Laura recommended reading this book on the Forgotten Exodus thread:
The book is excellent, chock-full of fascinating insights into the function of dopamine in shaping evolution, our minds, our societies, and cultures. It's extremely detailed (I will give a general overview here) but still easy to read.
Previc's thesis is that dopamine plays a privileged role in the evolution of humanity's advanced intellect. His arguments boil down to the fact that:
However, Previc takes this birds eye view and brings it down to microscopic detail. The major dopamine systems have their origin in several different cell groups near the top of the mid brain in a region known as the tegmentum. The two primary systems he discusses are the ventromedial (through the limbic system) and the lateral prefrontal (connected to the prefrontal cortex). The latter are involved in strategic thinking, self control, and ordered action towards a goal, while the former are responsible more for our creative and instinctive/sexual urges. Previc writes:
At this point Previc introduces the idea of two distinct dopaminergic personalities - those more serious minded and those more creative/impulsive. Damage to the lateral/nigrostriatal system, which is deeply aligned with the prefrontal cortex, produces major damage to cognitive abilities. However, damage to the ventromedial system produces more OCD and substance abuse disorders, where there are dysfunctional motivational/reward/inhibition mechanisms. Hyper or hypodopaminergic personalities thus manifest disturbances in either of these two ways. Dopamine also inhibits seretonin, with leading to hyperdopaminergic personalities having 'cold' and 'distant' personality features.
Dopamine also mediates and enables motor behavior, specifically activity involved in:
As Eiriu Eolas practitioners may remember, when people look upward they can increase their focus while if they look downward they slow their thinking down. Well these systems, and the activation of dopamine pathways, is Previc's explanation why. Importantly, dopamine is involved in 'action' and 'focus' in the extrapersonal spheres and 'upper' space, where we must think, strategize, and order our behavior in order to gain a specific result. On page 42 Previc writes:
Here is a graph depicting the rise in dopamine over time:
Previc discusses the fact that no new genes have been found in the human genome which can account for this increase in dopamine over the course of history. However, he argues that maternal factors can account for the steady increase over time, specifically under the following pressures:
The dark side of increased dopamine: An increase in disorders involving dopamine dysfunction, including ADHD, workaholism, autism, Huntington's disease, Mania, OCD, Parkinson's disease, Phenylkentonuria, schizophrenia, and Tourette's syndrome.
Previc also writes about the 6 pillars of a hyperdopaminergic society. They are:
I also found it interesting that liberals have a D4 dopamine gene that differentiates them from conservatives:
A very thought-provoking book into how powerful one neurotransmitter, and its effects, can drastically shape the course of history.
The book is excellent, chock-full of fascinating insights into the function of dopamine in shaping evolution, our minds, our societies, and cultures. It's extremely detailed (I will give a general overview here) but still easy to read.
Previc's thesis is that dopamine plays a privileged role in the evolution of humanity's advanced intellect. His arguments boil down to the fact that:
- Dopamine is highly concentrated in all nonhuman species with advanced intelligence;
- Only dopamine has expanded throughout primate and hominid evolution;
- Dopamine is especially rich in the prefrontal cortex
However, Previc takes this birds eye view and brings it down to microscopic detail. The major dopamine systems have their origin in several different cell groups near the top of the mid brain in a region known as the tegmentum. The two primary systems he discusses are the ventromedial (through the limbic system) and the lateral prefrontal (connected to the prefrontal cortex). The latter are involved in strategic thinking, self control, and ordered action towards a goal, while the former are responsible more for our creative and instinctive/sexual urges. Previc writes:
At this point Previc introduces the idea of two distinct dopaminergic personalities - those more serious minded and those more creative/impulsive. Damage to the lateral/nigrostriatal system, which is deeply aligned with the prefrontal cortex, produces major damage to cognitive abilities. However, damage to the ventromedial system produces more OCD and substance abuse disorders, where there are dysfunctional motivational/reward/inhibition mechanisms. Hyper or hypodopaminergic personalities thus manifest disturbances in either of these two ways. Dopamine also inhibits seretonin, with leading to hyperdopaminergic personalities having 'cold' and 'distant' personality features.
Dopamine also mediates and enables motor behavior, specifically activity involved in:
- exploratory (seeking) behavior more than proximal social grooming;
- anticipatory behavior more than consummatory behavior (the 'I want' rather than 'feels good') ;
- sexual activity more than feeding;
- active male sexual behavior more than receptive female behavior (and also helps explain why the 'patriarchy' exists)
- saccadic (ballistic) eye movements more than smooth-pursuit eye movements; and
- upward movements more than downward ones.
As Eiriu Eolas practitioners may remember, when people look upward they can increase their focus while if they look downward they slow their thinking down. Well these systems, and the activation of dopamine pathways, is Previc's explanation why. Importantly, dopamine is involved in 'action' and 'focus' in the extrapersonal spheres and 'upper' space, where we must think, strategize, and order our behavior in order to gain a specific result. On page 42 Previc writes:
Here is a graph depicting the rise in dopamine over time:
Previc discusses the fact that no new genes have been found in the human genome which can account for this increase in dopamine over the course of history. However, he argues that maternal factors can account for the steady increase over time, specifically under the following pressures:
- a physiological adaptation to a thermally stressful environment(which requires dopamine to activate heat-loss mechanisms);
- increased meat and shellfish consumption (which led to greater supplies of dopamine precursors and conversion of them into dopamine);
- demographic pressures that increased competition for resources and rewarded dopaminergically mediated achievement-motivation;
- a switch to bipedalism,which led to asymmetric vestibular exposure in fetuses during maternal locomotion and resting and ultimately elevated dopamine in the left hemisphere of most humans
- major increases in the adaptive value of dopaminergic traits such as achievement,conquest,aggression, and masculinity beginning with late-Neolithic societies.
Previc also writes about the 6 pillars of a hyperdopaminergic society. They are:
- Masculine dominance
- Drive to explore
- Pursuit of wealth
- Glorification of military conquest
- Belief in the omnipotence of technology
- Predominance of anthropocentric and hierarchical religious institutions
I also found it interesting that liberals have a D4 dopamine gene that differentiates them from conservatives:
While we know that it's impossible to say a gene 'causes' this or that, it would be interesting if further research revealed what role this gene was playing, especially given the powerful role dopamine plays in the construction of our character.
A very thought-provoking book into how powerful one neurotransmitter, and its effects, can drastically shape the course of history.
