Neurobiology of The Seven Deadly Sins

Well, this blog is going to start off with a weasily disclaimer: I’m not a neuroscientist.

I’m interested in people who lack the empathy chip, the office-Machiavellians, white collar sub-criminals, or perhaps burned out their white matter from addiction. Perhaps I notice this in my own environs (basic middle-class America), more than the straight-forward criminal element. Yes, this is armchair neuropsychology, and no, I’m probably not qualified to be making any judgments. Really, I’m trying to understand the way people think, probably my own nature is to focus on the people who seem to think most differently from me. Or maybe that’s only what I think.

The neuroscientists talk about “mind” and “brain” to parse out free will from the neuroscience, biological and chemical muck. My bias is that this is a distinction without a difference. My hunch is that most behavior has organic correlates, and probably causation. (Note, “correlated” not “caused” — big difference. )

I have no bias or connections to anyone in academia or industry on this one. I can’t analyze or critique the data because I’ve never conducted experiments in this area, and really don’t know much about how to come up with statistically sound results. And we all know that 85% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

Ok, having gotten through the disclaimers and forward looking statements, I’d like to start this blog again, with a little drama:

September and October will be the Seven Deadly Sins months! After all, the holidays are just around the corner.

Hieronymus Bosch, The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things

Behavior traits such as Accidia (Sloth), Luxuria (Lust, Lechery), Superbia (Pride), Ira (Wrath, Anger), Invidia (Envy), Avaritia (Greed, Avarice), and Gula (Gluttony) can relate to the functional aspects of the brain — anatomical, cellular, genetic, or molecular (and these aspects, of course, overlap themselves).

Neurobiology of the “seven deadly sins” is not original, and the paradigm is pretty compelling. See after the jump, Ideggyogy Sz. 2003 Nov 20;56(11-12):376-85 [Serotonin dysfunctions in the background of the seven deadly sins][Article in Hungarian]Janka Z.Szegedi Tudományegyetem, Pszichiátriai Klinika, H-6725 Szeged, Semmelweis u. 6.:

1: Ideggyogy Sz. 2003 Nov 20;56(11-12):376-85.
[Serotonin dysfunctions in the background of the seven deadly sins]
[Article in Hungarian]Janka Z.Szegedi Tudományegyetem, Pszichiátriai Klinika, H-6725 Szeged, Semmelweis u. 6.
janka@nepsy.szote.u-szeged.hu
The symbolic characters of the Seven Deadly Sins can be traced from time to time in the cultural history of human mankind, being directly specified in certain artistic products. Such are, among others, the painting entitled “The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Lost Things” by Hieronymus Bosch and the poems Divina Commedia and The Foerie Queene by Dante Alighieri and Edmund Spenser, respectively. However, there are several paragraphs referring to these behaviours of the Seven Deadly Sins in the Bible and in the dramas of William Shakespeare. The objective of the present review is to propose that dysfunctions in the central serotonergic system might be involved in the neurobiology of these ‘sinful’ behaviour patterns. Evidences indicate that behaviour traits such as Accidia (Sloth), Luxuria (Lust, Lechery), Superbia (Pride), Ira (Wrath, Anger), Invidia (Envy), Avaritia (Greed, Avarice), and Gula (Gluttony) can relate to the functional alterations of serotonin in the brain. Results of biochemical and molecular genetic (polymorphism) studies on the human serotonergic system
(receptor, transporter, enzyme), findings of functional imaging techniques, effects of depletion (or supplementation) of the serotonin precursor tryptophan, data of challenge probe investigations directed to testing central serotonergic functions, alterations in the peripheral serotonin measures (platelet), and the changes in the CSF 5-hydroxy-indoleacetic acid content indicate such serotonergic
involvement. Furthermore, results of animal experiments on behaviour change (aggressive, dominant or submissive, appetite, alcohol preference) attributed to serotonin status modification and the clinically evidenced therapeutic efficacy of pharmacological interventions, based on the modulation and perturbation of the serotonergic system (e.g. selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), in treating the ‘sinful’ behaviour forms and analogous pathological states reaching the severity of psychiatric disorders (depression, sexual disturbances, social phobia, impulsivity-aggression, obsessive-compulsive and related spectrum disorders, paranoid jealousy, eating disorders) all strongly suggest the possibility that brain serotonin dysfunctions might underlie the neurophysiology of the Seven Deadly Sins.
PMID: 14743592 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Tags: Hieronymus Bosch, Seven deadly sins