The parietal lobes are located
above (superior to) the temporal lobes, and anterior to the
occipital lobe. They consist of three regions--the postcentral
gyrus (somatosensory
cortex), superior parietal lobule (association cortex), and
the inferior parietal lobule. These lobules work at controlling
fine
sensations, spark objective recognition, orient the organism
in space, and integrate information from multiple sensory inputs.
The homunculus,
or "little man," is a metaphor used to describe information
stimulated by various somatic receptors in the skin described
by the parietal lobe's somatosensory cortex. The body area is
represented in proportion to the density of touch receptors in
the body part, as opposed to its actual size, so that a distorted
image of the body surface is imagined.
Besides associating different
sensory systems to motor systems, these lobes play a major role
in cognitive processes, so that, if damaged, the interpretation
of tactile sensations may be lost. In addition, clumsy movement
may occur on the opposite (contralateral) side to the damaged
cortex. Perhaps the strangest symptom is "neglect," whereupon
the afflicted person may not recognize the opposite side of his
or her body, claim that it belongs to someone else, even deny
that it exists at all!
Gnostics called
him the Anthropos, a man created in the image of the Nous, or "true
man." In Chinese Alchemy he is the chên-yên, a
product of the alchemical opus, but also the adept who was transformed
by the work, "an inner figure that will personify the deepest
aspects of the self.1 According to
the great sixteenth century alchemist, Paracelsus, the homunculus
was first transparent, almost formless, and could be created,
or re-created, in a vessel. This "test tube baby" matured
into a perfect human being, who possessed magical abilities and
wisdom. Modern philosophers of consciousness deny the existence
of a homunculus, favoring of a more democratic, interactive approach.2
What is this, as opposed to
that? The inferior parietal lobule is where "viewer-centered
representation relate the self of our own physical body to the
world outside it," what is within my grasp, and how it relates
to my world.3 Damage
to this lobule can mean the loss of one's ability to localize
objects in space, missing by a long shot where they actually
are situated, along with not being able to perceive more than
a single object at a time. Thus, relationship disappears, a sort
of hyper-discrimmination taking its place.
The homunculus
is identified with the union of opposites, a major alchemical
symbol. The child is conceived by both male and female, consisting
of both, and neither. "Both poles must be transcended, transformed
into a new being and thus reconciled."4 The
homunculus is also related to the realm of "fairy folk," those
beings, imaginary or not, known through the ages in almost all
human cultures.5
(1) J.
Raff, Jung and the Alchemical Imagination. York Beach,
ME., 2000. pp. 207-8.
(2) For example, D. Dennett, Consciousness Explained. Boston, 1991.
(3) J.H. Austin, Zen and the Brain.Cambridge, MA., 1998. p.244.
(4) R. Bernoullio, Spiritual Development in Alchemy." In, J. Campbell,
Editor, Spiritual Disciplines--Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Princeton
NJ., 1985. pp.318-19.
(5) W.Y. Evans-Wentz, The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries.
N.S., 1966. p.483.