Irresponsible behavior and the Brain

The orbitofrontal cortex is one of the areas of the brain that help process emotional input. It serves as an interface between brain functions that engages in automatic and controlled responses. It is also recognized for the important role it plays in making moral judgments. According to Carlson (2005) damaged to this area would therefore cause a person to be unable to “make or carry out plans…his actions appear(ing) to be capricious and whimsical”. Carlson also points out that while damage results in the inability to act in a responsible and mature fashion, he also notes that the damage would not hinder him from accurately assessing situations from a purely theoretical perspective. He illustrates this point by citing a patient with bilateral damage (damage to both sides of the brain) to the area who displayed excellent social judgment. When questioned about hypothetical situations involving moral and ethical dilemmas, the patient answered sensibly and with justifiable logic. Yet, in his own life, he was unable to tell the difference between trivial matters and important ones. For instance, he would spend many hours deciding where to eat dinner but was unable to make judgments involving occupation and family (such as squandering the family life savings and making very bad financial decisions).
Learning about the orbitofrontal cortex and how it relates to behavior brought on strong emotional responses in me. It is outrageous to think that the undevelopment, damage, or absence thereof of this region can serve as an excuse for irresponsible and insensitive behavior. Should individuals with behaviors described above be excused because maybe they have something wrong with their orbit frontal cortexes? What if that person was a father or a spouse? How should a wife cope with that knowing that the behavior is practically beyond one’s control? How should society be asked to deal with it?
I guess the best thing to do is to get professional help to gain ways to cope with this unfortunate affliction/brain damage. I’m sure there are ways in which relationships can still be worked out with proper techniques and a great deal of patience and understanding. What this topic particularly hit home to me is that irresponsible behavior may not be a matter of just will and wants. It’s also about what a person is capable physiology-wise/brain-wise of.



References
Carlson, N. R. (2008). Foundations of Physiological Psychology (7th Ed.) Boston: Pearson Allyn-Bacon