The 'Triune Brain Series' is available as a set of three E mail the artist for information POR

The Triune Brain Series

The American brain researcher, Professor Dr. Paul D. MacLean, Director of the Brain Evolution and Behaviour Institute at the National Institute of Mental Health, coined the term of the 'Triune brain'. MacLean's evolutionary 'triune brain theory' proposed that the human brain was in reality three brains in one: the reptilian complex, the limbic system, and the neo-cortex. MacLean originally formulated his model in the 1960’s and propounded it at length in his 1990 book The Triune Brain in Evolution. The triune brain consists of the reptilian complex (brain stem), the paleomammalian complex (limbic system), and the neomammalian complex (neocortex), viewed as structures sequentially added to the forebrain in the course of evolution. The 'limbic' system was defined by Paul D. MacLean as a series of cortical structures surrounding the limit between the cerebral hemispheres and the brainstem: the border, or limbus, of the brain. The limbic system supports a variety of functions, including emotion, behaviour, motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction. Emotional life is largely housed in the limbic system, and it has a great deal to do with the formation of memories. The 'brain stem' is the posterior part of the brain, adjoining and structurally continuous with the spinal cord. The 'neo-cortex' is the part of the mammalian brain involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception, cognition, and generation of motor commands, spatial reasoning and language. Despite their differences, these three very different brain sections must still work together in the 'triune brain' and communicate. Human behaviour evolves from the interplay of the instinctive reaction of the 'brain stem', the emotional, impulsive 'limbic' system, and the cool, rational reaction of the 'neo-cortex'.