Self consciousness memory

Dissociation is the core feature of the dissociative disorders it is defined by the DSM-IV as a disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, p. 477). Dissociation is usually assessed as a continuum, most often using the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES Bemstein-Carlson Putnam, 1986), a 28-item self-report measure. The DES items are rated on a scale reflecting the frequency of dissociative experiences (O-to-100% in 10% intervals). Factor analyses of DES items have led to the development of three subscales (Carlson et al., 1993 Frischholz, Braun, Sachs, Schwartz, 1991 Ross, Joshi, Currie, 1991). They are (a) Absorption, which reflects dissociation from surroundings (e.g., daydreaming) (b) Amnesia, which reflects dissociation from past experiences and (c) Depersonalization-Derealization, which reflects dissociation from the body or senses. 

Excessive exposure to inorganic mercury, particularly in its elemental form, creates a psychological condition called erethism. Victims suffer from excessive timidity and self-consciousness, inability to concentrate, loss of memory, and other psychological changes. From at least the seventeenth and well into the nineteenth century, mercury was used to cure felt, and workers exposed during that process could acquire erethism. Lewis Carroll s character the Mad Hatter was no doubt based on the fact that hatters exposed to mercury could in fact go mad. The phrase mad as a hatter was in common use at the time Alice s Adventures in Wonderland was written. 

One of the ultimate challenges in all of science is the complete understanding of the human brain and the mysteries of memory and self-consciousness. A recent article in Chemical Engineering News expressed the complexity of this problem ... 

The state of conscious awareness, with orientation of self in time and space, depends on hnely tuned and accurately co-ordinated activity in multiple neuronal networks in the brain (Park Young, 1994). Such activity involves parallel processing in many cortical and subcortical pathways including arousal and memory systems (Chapters 3 and 4) and systems involved in mood (Chapters 5 and 18) and utilises an orchestra of many neurotransmitters. The whole ensemble appears to be synchronised by high frequency (40+ Hz) oscillatory electrical activity which binds the component parts together (Llinas et ah, 1998 Tallon-Baudry Bertrand, 1999). 

Psychiatric disorders must be considered to have a biochemical basis. Psychosis, neurosis, mental retardation, and behavior problems must, in the last analysis, be complex manifestations of some aberration of biochemical functioning of the central nervous system. Fig. 3 diagrams how one may conceptualize mental function in terms of intermediary metabolism. Mental function can be expressed in terms of an individual s intelligence, personality, and patterns of behavior. These outward manifestations of mental function can be considered to be complex expressions of consciousness (self-awareness), sensory perception (awareness of reality of the outside world), volition (decision making), memory, learning, creative ability (problem solving), and emotional reactivity (which is partially subconscious). All of these components are some function of the nerve network. How the nerve network gives rise to these components is unknown. It is apparent from... 

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