Ross Crow

Giannou
per. 1
1/30/17

The Trouble With Testosterone Book Report

What compelled me most about The Trouble With Testosterone is not only the

humour by which the author, Robert Sapolsky, conveys his theories, but also the

insightfulness through which he explains his research on the nervous system.

Although much of the book delves into the science of the endocrine system, and

how it has influenced certain tendencies, the overarching focus is weighed upon

the physiology of the nervous system, the mechanics of the brain, psychology,

and how our evolution affects our modern behaviors. The most intriguing, and

undoubtedly controversial theory posed by the author is described in the chapter,

Circling the Blanket for God, which claims the habits associated with OCD are

comparable to that of some of the repetitive behaviors found in religion, as both

entail a portion of time and effort spent circuitously to calm ones anxiety.

Elements of neurophysiology make themselves known in the book, usually

to help explain or corroborate a particular theory. Sapolsky continually suggests

that behaviors like male aggression, compulsive hand washing, or obeying the

voices in ones head are linked to deeper issues either in hormonal balance, or

any damage to the frontal lobe, counter to the belief that these conditions stem

solely from personality defects. The frontal lobe itself is the anterior most portion

of the brain, and is responsible for everything from judgement, language, to

memory, impulse control, etc. 3 Another part of the brain used for many of his

arguments is the hypothalamus, which, unlike the frontal lobe, the hypothalamus
regulates needs beyond our control, including temperature, thirst, hunger, and

even sex drive. 1

In freudian psychology, there exists the three factors behind ones

personality: The id, which is our animalistic side, the ego, our decision maker,

and the superego, our moral compass. An imbalance in any of these three

subsets can disturb our default behaviors. For example, someone with damage

to their frontal lobe, our judgement center, may have more difficulty controlling

impulses, and may as a result become a more blunt, calloused person. Another

example would also include the opposite, a follower of an austere set of virtues,

who feels immeasurable guilt for natural impulses of sexual or other desires. This

would include celibates, and religious ascetics who severely limit their food and

water intakes.

Junk Food Monkeys discusses one of Sapolskys most infamous cases

during one of his East Africa excursions, in which he observed a troop of

Baboons become accustomed to the detritus of the western diet. These apes

testify to a slight evolutionary defect both in humans and animals alike. In nature,

coveted resources containing sugar or salt are scarce, and thus the primate brain

evolved to want as much of it as is available. With regards to this, the id has

proven beneficial. However, with an unrestrained want for such indulgence, the

baboons could not help but crave processed sugars, fat, red meat, and

cholesterol (130), of which the garbage dump had much to offer. Although

humans have a much larger and more developed frontal lobe than our primate

cousins, addictions, even to that of food, are still prevalent. Presumably, its
because, although the human frontal lobe is more developed, at the end of the

day, basic needs set by our limbic system can always override all logical

reasoning. This raises the question, what mechanisms would our species need

to evolve in order to reduce our chances for addiction?

Curious Georges Pharmacy, like Junk Food Monkeys, also addresses

the habits of the primate diet, but introduces a different question through an

anecdote describing a group of chimps habitually eating aspilia (178) leaves for

their benefits against fungi, bacteria, and parasite nematodes. This specific

discovery led researchers to espouse the theory that apes, along with other

animals, have a keen intuition for what is chemically beneficial, unlike humans,

who rely upon extensive lab equipment to do the same thing. Sapolsky

undermines this perfunctory conclusion by noting that neither humans nor

baboons, at least for the most part, rely on instincts, instead choosing to observe

the behaviors of their peers. Ones stance on this enigma depends on how they

look at the frontal lobe versus the limbic system. The hippocampus, in tandem

with the caudate nucleus, help to form food cravings by remembering specific

tastes, and associating those flavors with past releases of dopamine. 4 The frontal

lobe, on the other hand, may decide that when upon seeing ones peers eating

something, that that individual should eat the same food. What is most likely is

that one chimp had a stomach ache, then happened to eat an aspilia leaf, and

then when the discomfort abated, concluded that the leaf had quelled their belly

ache. Afterwards, the chimp mayve educated his/her peers on the benefits of the

leaves, and thereby created a fad.

 Why You Feel Crummy When Youre Sick opens with a relatable vignette

of all the familiar symptoms of common illness: joint pain, fatigue, pallid

complexion, fever, inability to crawl out of bed, etc. While the lions share of

Sapolskys research is founded upon conscious behavioral science, this chapter

marks itself out by exploring the mechanisms of the immune system when

fortifying the body from illness. The shivering, cold sensations of sickness are

driven by the hypothalamus, which functions much like a thermostat. (233) The

purpose behind shivering is to involuntarily generate heat, which when were

sick, is transferred to vital organs (233). So in a sense, what homeostasis is

doing is actually economical, as the body surrenders its normal comforts in

exchange for self-preservation. Riding on this argument, Sapolsky explains how

pharmaceutical drugs that extricate us of these minor discomforts actually create

more damage in the long run, as when the body is sick, its T cells multiply more

readily (238), whereas when drugs are introduced, theres an inhibition of the

immune system to obviate the proliferation of pathogens. However, drug

companies are cognizant that our limbic systems strive to avoid pain, and as

such, the market for pain relievers is alive and well. In fact, there exists a whole

universe of products for fending off illness, something the body was already

equipped enough to do. So, does this mean that if more people could just

tolerate a headache, or quesiness, that our immune systems would be stronger,

and Big Pharma would be weaker, or would our life expectancies actually be

shorter due to pervasive disease?

 Circling the Blanket for God is by far Sapolskys most subjective

proposal, and also most scientifically refuted. The chapter expounds the

symptoms of two treacherous disorders: schizophrenia and OCD, and compares

them to the personalities of religious figures such as medicine men and ascetics

to draw out a connection. Frankly, although his research is thorough, as an

atheist, Robert Sapolsky seems less credible, and thus comes across more as a

coldly objectifying scientist. Granted though, he acknowledges how this truth

might weaken his argument, and as a proper scientist, he doesnt deny that his

proposal could always be disproven by greater evidence. Nonetheless, he

effectively describes the stereotyped actions of OCD sufferers, which are fueled

by constant anxieties, not dissimilar to the aching need to confess something

(261) found in some zealots. The counterpart to the individual crippled by

superfluous guilt is the person whose mind is scrambled is by far flung beliefs,

which Sapolsky referred to as being schizotypal. (256) In current society, where

atheism is becoming the norm and religion is being tagged as archaic dogma,

people suffering from mental illness are dismissed as, just that, the mentally ill.

However, in early societies, people who presented otherworldly ideas to the table

were hailed as the medicine men or the witch doctors; the leaders of a higher

thought. Those who would be diagnosed with OCD now wouldve been the

catholic friars who flogged themselves for misdeeds, or the samurai in Feudal

Japan who would sooner die than dishonor their kin. But now, for schizophrenics

who are unable to conform, find themselves relegated to the streets. Religion has

diminished in popularity, but it will never die out. It was the outlet for these
individuals who are now deemed mentally unsound; it gave them societal

purpose. So now in a world where science is at the forefront of contemporary

study, what niches can these people occupy without being ostracized or

condemned?

When reviewing Sapolskys essays discerning how basic behaviors and

mental disabilities alike arise from imbalances at the neurological level, it begins

to crystallize that people should not necessarily receive all the blame for their

behaviors. An OCD sufferer cannot help having an overactive id coupled with an

oppressive superego any more than a baboon can resist eating trash ripe with

rewarding, albeit decadent ingredients. The diversity of Robert Sapolskys essays

and their topics dont even begin to scratch the surface of how intrinsically

complex and varied the structures of the brain and their functions can be. But for

the moment, the links between primate habits and human maladies seem to

present a promising correlation.

Works Cited

1."You & Your Hormones." You & Your Hormones | Glands | Hypothalamus. N.p., n.d.

Web. 05 Feb. 2017.

2."Sign up for our newsletterGet health tips, wellness advice, and more." Frontal

Lobe Anatomy & Pictures. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.

3. "Frontal Lobes." Traumatic Brain Injury Resource Guide - Frontal Lobes. N.p., n.d.

Web. 05 Feb. 2017.

4. Health, Discovery. "What part of our brain activates food cravings? - Functions of

the Brain." Sharecare. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.