Understanding Emotional Changes after Brain Injury: A brief introduction
Christian Salas, PhD
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The study of psychological changes after brain damage has historically been a keystone in the development of neuropsychology and neuroscience. Case studies – and series of cases – of individuals with focal brain lesions have offered valuable information related to the neural basis of many basic and complex cognitive functions. As the name itself suggests, cognitive neuroscience has for decades built a picture of the mind where affects and feelings are secondary. However, since the 1990s this situation has started to change, with a growing interest in the neural basis of emotion and emotion regulation – an interest that has been related to paradigmatic case studies of brain injured patients. In this lecture I will offer a brief historical panoramic overview of the relationship between emotion and brain injury, specifically focusing on the possibilities and limits of using a lesion method to explore this link. I will also make a case for the need to revise our models of the emotional response and how we assess it. Finally, I will present a series of case studies in order to discuss the relationship between cognition and affect, particularly focusing on how impairment to cognitive processes can alter emotion regulation abilities.
Bio
Dr. Christian Salas is a Chilean clinical neuropsychologist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist. He has worked as a clinical neuropsychologist in Chile and UK (Head Forward Centre, Manchester, UK). He has a Ph.D. in Psychology from Bangor University (Wales, UK), where he worked under the supervision of Professor Oliver Turnbull. Today, he is a Lecturer and Researcher at the Centre for Human Neuroscience and Neuropsychology (Diego Portales University, Chile). He is also the Director of the Diploma in Adult Neuropsychological Rehabilitation and the Clinical Neuropsychology Unit. The Clinical Neuropsychology Unit is the only specialized unit in the country that offers low cost neuropsychological assessment, and long-term rehabilitation, to people with acquired brain damage. Dr. Salas’ main clinical and research interests are related to understanding emotional and personality changes after brain injury, the relationship between cognitive/emotional changes and social isolation, and the adaptation of psychoanalytic tools to facilitate socio-emotional adjustment and well-being in this population. He has published over 30 articles and chapters related to these topics. He is co-author of the book Addressing Brain Injury in Under Resourced Settings (Routledge, 2017) and editor of Clinical Studies in Neuropsychoanalysis Revisited (Taylor & Francis, in press).
Publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian_Salas
Clinical Neuropsychology Unit:
http://neurociencia.udp.cl/unidad-de-neuropsicologia-clinica/
Personal Stories: A documentary on Social Isolation and Brain Injury (Head Forward, UK)
https://www.charityfilmawards.com/videos/head-forward-centre-personal-stories