Biology and Human Behavior: The Neurological Origins of Individuality, - Robert Sapolsky

Written by Robert Sapolsky
Read by Robert Sapolsky
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: The Great Courses
Release date: January 1, 2006
Duration: 12:20:14

When are we responsible for our own actions, and when are we in the grip of biological forces beyond our control? What determines whom we will fall in love with, the intensity of our spiritual lives, the degree of our aggressive impulses? These questions fall into the scientific province of behavioral biology, the field that explores interactions between the brain, mind, body, and environment that have a surprising influence on how we behave. In short, how our brains make us the individuals we are.

In this series of 24 fascinating lectures by a prominent neurobiologist, zoologist, and MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant recipient, you’ll investigate how the human brain is sculpted by evolution, constrained or freed by genes, shaped by early experience, modulated by hormones, and otherwise influenced to produce a wide range of behaviors, some of them abnormal. And you’ll learn how little can be explained by thinking about any of these factors alone, because some combination of influences is almost always at work.

Professor Sapolsky includes a provocative exploration of the implications of our emerging understanding of the origins of individual differences, considering such questions as: How much do these insights threaten our own sense of self and individuality? Where do we draw the line between the essence of the person and the biological abnormalities? What counts as being ill? Who is biologically impaired, and who is just different? As more and more subtle abnormalities of neurobiology are understood, how much should we worry about the temptation to label people as “abnormal”? And what happens when we each have a few of these labels?

“The practice of lecturing started with the Greeks, when books were so rare that few but the very rich had access to them. These audio lectures are by university professors selected by The Teaching Company for their intellectual distinction and teaching excellence. Course 179 (of which this book is part) is too complex to listen to in long stretches, but an hour in the morning for eight days with this Stanford lecturer has updated my basic understanding of neurochemistry. Touching upon steroids, Alzheimer’s disease, and hallucinogenic drugs, Professor Sapolsky relates an esoteric science to the world we live in. A course outline, diagrams, and comprehensive questions contribute to maximum learning potential.:—AudioFile