Dambrot S M
selectively modify phenotypic expression in the developing human brain of neural tissue and connectivity between the neocortex and the more primitive brain areas where emotion , motivation , habituation , and other functions occur . One salient example can be seen in recent neuroscience research 4 showing strong evidence that interpersonal differences in a specific area of the human brain are associated with different prosocial behavior . In another relevant study , 5 neuroscientists at MIT identified the brain circuit in laboratory mice that controls how memories become linked with positive or negative emotions , and as a result were able to modify the emotional associations of specific memories using optogenetics – a method for controlling brain cells with light . More recently the technique has been used 6 in mice to dramatically reduce stress-related depression-like behavior by activating positive memories . The question might well be raised of why we cannot rely on widely-promoted sociocultural measures as a way to create a different conception of human nature , and thereby to change , abandon or transcend our biologically-determined behaviors by which we practice various degrees of inhumanity . While science , technology , medicine , knowledge , and other endeavors continue to advance at an accelerating rate , our basic behavioral patterns ( in Einstein ’ s words , “ biological constitution ” and “ natural urges ”) have not . In fact , despite protests and legislation , other factors such as air and water quality have globally declined due to capitalism-motivated processes , with air itself now being carcinogenic 7 ( causing lung cancer and contributing to bladder cancer ) and water becoming increasingly both polluted 8 and scarce . 9 For these reasons , the assertion that sociocultural programs and legislation ( given the role of corporate and individual wealth in politics ) will address our species ’ destructive behaviors seems somewhat naïve . Rather , a solution based on a medical model in which dysfunctional individual and group behaviors are seen not as causative but as symptoms of a deeper cause – our evolutionary neurobiology . The transformation of human society via optimizing human