Dick Swaab is a Dutch neuroscientist. 1978 to 2005 headed the Netherlands Institute of the Brain, in 1985 founded the Netherlands Brain Bank, on the basis of which research on brain diseases is conducted. Now the professor specializes in the study of Alzheimer's disease (senile dementia). In 2011, Svaab's book “We are our brain. From the womb to Alzheimer's”, which has been translated into many languages and became a world bestseller.
Dr. Svaab, in your book you assure that everything depends on the brain: our individuality, and health, and political views. Moreover, the foundations of all this are laid at the very beginning of the development of the brain - in the womb. How does this happen?
- Let's start with political views. You may be surprised, but studies show that 78 - 82% of them are determined by genetics, that is, the set of genes that we inherit from our parents. It has been noticed that the beliefs of the child are often the same as those of the father and mother. There were also experiments on twins: they were separated, they lived in different conditions and environments, but later it turned out that political views are very close.
Are you saying that political preferences can be inherited?
- Yes it is. But other factors, of course, influence to a lesser extent. For example, marital status. Research shows that single women are more liberal and married women are more conservative. Hormones also affect: during ovulation (when the egg is ready for fertilization), girls are more inclined to vote for liberals.
- They also say that young people are more liberal, and with age they tend to conservatism
- Yes, there is such a saying: if you are not a liberal in your youth, you have no heart, and if you are a liberal in old age, then you have no brain (laughs). There is some truth in this.
It turns out that adherence to liberal views is more associated with unconscious decisions that are characteristic of youth, and people choose conservatism more deliberately and rationally?
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- Good idea, you need to think.
- And what is love from the point of view of the brain? How does it arise ?
- Oh, it's a complex system. It includes falling in love, sex drive, long-term affection, and procreation. Moreover, all this can be present separately - depending on the circumstances. The main stage of love is choosing a partner. Whatever civilization comes up with, everything is determined by the desire to reproduce. And the most striking, exciting thing is that our brain makes its choice subconsciously. But this does not mean at all that when a person falls in love, no decision has been made. It is.
People often say that they fell in love at first sight - how does the brain manage to make a decision so quickly?
- For those moments when falling in love is born, the brain at the subconscious level has time to receive and analyze signals in order to make a decision, without even connecting a person's consciousness to this. By the way, psychological research shows that the most serious, large-scale decisions are made more correctly when it is done intuitively, subconsciously, than after a long analysis. For example, when you buy a house, you can make a whole list of advantages and disadvantages, but this does not mean that you will be able to correctly prioritize one or the other. And the brain makes such a calculation subconsciously much more efficiently.
That is, in life, making decisions intuitively is generally better than after long deliberation?
- I think so. Freud also said that if he needs to make a not very important decision, then it takes days. And if this is a fateful decision, then it is made with lightning speed. This is confirmed by modern scientific data. From practice, we can give an example with chess players: leading grandmasters cannot compete with a computer in terms of calculating a composition, but they make decisions intuitively, and this allows them to outperform electronic machines. Although, it must be borne in mind that the intuition of professionals is also based on a lot of experience. Another example is doctors: often an experienced physician makes a diagnosis as soon as he sees a patient.
And yet why is there an attraction between two specific people? What does our brain bite on?
- Firstly, the symmetry of the face of the opposite sex. It reflects good heredity that can be passed on to descendants. Also, the man's brain responds to features that indicate a high level of the female hormone estrogen: plump lips, breasts, hips.
- But there are many attractive people, and we fall in love seriously and for a long time with one single person
- Each brain is different, so it chooses a certain combination of attractive factors.
Some scientists believe that, looking into a person's face, we subconsciously feel the genotype - variants of his genes and assess their suitability for successful procreation. That is, it turns out that the brain calculates the combinations of our genes with the future lover and decides whether the game is worth the candle?
- In my opinion, there have not yet been full-fledged studies on this topic, but it is quite likely that this is so.
You write in the book that culture and language seriously affect the development of the brain. Let's take a look at Russia. On the one hand, she gave the world a lot of talented writers, composers and artists. On the other hand, Russians have such well-known problems as laziness and a tendency to abuse alcohol. All these traits arose thanks to the Slavic culture, or are they genetically embedded in us?
- In Russia there was a mixture of peoples. Therefore, I would share: there are great scientists, poets and musicians, and there are those who are lazy and drink. At the same time, studies show, for example, that Eastern and Western peoples have different variants of neurotransmitters - proteins that transmit signals between nerve cells. Because of this, Western people are more selfish, independent, self-confident. And the Eastern people are more generous, sacrificial, inclined to collectivism.
And what role does the language itself play?
- Language is a stimulant of brain development. There is evidence that if a child knows two languages from childhood, then in the future, the development of Alzheimer's disease, that is, senile dementia, is delayed for at least 5 years.
Maybe there are some most useful languages? Chinese, for example, probably trains the brain more strongly than others - there are so many hieroglyphs in it
- The beneficial effect of learning languages has been found in different parts of the world, so I would hardly single out any particular languages. But, if you can master Chinese as a second language, then this, of course, will be a great advantage, - the professor laughs.
I'm afraid I won't. Please advise what else helps to keep the brain in good shape and slow down its aging?
- Good education is very important - this is also the prevention of Alzheimer's. And also your job. The brain develops much better if this is not a routine, but a process when you face new challenges, master previously unfamiliar skills, and solve unexpected problems. By the way, this also applies to other activities, hobbies - try to constantly learn something new. Here's a top tip: if you want to live longer with a clear mind and solid memory, your whole life must be a study.
What about sports? Those who are too lazy to go to the gym will probably like your statement that there is little benefit from physical education. However, a lot of research confirms that athletic people are healthier and live longer
- I do not deny it. I just think that cause and effect are confused. In fact, there is no clear evidence that it is sport that makes life healthier and longer. It is possible that people who are healthy from birth are themselves inclined to exercise. That is, if you like movement, then you are initially healthy. It’s not the other way around: you’ve earned good health because you played sports. On the other hand, if a person has a categorical dislike of physical education, then it is likely that he has a latent, not yet discovered disease.
But all the same, the intensive brain exercises I mentioned are most useful: learning languages, education, acquiring new skills. At the same time, people spend a lot of calories. If you look into the halls where serious scientific conferences are held, then you will hardly see fat people among scientists.
Do you think God exists?
- The chances are so small that they can be neglected. The entire scientific experience of mankind shows that there is no God.
Does a person have a soul?
- It is necessary to clearly distinguish between two concepts: consciousness and soul. Consciousness is actually an active, working brain. And the soul, in the minds of many people, is what remains after death. Some people believe that the soul is a substance that weighs 21 grams (smiles). But in fact, all this is mysticism. We are not so important to nature and evolution that after our death something remains of us. Of course, there is no soul.
But if there is no God, then why did different religions arise in different parts of the world independently of each other?
- Religion gives a person a number of advantages. Most importantly, he becomes part of the team. When people are not alone, they feel stronger and safer, they can ask for help, including from above.
That is, faith in God helps to live?
- On the one hand, yes, but on the other hand, we must remember that there is a lot of danger in religion. For example, more than half of all wars have been caused by religious divisions.
Why do some people believe in God, while others do not?
- Research has shown that there are some changes in genes that increase the tendency to be religious. But also the role of education, intellectual level cannot be denied. For example, in the United States there are now 80 to 90% believers, but at the same time there are 39% of scientists, 2% of academics, and no one among the Nobel laureates in science believes in God. I would say the higher the IQ, the less religious a person is. Moreover, it can be predicted: as people become more and more educated in modern society, they will become less religious and inclined to believe in prejudices.
But if you recall recent history, then, for example, in the USSR, most were atheists, and now in Russia there are a lot of believers. How can this be explained?
- In the Soviet Union, people from childhood were brought up in a non-religious environment. And after the collapse of the USSR, there was a lot of support for the faith, it became profitable and fashionable, we see the interpenetration of the state and religion. And this plays a significant role. At the same time, we still need to figure out whether this is true religiosity. There is a well-known example of China, where religion, which was under strict ban during the time of Mao Zedong, became more accessible. People began to perform religious rites more often, but this is more likely not a deep faith, but a superficial, formal adherence to the canons. Thus, the Chinese often go to church only when their child enters the university - to ask God for help in solving a purely utilitarian issue.
How do you explain the tunnel with the light at the end, which people see when they are clinically dead?
- It's all about the lack of oxygen. With clinical death, its supply to the head worsens, the function in the brain is disturbed, which is responsible for the objective perception of the body in space. And then our brain begins to paint fantastic pictures: "soaring over the body", some tunnels, etc.
- Some more have prophetic dreams
- During sleep, individual shots from real life may pop up in front of a person. Someone thinks that this is a transition to another reality or foresight of the future. In fact, during sleep, our brain simply sorts out the information received from the senses during the past day. A small part of it is "recorded" and remains in our memory, and the brain erases everything else - as when cleaning a computer hard drive. In the course of this sorting, the very fragments of real life can flicker before the sleeper's eyes. So no mysticism.
For any society, moral standards are very important. How are they born - under the influence of religion or is it the result of natural development in the course of evolution?
- Based on religious beliefs, moral principles were given to humanity by God and are written in the Bible. However, studies in monkeys have shown that the same basic moral standards are inherent in the primate community. Monkeys have compassion, altruism, incest taboo. This means that these principles have existed for millions of years, are embedded in our genes and exist in our brain. All that the church has done is to fix the norms that have taken shape in the process of evolution, rather than invent them.
Therefore, from a scientific point of view, moral rules must be followed, not because it is written in the Bible, but because it is a profitable life strategy, confirmed by evolution.
QUESTION IN THE TOPIC
Will the medicine of the future change our personality?
Over the past three million years, the volume of the human brain has tripled, says Dr. Swaab. It was necessary to survive, solving the emerging environmental problems. But our brain grew, as it were, with a margin - this made it possible to spend resources on other activities besides survival: on art, science, creativity. These are the very things that distinguish humans from animals.
At the same time, doctors have already learned how to transplant human organs and it is expected that in the near future it will come to transplanting brain fragments.
- The question arises: when transplanting how much brain tissue a person will need to take a different name, the name of the donor? - Dick Svaab reflects. “Let's say if a patient's arm or leg is amputated, he will remain the same person. But if he is repaired, part of the brain is replaced in a certain proportion, then, in my opinion, this will fundamentally change a person. He will transform into a different personality.
