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August 28, 2022 - November 1, 2025
In the end, the fundamental obstacle to achieving harmony is that the liberal brain is different from the conservative brain, and that makes it difficult for them to understand each other. Because politics is an adversarial game, this lack of understanding leads to demonization of the other side.
Most conservatives just want to be left alone. They want the freedom to make their own decisions based on their own values. Most liberals want to help people live better lives. Their goal is for everyone to be healthier, safer, and free from discrimination. But political leaders benefit from stirring up hostility between the two groups because it strengthens the allegiance of their followers. The important thing to remember is that liberals want to help people become better, conservatives want to let people be happy, and politicians want power.
What happens when the servant becomes the master? In which dopamine ensures the survival of early humans and the extinction of the human race.
Research on mice has shown that drugs that boost dopamine also increase exploratory behavior. Mice given these drugs move around their cages more and are less timid about entering unfamiliar environments. So could dopamine have helped propel early humans out of Africa and across the globe?
A dopamine receptor’s job is to wait for a dopamine molecule to come along and bind to it. Binding sets off a cascade of chemical reactions inside the cell that changes the way the cell behaves.
Recall that genes come in different varieties called alleles. Alleles represent slight variations in the coding of genes that give people different characteristics. People who have a long form of the DRD4 gene, such as the 7R allele, are more likely to take risks. They pursue new experiences because they have a low tolerance for boredom.
Once it was established that the 7R allele of the DRD4 gene was related to how far a population migrated, the next question was why? How did the 7R allele become more common in far-flung populations? The obvious answer is that dopamine makes people seek out more. It makes them restless and dissatisfied. It makes them long for something better. These are exactly the kinds of people who would leave an established community to go out and explore the unknown.
Not everyone gets stressed by change, though. A new job, a new city, even a whole new career can be exciting and energizing for people with dopaminergic personalities. They thrive in unfamiliar environments. In prehistoric times, they were more likely to cope well despite radical changes in their way of life.
Of course, carriers of the 7R allele weren’t well suited to every environment. People with dopaminergic personalities may do well when coping with novel situations, but they often have difficulty with relationships. That’s important because skillful social functioning also provides an evolutionary advantage. No matter how big, how strong, or how smart a person is, he’s not going to be able to compete with people who work together as a group. Individuals shouldn’t fight gangs. In this situation, when the need for cooperation is paramount, a dopaminergic personality is a liability.
The farther a population migrated, the greater the frequency of the 7R allele. It didn’t start them moving, but it did help them survive as they went along.
The farther a population migrated, the greater the frequency of the 7R allele. It didn’t start them moving, but it did help them survive as they went along.
But schizophrenia is not the only illness characterized by excessive dopamine activity. Bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic-depressive illness, also has a dopaminergic component, and the condition seems to be linked to immigration.
But schizophrenia is not the only illness characterized by excessive dopamine activity. Bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic-depressive illness, also has a dopaminergic component,and the condition seems to be linked to immigration.
Worldwide, about 2.4 percent of the population has bipolar disorder, but it is more common among certain groups. Researchers in Iceland found that people who worked in creative fields such as dancing, acting, music, and writing were about 25 percent more likely to have bipolar disorder compared to those with noncreative jobs.
Worldwide, about 2.4 percent of the population has bipolar disorder, but it is more common among certain groups. Researchers in Iceland found that people who worked in creative fields such as dancing, acting, music, and writing were about 25 percent morelikely to have bipolar disorder compared to those with noncreative jobs.
One might conceptualize the extraordinary brain as being similar to a high-performance sports car. It’s capable of doing incredible things, but it breaks down easily. Dopamine drives intelligence, creativity, and hard work, but it can also make people behave in bizarre ways. Excessive dopamine activity isn’t the only problem in bipolar mania, but it plays an important role.
One might conceptualize the extraordinary brain as being similar to a high-performance sports car. It’s capable of doing incredible things, but it breaks down easily. Dopamine drives intelligence, creativity, and hard work, but it can also make people behave in bizarre ways. Excessive dopamineactivity isn’t the only problem in bipolar mania, but it plays an important role.
When a dopamine-producing cell fires, it releases its store of dopamine, which then binds to receptors on other brain cells. Then, to bring the interaction to an end, the dopamine transporter sucks the dopamine back into the cell where it came from so the process can start all over again. The transporter is sometimes called a reuptake pump because it pumps the dopamine back into the cell. What happens when the transporter doesn’t function normally? We can answer this question by looking at the behavior of people who abuse cocaine. Cocaine blocks the dopamine transporter like a sock shoved into
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When a dopamine-producing cell fires, it releases its store of dopamine, which then binds to receptors on other brain cells. Then, to bring the interaction to an end, the dopamine transporter sucks the dopamine back into the cell where it came from so the process can start all over again. The transporter is sometimes called a reuptake pump because it pumps the dopamine back into the cell. What happens when the transporter doesn’t function normally? We can answer this question by looking at the behavior of people who abuse cocaine. Cocaine blocks the dopaminetransporter like a sock shoved into a vacuum cleaner nozzle. The blockage allows the dopamine to interact with its receptor over and over again.
Is it possible that minor dysfunction in the dopamine transporter—just a few risk genes or genes that have only a mild effect—could give people “itchy feet,” so to speak? Might that play a role in the decision to leave one’s home and seek new opportunities in a foreign country?
Is it possible that minor dysfunction in the dopamine transporter—just a few risk genes or genes that have only a mild effect—could give people “itchy feet,” so to speak? Might that play a role in the decision to leaveone’s home and seek new opportunities in a foreign country?
The United States is populated almost entirely by immigrants and their descendants. It also has the highest rate of bipolar disorder: 4.4 percent, which is about twice the rate of the rest of the world. Are the two related? Japan, which has almost no immigration, has a bipolar rate of 0.7 percent, one of the lowest in the world.
The United States is populated almost entirely by immigrants and their descendants. It also has the highest rate of bipolar disorder: 4.4 percent, which is about twice the rate of the rest of the world. Are the two related? Japan, which has almost no immigration,has a bipolar rate of 0.7 percent, one of the lowest in the world.
