Where is My Personality, Exactly?

When I sat in my university Psychology 101 class (ahem, cough) 30 years ago, the overall argument was whether our personalities and behaviors came from our environment or our family-line. What is exciting for me to see today, in my research for this series, is the scientific breakthrough we have witnessed over the last 30-40 years, in this area of the study of ourselves!

Now we can know the answer to that above debate is no longer one or the other; it is simply BOTH.

In this week’s article, we are going to begin our focus on the physical aspect. One. Layer. At. A. Time.

The latest technologies around the Human Genome Project, the invention of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, and the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans, have given us AMAZING insights to our brains and overall physical make-up!

Jennifer Ouellette is a science journalist and author. I came across her brilliant book, Me, Myself, and Why: Searching for the Science of Self, while researching at the library. I took her word on these things when I saw the hundreds of people and places she acknowledged in her writing of this book.
She states,

“Genes form the biological scaffolding upon which all else is constructed, most noticeably the brain. While we are still in the womb, genes are churning out proteins to regulate body and brain development, and this in turn influences any number of traits.”

Overwhelmed? That’s okay, stay with me! Because…

“If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t.” -Emersch M. Pugh

So, Genes…
In 2003, the Human Genome Project opened the world of our DNA and the Double-Helix to us. Now we have nifty services like 23andMe where you can fill up their cup with your saliva (yeah, a little gross), mail it back to them, and they will churn out a report all about you.

AMAAAAAZIIIIIING!!!!

Seriously though. From there, it gets even more mind-blowing…

Next to enter are these players in our Neuro-Stage Play: Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Vasopressin. These actors are neurochemicals.
How our genes engineered our brains to govern the flow, receive, and respond to these neurochemicals was also the construct of our personalities!

Chew on that awhile. I’ll come back next week with more on those different players and what they do to us as they dance upon our prefrontal cortex-stage.

Whoo! I’m having fun! Are you?

I hope to catch you next week.