Dr. Paul D.

MacLean, a neuroscientist and psychiatrist who developed the intriguing theory

of the triune brain to explain its evolution and to try to reconcile rational human behavior
with its more primal and violent side, died on Dec. ! in Potomac, Md. "e was #$. Dr.
MacLean%s death was confirmed by his family.
&n the late '#$(s, while he was a young researcher at )ale, Dr. MacLean became interested in
the brain%s control of emotion and behavior. *fter initial studies of brain activity in epileptic
patients, he turned to cats, mon+eys and other models, using electrodes to stimulate different
parts of the brain in conscious animals. "e then recorded the animals% responses and, in the
'#,(s, began to trace individual behaviors li+e aggression and sexual arousal to their
physiological sources.
Dr. MacLean -pronounced mac.L*/01 termed the brain%s center of emotions the limbic
system, and described an area that includes structures called the hippocampus and amygdala.
Developing observations made by Dr. 2ames 3. Pape4 of 5ornell, he proposed that the limbic
system had evolved in early mammals to control fight.or.flight responses and react to both
emotionally pleasurable and painful sensations. 6he concept is now broadly accepted in
neuroscience.
Dr. MacLean said that the idea of the limbic system leads to a recognition that its presence
represents the history of the evolution of mammals and their distinctive family way of life.
&n the '#!(s, Dr. MacLean enlarged his theory to address the human brain%s overall structure
and divided its evolution into three parts, an idea that he termed the triune brain. &n addition
to identifying the limbic system, he pointed to a more primitive brain called the 7.complex,
related to reptiles, which controls basic functions li+e muscle movement and breathing. 6he
third part, the neocortex, controls speech and reasoning and is the most recent evolutionary
arrival.
&n Dr. MacLean%s theory, all three systems remain in place and in fre8uent competition9
indeed, their conflicts help explain extremes in human behavior.
&n the '#:(s and %;(s, aspects of Dr. MacLean%s model were populari4ed by the astronomer
5arl <agan and the novelist *rthur =oestler.
6he triune brain theory remains controversial. Dr. 6homas 7. &nsel, a neuroscientist and
director of the /ational &nstitute of Mental "ealth in 7oc+ville, Md., said the theory was
outside the mainstream of scientific effort, but added that Dr. MacLean%s research had
opened the door for neuroscience to as+ big 8uestions about consciousness and philosophy,
instead of the more tractable 8uestions about vision and movement.
Paul Donald MacLean was born in Phelps, /.). "e graduated from the 6aft <chool and )ale,
where he also earned his medical degree in '#$(.
Dr. MacLean was named an assistant professor of psychiatry at )ale in '#,'. "e later became
an associate professor of physiology there before moving to the /ational &nstitute of Mental
"ealth in '#,:. *t the institute, he was chief of the Laboratory of >rain 0volution and
>ehavior in Poolesville, Md., and retired in the early '##(s.
&n '##(, Dr. MacLean explained his theory in a boo+ intended for specialists, 6he 6riune
>rain in 0volution? 7ole in Paleocerebral @unctions.
Dr. MacLean%s wife of !$ years, the former *lison <to+es, died in ((!. 6he couple lived in
Mitchellville, Md., and on Arindstone &sland, near 5layton, /.).
"e is survived by a daughter, *lison 5assidy of Potomac9 four sons, *lexander, of Lincoln,
Mass.9 David, an endocrinologist, of Middletown, 7.&.9 2ames, of 7oc+ville, Md.9 and Paul
2r., of )or+, /.).9 a brother, the 7ev. >urton MacLean of Pomfret, 5onn.9 and 'B
grandchildren.
3riting in 6he /ew )or+ 6imes in '#:' and surveying the problem of intolerance and
violence worldwide, Dr. MacLean found that language barriers among nations present great
obstacles.
>ut the greatest language barrier, he concluded, lies between man and his animal brains9
the neural machinery does not exist for intercommunication in verbal terms.