The Primordial Emotions

Derek Denton is the world authority on instinctive behaviour regulating apt intake of water and minerals - particularly salt. He was Founding Director of the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine at Melbourne University. His discoveries have been recognized by election to the National Academies of Science of France, Sweden, the United States and Australia and also the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Society (London). He was First Vice President of the International Union of Physiological Sciences and was a member of the Lasker Jury for 12 years. His previous books include 'The Hunger for Salt', described by Emeritus Professor John Pappenheimer of Harvard as 'the best example of integrative physiology to come out of the second half of the 20th century' and 'The Pinnacle of Life', written for a general audience, and published by Flammarion (Paris), Harper Collins (USA), and Allen & Unwin (Australia).

PART I - THE HYPOTHESIS ; 1. Introduction: the idea and context ; 2. The definition of consciousness and self-awareness ; 3. What some distinguished scientists have proposed on the nature of consciousness: John Searle, HOmer Smith, Vernon Mountcastle and Roger Sperry ; 4. Consciousness in animals ; 5. The appetite for salt and the mind - intention in salt mining elephants ; PART II - EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS ; 6. The phylogenetic tree ; 7. An interoceptor driven theory of origin of primary consciousness ; 8. The physiology of the primordial emotion of thirst ; 9. The neuroimaging of thirst by PET (Positron Emission Tomography) ; 10. Neuroimaging of other primordial emotions and also the second level distance receptor evoked emotions ; PART III - HIGHER COGNITION AND EMOTION ; 11. Anatomical structure and physiological functions subserving higher order consciousness ; 12. The biology of emotion