, since MacLean's review of the field is seemingly so complete, he is free to present the established thought on the evolution of the brain as he wishes. The novice is left only with his own efforts to sort things out.