Chapter 11: Personality
Dopamine is basically a motivational chemical, meaning that lack of it will make an individual lethargic or immobile, while excess can cause schizophrenia. Dean Hamer shows in a study that D4DR correlates with novelty seeking behavior. Additionally, therapists found that depathologizing people’s personalities and reassuring them that their personality is innate rather than some learned flaw helped them to improve their self-esteem. Personality and behavior can also be influenced by diet, specifically cholesterol intake. Antisocial and depressed people have been shown to have lower cholesterol levels, because there is a correlation between cholesterol and serotonin, a chemical similar to dopamine. Lower cholesterol levels mean lower serotonin levels which usually indicate depression or violent desires.
Citation:
Dopamine is basically a motivational chemical, meaning that lack of it will make an individual lethargic or immobile, while excess can cause schizophrenia. Dean Hamer shows in a study that D4DR correlates with novelty seeking behavior. Additionally, therapists found that depathologizing people’s personalities and reassuring them that their personality is innate rather than some learned flaw helped them to improve their self-esteem. Personality and behavior can also be influenced by diet, specifically cholesterol intake. Antisocial and depressed people have been shown to have lower cholesterol levels, because there is a correlation between cholesterol and serotonin, a chemical similar to dopamine. Lower cholesterol levels mean lower serotonin levels which usually indicate depression or violent desires.
Citation:
Ridley, Matt. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters. New York: HarperCollins, 1999. Print.
