SOMATIC MARKER and the SELF
The Somatic Marker mechanism works when perceptions interact with emotions. Unlike animals, humans are aware of the presence of their bodies and their “selves”.
Damasio concluded that inwardly-directed attention comes from an awareness of both the external environment and the internal milieu. It enables us to use our emotional response to mark and evaluate information coming from the environment.
This interaction of perceptions and emotions occurs in the working memory, which is located in cortices in both the right and left hemispheres. Processing centers in both hemispheres receive both new and re-activated signals from the environment, from innate bio-regulatory preferences, and from current and recalled bodily states.
This information is continuously updated, adapted, and categorized for future reference according to personal relevance. These cortices are directly connected to the motor machinery and chemical response mechanisms.
