Notes on Chapter 7: The Thinking Brain

I found this to be a rather discordant chapter.  It starts by talking about evolution of the brain in terms of size and then switches over to a discussion of how the motor systems work. I think the point that the authors are trying to make is that the association regions got larger so that it would be possible to make more elaborate and detailed plans. 

Another point is that the brain deals with detail hierarchically.  With the pitching example, the planning portion of the brain deals with the high level concepts - use a slider pitch instead of a fastball - and then passes that command onto the next brain system.  That brain system selects the general set of movements required and passes each off to the motor portions.  The motor portions control the muscle movements for each step and cause the actual neural signals to be sent out.

The last part of the chapter portrays a struggle between the higher and lower portions of the brain for control.  The discussion is vaguely related to what came before (higher levels controlling lower levels) but it is portrayed more as a struggle than a cooperating system.  The authors note that the larger the brain is, generally the more control the higher portions of the brain have over the lower portions.

To illustrate the conflict aspect, the authors mention a movie where the conscious and subconscious minds are in what amounts to a pitched battle over control.