Otak manusia ternyata juga memengaruhi perilakunya.

Ukuran sebuah area

pada otak berhubungan erat dengan kepribadian seseorang. Mayoritas orang
dengan kepribadian altruistik, yakni orang yang peduli pada sekitar, mempunyai
ukuran lebih besar di area bawah cingulated cortex, wilayah otak yang terlibat dalam
memahami keyakinan orang lain. Ukuran yang lebih besar pada area ini
diasumsikan bekerja lebih kuat.
Dari studi ini kita bisa memulai teori mengenai bagaimana kepribadian
dihasilkan oleh otak, ujar peneliti Colin DeYoung dari University of Minnesota.
Selama ini dipercaya bahwa kepribadian seseorang dibentuk oleh faktor genetik dan
lingkungan, maka temuan ini dapat menjelaskan perbedaan perilaku dan sikap
manusia dari waktu ke waktu. Atau bisa juga diketahui apa sesungguhnya yang
menghasilkan pola perilaku dan emosi yang kita sebut sebagai kepribadian.
Ada banyak cara untuk menjelaskan karakter seseorang, mulai dari karakter
yang banyak bicara, pencemas, hingga pekerja keras dan teratur. Para psikolog
mengkategorikan kepribadian manusia menjadi lima kelompok besar, yaitu
ekstrovert atau terbuka, neurotisme, penyetuju, penyadar, dan pemikir.
Psikolog dapat menangkap gambaran kepribadian seseorang dengan mengenali
kecenderungan mereka berekspresi dari setiap kelompok tadi. Sejauh ini ilmuwan
sudah mulai menghubungkan riset kepribadian dengan neurologi, mencoba
mengetahui mekanisme otak yang bertanggungjawab pada perbedaan karakter.
DeYoung dan koleganya memindai otak 116 partisipan yang sebelumnya
menjawab kuesioner lengkap untuk mengetahui kategori kepribadian mereka di
antara lima kategori besar tadi. Kemudian, mereka saling mencocokkan gambar otak
para partisipan. Gambar otak setiap partisipan diamati, terutama pada lima area
yang memengaruhi kecenderungan kepribadian mereka. DeYoung dibantu dengan
program komputer untuk mengamati semua area otak tersebut, sehingga dapat
dilakukan perbandingan seberapa besar area masing-masing otak dan diketahui apa
saja fungsinya. Hubungan antara ukuran wilayah otak denan kepribadian manusia
bditemukan pada empat dari lima kategori besar kepribadian yang disebut tadi.
Hanya pada kategori pemikir saja tak ditemukan.

Skor tertinggi ada pada kategori neurotisme, yaitu jenis kepribadian yang
cenderung memiliki pengalaman emosi negative, termasuk panik dan kesadaran diri
yang berhubungan dengan area otak bagian tengah cingulated cortex. Area ini
diduga terkait dengan deteksi kegagalan dan respon terhadap kesakitan emosi dan
fisik. Kepribadian neurotis memiliki area dorsomedial prefrontal cortex yang lebih
kecil, yakni area otak yang mengatur emosi.
Kepribadian ekstrovert, yaitu mereka yang suka bergaul, mudah menerima,
memiliki daerah medial orbitofrontal cortex yang lebih besar, sebuah area otak yang
terlibat dalam proses pemberian penghargaan. Ini menjelaskan mengapa orang
yang ekstrovert sangat sensitive pada penghargaan, dimana di lingkungannya ia
sangat ingin dihargai dan diterima. Orang dengan kepribadian penyadar, cenderung
punya disiplin diri tinggi, suka keteraturan, memiliki tengah frontal gyrus yang lebih
besar, yakni area otak yang terlibat dalam daya ingat dan perencanaan.
Tokoh lain, yaitu Doug Hall mengatakan, dominasi kerja otak orang mempengaruhi
kepribadian: Orang dengan otak kanan dominan: humoris, simple, menyenangkan,
boros, lebih percaya intuisi, berantakan-kacau, ede = ekspresi diri, lebih memilih
perasaan sebagai solusi masalah, suka bertualang, bermimpi besar, tukang sorak,
pelanggar aturan, bebas, spontan. Orang dengan otak kiri dominan : serius, rumit,
membosankan, hemat, lebih percayai fakta, rapi-terorganisir, ide = profitabilitas,
lebih memilih keilmuan, hati-hati, berpengetahuan umum, pendukung diam, pembuat
aturan, konservatif, mudah ditebak

How your brain affects your personality

By Angelika Christie, ND
In a previous article I told you a bit about low Gaba and Serotonin levels in your
brain, and how such a lack may throw you into many unpleasant and stressful
condition. I received many calls and visits after that article. So many of you could
identify with the conditions of low Gaba and low Serotonin. Of course there is seldom
just one factor that creates a certain condition; our bodies are complex and it takes a
holistic approach, and sometimes medical for an acute situation, to bring back
synergy and balance.

Today I want to introduce to you the other two brain chemicals that are important to
be balanced. What I do not mean by that is that Gaba, Serotonin, Acetylcholine and
Dopamine should be present in equally divided amounts; far from it. But you do have
all four present in your brain. Whichever dominates gives your personality a certain
trait.
What does that mean? If your brain produces more Gaba, you are usually a very
balanced and stable person. When you produce more Serotonin, you may take the
challenges of your day in a playful manner. A personality with a strong Acetylcholine
output is usually creative and sociable, open to new ideas as long as they excite.
They are fast thinkers and use all of their senses. Dopamine personalities thrive on
high energy; they feel empowered and energetic. They usually move fast, love to
finish things and be in control.

Before I go more into the Dopamine and Acetylcholine characteristics, it is important

to recall that all of us have all four brain-chemicals present. The question is how to
create a better balance? There are typically certain characteristics in people with a
stronger presence of any of the four brain chemicals, and it is not my intention to
advise changing your personality. A significantly low amount in any of these four
essential brain chemicals will create as many problems as will a significantly large
amount of the one that supports your personality. In other words: too much of a good
thing is bad. You will feel the effects of a diminished amount of your dominant brain
chemical most definitely. How? You just do not feel like yourself, you feel off. I had
a person ask me, and I quote: drown me in Gaba! This person could not handle the
stress, anxiety and insomnia she suffered. Gaba can help, but it still needs to be
balanced with other issues that may need to be addressed as well.
Now let us discover a bit more about Acetylcholine.
If you are usually a fast thinker and create your days, weeks and months with a clear
vision of what you want to do, but lately have not been able to even visualize what
tomorrow may bring, your Acetylcholine may be too low. Your thought processes are
slow, you cant remember why or how to do something, having an attention deficit,

are all related to a reduced brain speed and lack of sufficient Acetylcholine. If
untreated, early Dementia and Alzheimer disease could develop. Let me also advise
you to limit your exposure to aluminum that is found in so many products of modern
life. Aluminum is known as a factor in Alzheimer disease; it also depletes your body
of Acetylcholine. Another less known activity depleting your body of this vital brain
amino acid is watching violent movies, including aggressive behavior and listening to
foul or degrading comments. What you see, hear or feel has an effect on your bodys
chemistry, which starts in your brain! I recommend daily body and mind exercises,
including meditation and spiritual practices to recharge your body with Acetylcholine.

The fourth brain chemical I want to tell you a bit about is Dopamine. If your dominant
personality characteristic is a strong will, a powerful intention with a mind to get what
you want, and usually get it, Dopamine may be responsible for that. You find a lot of
people who are good with numbers and facts, but not too great with imagination and
feelings in this group. People who are Dopamine dominant have a tendency to
criticize others, but dont take it that well for themselves. Dopamine personalities are
more open and may accept a more aggressive treatment to bring back their normal
level, because they feel the lack of power as unacceptable. Do you remember that
Acetylcholine is responsible for your brains speed? Dopamine is responsible for
your brains power, the voltage. Extremely high amounts of Dopamine are found in
people with a tendency to violent and excessively aggressive behavior.
Some of the symptoms of dopamine deficiency are a lack of concentration.
Everything takes more effort to accomplish; you need stimulants to get your
performance going. You feel burned out and tired even after a good sleep. There is
all around a lack of energy (voltage) in your brain and body. The ability to gain or
lose weight is also closely related to Dopamine. One of the first signs of decreased
Dopamine may be a significant weight gain.
There is so much more to say about how the four brain chemicals: Dopamine,
Acetylcholine, Serotonin and Gaba affect everything in your physical body, including
your mental and emotional behavior. But again I can only touch the surface in this
article. I learned so much more about brain chemistry on my recent trip to Dr.
Bravermans Path Medical Center in New York where I had my brain tested with very

sophisticated equipment. Some of the tests that you can do on your own are
available in print. Call me if you want to find out more about this.

Angelika Christie ND is the managing director of Radiant Health Center