By the time of the issue of my first article "The Material Basis of Feelings - Part I" (Brain & Mind - February-April 2001), I received several inquiries relating to its contents, so that I made up about writing this second text with a view to compliment my former issue.

 The coming inquiries, which evoked several questions, varied both in deepness and questionings. However, a tendency has become evident: the medicines soothen depressive and anxiety symptons, but they don't, at least in their totality, affect ideas, thoughts, the character and personality of persons. In that manner, most of what we are, woudn't "dematerialiaze" such as it does with the annoying symptons of the diseases and emotional states. To a certain extent that's true. But it isn't at all. To the end of englightening to readers this position of mine, I begin with this article by approaching about our behaviour. Whence does it come? We get vexed at the something we don't like, we may remain contemplative with respect to the solution of some problem or we may get unsettled before it. We get glad of some good news and sorrowful at hearing of the loss of some dear acquaintance.

 Our universe of behaviour-bounded states is too wide. We go so far as to divine what some-one else is feeling barely by his bearing or his manner of adressing. We think and act so as to react adequately to our enviroment. Were it not for this potentiality, for flexibility, human beings would have long since ceased existing. Surely, we respond to situations or stimuli out of our environment with our behaviour; we are born with one share of our personality already formed and the furthers will come later; with our breeding, our education and our lifelong experience. And they are those which will afford us the convenient reactions on faceing our everyday problems. Our intelligence partakes as one further and additional factor, nevertheless it isn't decisive.
 Our behaviour is a macroscopic manifestation from what occurs inside our minds; from physico-chemical, biologic reactions, from our neuronic activity, which influences the whole body. From "micro" to "macro", hereupon lies the fundamental point about the main target of this article.

 Medicines assuage the symptons which are none but the unbalancedness in the functions of our brain-apparatus. The remainings, the basis of all else that we are, of what we think and act, these too make up parts of this system. That's why mental diseases affect our behaviour.
 For an example of the manifestation which goes from "micro" to "macro", in comportmental terms, I'm going to speak about apprenticiment as being one kind of a behaviour, for, one response to one determined situation comes along with a manner of self-behaviour. It has already been attained, in laboratory rats, to photograph the due right moment at the which they learned which was the due path into a labyrinth to reach up to one cheese chip.

 This trial which involves labor-rats is very ancient, classical, but that which scientists have recently accomplished was altogether spetacular: just the moment at which the rats reinforced their learning at the correct way by repeating the path into the lab, there occurred a greather concentration of neuro-transmiters on their neurons over brain-areas bound for the learning! The fact "micro", i.e., a greather concentration of neuro-transmiters, is reflected on a "macro" behaviour", the accomplishment and its evincing to the best way.

 Let's say that said evincing it is no other than another evincing, the perpetuation of neuronic-links, a faster solideness among ligaments.
 That's the nature of the brain, how it works, the question had been the one to come to the point whence facts of this sort should have their expounding. And this point depended on the knowledge over several area-fields of sciences such as those of Neurology, Psychology, Brain-chemistry and, not of a minor importance, the know-how to search, to photograph so tiny things such as molecules, or at least but not last, their concentrations. Only the 20th Century development of Technology has afforded so far-ahead an advancement in discoveries which have involved the facts into our brain.
 Sentiments produce behaviors and have a strong material groundwork whereupon, since long, it has been attributed to something inmaterial, to one soul or spirit, as that which brings forth the feelings.

 Sciences are revealing another aspect of reality by the which, the feelings and far above them, what we really are and think as the products of reactions or as an assemblage of physico-chemical reactions. They may even go so far into a point where one finds out that something which lies very far out of reach of any instrument or expertise influences on one more brain-areas, therewith affecting the whole or some part of its functions. However, if a certain circularity may be perceived, a shut-out in the upspring of the brain-processes as if the reactions should be fostered without aught incomprehensible, inmaterial, which actuates on the person's minds, hereupon a revolution would rise, which I've mentioned in my first article.

 The Author

Argos de Arruda Pinto Physicist - argos@linkway.com.br Rua Antonio Jacinto, 510, Santa Rita do Passa Quatro-SP. 13.670.000 - Tel: 19-582-5856(residência) - 19-582-3808(empresa).