Why Humans Like to Cry: Tragedy, Evolution, and the Brain

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Human beings are the only species to have evolved the trait of emotional crying. We weep at tragedies in our lives and in those of others - remarkably even when they are fictional characters in film, opera, music, novels, and theatre. Why have we developed art forms - most powerfully, music - which move us to sadness and tears? This question forms the backdrop to Michael Trimble's discussion of emotional crying, its physiology, and its evolutionary implications. His exploration examines the connections with other distinctively human features: the development of language, self-consciousness, religious practices, and empathy. Neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of the brain have uncovered unique human characteristics; mirror neurones, for example, explain why we unconsciously imitate actions and behaviour. Whereas Nietzsche argued that artistic tragedy was born with the ancient Greeks, Trimble places its origins far earlier. His neurophysiological and evolutionary insights shed fascinating light onto this enigmatic part of our humanity.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Figures (p. viii)
• 1 Introduction (p. 1)
• 2 Crying (p. 17)
• 3 The Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology of Crying (p. 42)
• 4 Evolution (p. 86)
• 5 Tragedy and Tears (p. 116)
• 6 Tearful Logic (p. 133)
• 7 Why Do We Get Pleasure from Crying at the Theatre? (p. 152)
• Appendices
• 1 Neuroanatomy (p. 164)
• 2 Glossary of Terms (p. 169)
• Notes (p. 174)
• Bibliography (p. 201)
• Index (p. 213)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Trimble (behavioral neurology, emeritus, Inst. of Neurology, London; The Soul in the Brain: The Cerebral Basis of Language, Art, and Belief) has worked to understand the brain his whole career. This book takes an evolutionary approach to understanding right-hemisphere brain functions. He investigates how humans experience tragedy and how tragedy as a creative genre has developed. Trimble reviews theories posited by the ancient Greeks, German philosopher Nietzsche, and more recent writers to try and understand why humans are the only animals that shed tears because of emotion. He combines these theories with descriptions of research that has helped scientists understand some of the complex interactions of neuroanatomy, physiology, memory, internal and external triggers, and cultural factors that lead to emotions. Brain imaging of areas activated during emotions and empathy shows that emotional crying is linked to empathy but crying over a tragic play or beautiful music does not trigger the same brain activity; this suggests that tears also have a social function. VERDICT Recommended for anyone interested in the evolution of the brain.-Margaret Henderson, Midlothian, VA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

In this multidisciplinary investigation of emotional crying, Trimble (The Soul in the Brain), emeritus professor of behavioral neurology, explores the evolutionary and physiological roots of human tears with special reference to Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy. Trimble's insights about lachrymal glands and dacrystic seizures are smart and thorough, although his facility with neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and evolutionary theory tends to highlight the defects in his knowledge of literary genres. In application to tragedy, the scientific perspectives that Trimble brings to bear are apt to seem essentializing, ahistorical, or simplistic. One does not necessarily need to turn to neurobiological perspectives in order to conclude, for example, that "Tears are an accompaniment to Tragedy as art form, and they reflect the tears of everyday human tragedy, which is linked to loss and mourning." To his credit, Trimble acknowledges the discomfort of certain scholars with the idea of music or tragedy as "universal language", but these acknowledgments rarely inflect his arguments about humanistic pursuits. On the whole, Trimble's lucid, appealing prose is at its best when occupied with tears rather than tragedy. 15 b&w illus. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.