Comments on: BBC Column: political genes

By: tomstafford

tomstafford — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 11:30:32 +0000

James
I am not a medical professional, and pretty much all I know about hypnic jerks is in the article you read, so for both these reasons, I doubt I can help. Apologies
Tom

By: jhbombardier

jhbombardier — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:31:41 +0000

Tom Stafford,

I am writing this comment to you because I wish to communicate with you about a recent article about Hypnic Jerks, I don’t do Twitter and wish to communicate with via email.

I am a 64 yr. old miracle survivor (am told) of a bicycle/SUV crash where I took the side mirror OFF with the back of my helmeted head at American highway speed 55mph….and am doing amazing well….6.5 years out now.
That said for the past 19 months, recently mostly resolved, I have been experiencing a full body twitch when I tried to meditate or in some instances just relax. If you think that further information about my experience could be mutually beneficial, please contact me via email.

Thank you for your consideration.

James Bombardier

By: 1weaver

1weaver — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:54:12 +0000

wish you had a ‘like’ button – but then i would just wear it out!

By: Raymond Zervaas

Raymond Zervaas — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 10:05:20 +0000

Well, with a bit of effort this should make a fine new entry in the next version of DSM :
-POD
Political Opinion Disorder, a neurobiological disorder (it shows up on fMRI) and genetic ailment, that affects almost 99% of the population. Finally an exciting new oportunity for the pharmaceuticals to develop the blockbusters of the future.

By: tomstafford

tomstafford — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:34:13 +0000

@pause88 you speak about the brain with massively more confidence than is warranted by our current state of knowledge

By: pause88

pause88 — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:24:46 +0000

It actually comes down to two structures in the brain that balance each other and which one is dominant. The amygdala handles threat assessment and has been found to be more developed in people with conservative leanings. The complementary structure is the anterior cingulate circuit, which modulates attention, but also seems to assist in seeing the shades of grey to an issue. This tends to be more developed in liberals. Behaviorally, this can be stregthened with such things as meditation and hypnosis. I’m not sure about strengthening the amygdlala, but there is tremendous plasticity to our brains, so I’m guessing it’s possible. Interestingly, as we age, statistically we become more liberal. This also corresponds to older adults having reduced ability for threat assessment (and becoming happier) with age.

Of course, there is a genetic component to our brain anatomy, but nothing is fixed.

By: kjmtchl

kjmtchl — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 10:06:27 +0000

The assertion that there is simply not enough information in the human genome to “tell us everything” is trivially correct in one sense (in that the organism develops in an interaction with its environment) but quite mistaken in another, if you base it on the fact that we “only” have 20,000 genes, as if that meant there were only 20,000 bits of information in the genome. That’s like saying the works of Shakespeare have only 26 bits of information because they only use the 26 letters of the alphabet. The genetic program for development of an organism includes all the genetically encoded instructions for turning on and off all those 20,000 genes and entails the emergent properties arising from the myriad interactions between them.

Regarding genetic influences on politics they start to look less outlandish if you think of them as affecting traits like harm avoidance, group loyalty, empathy, etc. You’re right of course that even these traits emerge over development as a person with particular genetics interacts with their social and cultural environment.

By: Barb

Barb — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 05:07:02 +0000

Hmmm I don’t know about this. But the identical twin study does seem to give it some validity. I know that I have shifted my politics through the years but this election have been more close to my roots. But I come from a very political family so there is influence there.

By: tomstafford

tomstafford — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:26:12 +0000

@john, it must have been a copy/paste error when I was posting the article into WordPress. Thanks for pointing it out. And glad you liked the article

By: John Roth

John Roth — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:46:38 +0000

Excellent. Is there any reason why the word “refusing” appears at the end of two paragraphs?