Basic Instincts: The Robert Sapolsky Edition

THE BIOLOGY OR OUR BEST AND WORST SELVES - ROBERT SAPOLSKY

A quick review this week of one of the top 10 TED video's that I have watched. Beginning with vivid imagery of what he do would do if he ever had Hitler - Sapolsky used one of history's most prominently polarising and evocative figures to highlight our complicated relationship with violence.

In this talk, he cautions against believing in or forming firm causalities with respect to behaviour. Instead, he emphasises the difficult and significant task of exploring “the biology of the context of behaviour”.

Using his example, we outline his framework, the various levels of causality of behaviour (with some additional resources) today. Consider yourself, someone who possesses a gun, in an ambiguous situation where a stranger comes running at you holding something. In that situation of uncertainty, you pull the trigger. It turns out, the person was, in fact, holding a cell phone.

What led to this moment?

What was going on in your brain one second before you pulled the trigger?

The fear response starts in a region of the brain called the amygdala. This almond-shaped set of nuclei in the temporal lobe of the brain is dedicated to detecting the emotional salience of the stimuli – how much something stands out to us.

What was happening hours to days before?

Hormones like testosterone (in both men and women), when elevated, impact the functioning of the amygdala, with the use of neurochemicals, making it more active and leading to a more unstable fear response.

Is there a relevance of what was happening to you weeks / months before?
Neural Plasticity helps to automate repeated behaviours to rewire your brain.

Let's take a step back to a few years ago. Is your experience in adolescence important?
Frontal cortex controls executive function. It is one of the last parts of the brain to develop (mid 20's), and it regulates important behaviours for our societal integration and assimilation.

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