Mercy Strategy 61I have mentioned that the left temporal lobe and left inferior (lower)
frontal cortex act together to handle speech. Neurology has discovered a
similar system linking the right temporal lobe with the right inferior frontal
cortex. As expected, the described linkage is speech-centered, but one can
see that researchers are definitely referring to Mercy type processing. Our
research has found that the Mercy person is especially adept at picking up
non-verbal (that word again) speech. He concentrates so much on the way
something is said, that he often misses what is being spoken.
If the area of the right temporal lobe which corresponds to Wernicke‟s
area in the left area is damaged, then a condition called sensory aprosodia
emerges, in which the patient is severely impaired at comprehending
gestures and interpreting the emotional aspect of speech. In other words,
the area of the Mercy storage shed which deals with communication is
destroyed.^4
On the other hand, damage to the right inferior frontal cortex produces
what is called motor aprosodia. These individuals can still comprehend
emotional communication, but they talk in a monotone and their speech is
unaccompanied by any gestures. This suggests that their Mercy internal
world is unable to form any mental structures related to speech.
The connection between multiple personalities and suppressed Mercy
memories has also been noted by neurology. I have suggested that Mercy
memories are stored in the right temporal lobe. Based upon our
understanding of multiple personalities, we would suspect that this region
of the brain would be underactive when the core personality was in control,
and that brain activity would increase when the secondary personalities
emerged. Precisely this was observed when an individual with multiple
personalities was placed under a brain scanner. When the mental activity of
a secondary personality—to whom painful memories have been assigned—
was measured, the only difference noted on the scanner was an increase in
blood flow in the right temporal lobe.^3 A
A Why would activitation go up? Because the secondary personality can
access many of the Mercy experiences which the core personality has
suppressed. Accessing Mercy memories would activate the region of the
brain which contains the Mercy „storage shed.‟