Limbic Pathways: How Emotion Bypasses Cortical Damage

Damage to certain areas of the cortex due to a stroke can block the ability to speak; yet some patients manage to convey their cerebral world of language through alternative emotional, limbic pathways — they can sing what they want to say. The cortex and the limbic system are inseparable because numerous neural fibers connect them. Importantly, these fibers ensure a bidirectional communication: the limbic system “talks” to the cortex, not just obeys it. The false dichotomy between thought and feeling is exposed in the classic work Descartes’ Error by neurologist Antonio Damasio of the University of Southern California.