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Overview

We’ve all wondered about our identity at some point in our lives. However, very few people feel that they’re not who they are or that their body is something alien to themselves. Even when we go through an identity crisis as teenagers, we don’t lose touch with ourselves and our fundamental sense of self.

As a result, it’s easy to overlook how incredibly fragile our sense of self is. However, when you know someone who suffers brain damage or has Alzheimer’s disease and loses herself, you’ll realize that many regions of the brain work together to make us feel like ourselves. Therefore, even a tiny bit of damage in one area can throw everything out of balance.

In this article, you will find out about three cases of people who lost their limbs and the reasons why they did it. You’ll also discover that some people have dreams so vivid that they feel like they are living them for real. Finally, you’ll learn how a man mistook himself for his doppelganger and almost died as a result.

Big Idea #1: Studying people who feel like the walking dead teaches us how the brain constructs our fundamental sense of self.

Most of us feel that the self is an unchanging part of who we are. It’s a feeling, not something we really know for sure. We’re attached to our selves and our bodies, and don’t question whether it’s all just in our heads.

Our brains are responsible for our sense of self, but what if they’re damaged and we can’t figure out who we are?

Individuals who suffer from Cotard’s syndrome truly believe that they are dead.

As bizarre as it sounds, Cotard’s syndrome is a real condition in which people feel like they’re already dead.

A neurologist reported a fascinating case of Cotard’s syndrome. A middle-aged man had severe depression after his divorce and attempted suicide. He believed that he was dead, since his emotions were dulled and he didn’t need to sleep or eat anymore. Even though he continued doing those things, he stopped brushing his teeth.

When he was told that he wasn’t dead, he didn’t believe it.

Certain regions of the brain are vital for our sense of self. When these areas are damaged or misfire, people lose their sense of self and feel like they’re dead.

Doctors scanned Graham’s brain to see what was going on. They discovered that his frontoparietal network, an area of the brain that is involved with conscious awareness, wasn’t active.

The network that deals with the awareness of internal activities (such as emotions) was affected, causing him to lose awareness of his emotions and physical needs. He concluded that he was dead because he lost this awareness.

Big Idea #2: Thanks to Alzheimer’s patients, we now know that our sense of self is made up of two parts.

Most of us look back at our lives and tell stories to form a narrative about ourselves, which makes up our identity. People who have Alzheimer’s disease lose the ability to maintain their narrative self, which can be devastating.

According to neuropsychologist Robin Morris, a special form of semantic memory stores the data and notions we have of ourselves in a “self-representation system.” These memories are filled with episodic memories, which are then integrated into our narrative self.

The brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease are unable to create memories. This is because the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in memory formation, has been removed from their brains. A patient who had his hippocampus removed was asked what his favorite memory of his mother was. He could only say that she was his mother without being able to recall any specific memories about her.