The Brothers Karamazov, affective neuroscience, and reconsolidation of memories

Abstract

Why do Dostoevskian bodies throb, sob, and grimace in ways that seem so far from the civilized protocols of, for example, Henry James’ exhibitions of emotions? How precisely does the concept of unconscious motivation serve interpretation when complicated by neuroscientific ideas of “the body as ground reference,” of “the neural self” as a “repeatedly reconstructed biological state” that records memories. This essay explores the implications of affective neuroscience research (Panksepp, Damasio, Solms) for interpreting Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, particularly those scenes in which the characters access memories and display physical symptoms which appear subcortical.