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“You are your synapses. They are who you are” says Joseph LeDoux in his book The Synaptic Self. He feels this neurological view of self is not an alternative to psychological, social, moral, aesthetic, or spiritual views of the self, but rather attempts to show how these selves are realized in the brain. LeDoux is a highly acclaimed neuroscientist whose work includes extensive research on the amygdala. He has contributed greatly to our understanding of fear and other emotional systems.
Psychoanalysts have defined and discussed the term “self” in different ways for many years. LeDoux defines the self as the totality of the living organism, physically, biologically, psychologically, socially, and culturally, more like the term “personality” (p. 330) rather than just the conscious self. Thus animals have selves, but only people have human self-awareness. The “synaptic self” exists in the synapses or connections between the nerve cells in the brain. The idea that our memories and indeed all aspects of our selves exist as synaptic changes distributed across our brains is, for many, a new way of thinking. What might a “synaptic self” look like? Visualizing my “self” as a pattern of connections formed by synapses in my brain is reminiscent of the mental shift I made growing up regarding money. As a child I knew my money consisted of coins in a piggy bank; now it exists as magnetic pulses distributed over a network of computers in banks across the globe.
To present the synaptic view of the self, LeDoux starts with a detailed discussion of how the brain works. A neuroscientist may find this a fine review of research on the brain, from molecular and anatomical to cognitive, emotional, and motivational studies in humans and animals. A psychoanalyst with no background in neuroscience may find the detail and depth of the neuroscience material difficult in some sections, but still follow the general ideas. The book thus approaches its stated aim: to be clear enough for the lay read