Lazy Sunday #25

Hello everyone,

Instinct. Instinctive. Follow your instinct! Animals. Humans.

All the same.

But what does it actually mean? Does instinct actually exist? Is this the does it the core of our behavior? If so, can we change it? The short answer is “maybe” - not in the way we most commonly refer to instinct as an instinct, though.

Basics on instinct

What does the dictionary say? Quoting from Cambridge:

For the longest time, it was thought that instinct relates to reactions or behavior humans and animals have and that did not need learning.

Birds in Europe just know to fly to the south each autumn.

Animals just know to avoid red, dangerous berries.

Cats just know how to flip when falling from a tree to land on their legs.

More research over the past 20 years, points to the fact that almost all reactions and behaviors are learnt: either out of necessity or by observation.

Birds fly to the south, because they observe this behavior.

Animals can also learn in mother’s womb.

When submerged belly-up, rat pups turn feet-down. This is a natural reaction to gravity.

Researchers took pregnant rats to space, and close to giving birth, the rats were sent back to earth. The rat pups were not exposed to gravity. When submerged in water belly-up these rat babies struggled with directions in the water tank, but learnt to turn after a short period of time.

So then the “righting response” is a reaction to signals from organs to the brain, not pre-born instinct.

All learnt?

Question is: what about breathing and cry for hunger in newborns? Nobody teaches them how to cry or breathe.

Knowledge can apparently be transferred via DNA.

Suckling reflex is such an instinctive behavior. One, that over a couple of months is unlearnt, because it becomes irrelevant for survival.

Cherries and DNA

There is this fascinating study, involving mice. Mice love cherries. The smell makes them search for the fruit.

Researchers released cherry scent to a 1st generation mice, then gave them an electric impulse. Over time, mice connected the smell of cherries with the fear of the electric shock.

Then, researchers did not bother the offspring generation, but tested the 3rd gen mice. Surprisingly, they found similar, though toned-down reactions of fear to cherry scent. The DNA in the sperm of 1st generation male mice has altered, impacting 3rd gen offsprings.

DNA can carry some knowledge that translates into deeply rooted reactions and behavior, through changes on how DNA information is executed:

Welcome to the world of epigenetics. A whole trilogy of letters on its own.

Instinct then?

Nevertheless most of our behaviors, even if we call them colloquially instincts, are learnt.

In his book, “Range”, David Epstein interviews chess players, like Garry Kaspar, and professional fire fighters.

He refers to their ability to “instinctively see” patterns and react in a heartbeat. This ability is learnt, over many thousands of hours of training mind and body.

Every (or almost every?) seemingly innate behavior can be unlearnt. Some you better not, because your survival is dependent on them.

Almost all “instincts” are learnt. Learnt from your parents and siblings, learnt from watching other people in your environment. Your culture - learnt from books, movies, teachers, peers and role models. The earlier in life we are exposed to these or, the more we practice certain behavior, the more they become “internalized”. We can do them without much thinking, without much exhaustion. Voila - this is what we tend to call “instinctive behavior”.

Instinct is mental “muscle memory”. It shows through our behavior. It becomes bias.

Luckily, no instinct needs to “be” forever.

Every behavior can be changed.

It is not set in stone - unless you want it to.

I was mostly under the impression that instincts can not be changed and that they are rooted deep inside us. But this is not the case. Even the most inert behavior can be subject to change.

Even instincts become a mindset game.

Research on instinct

Can we inherit instinct?

The world of epigenetics is fairly new, and frankly speaking, we don’t know much. What we do know is that traumatic experiences can alter human DNA, and these changes can carry over to next generations. Some of these changes can be reversed when dealt with through therapy. How much, how quickly - that we need to understand more.

(The Guardian)

Development evolving: the origins and meaning of instinct

This is an interesting journey through scientific research on instinct. From “it is all in our DNA” to “it is all learnt” to “mostly learnt, but then there is epigenetics”. There are some really good examples of how researchers design experiments to get to the bottom of it (baby rats from space in pool, for example).

(Wiley Cognitive Science)

CFO Iost with instinct

In the business world, operational decisions are better supported by data. I am careful not throw in strategic decisions as well, although it might be useful to gather data before making strategic decisions. Companies like Amazon or Google might not exist if it was all just data-driven decision making.

Anyway, back to this article: CFO’s who relied more on instinct and “gut-feel” than hard data performed worse than their peers.

Compare this to firefighters or tennis players: they don’t have time to look through data when engaged. But they train based on data and learn to find and read clues that trigger execution of tactics. Learnt instinctive behavior.

(Duke)

Fear gets the speedy lane

The university of Queensland studied how quickly we react to faces with emotions. The amygdala plays a big role in emotional processing. Emotions of fear travelled much quicker than other emotions, evoking other brain regions to “fight or flight”.

One could assume this “process” is one of the closest we can get to “instincts”, as almost all humans and animals behave the same to fear-inducing situations (faces, sounds etc.).

(University of Queensland)

Find my research: neuroscience

Australian BCI leader Synchron integrates with OpenAI

Synchron, an Australian BCI company, announced its integration of OpenAI GPT models into its technology. This is another great example of how new technologies, brain computer interfaces and language models, can help people with disabilities. As Thomas Oxley said on Bloomberg Television:

How does it look like for patients? This is a video of a Synchron user interacting with the software that is integrated with OpenAI.

What is the future size of human brains?

Close ancestors of today’s Homo sapiens lived with a brain approximately 35% of ours until 235,000 years ago. They were able to develop tools for hunting and gathering.

The growth story for our modern “big brain”, is apparently fuelled by social. Social interactions, that is. Not social media.

Social interactions resulted in better diet (more hunters going after different food with better nutritional value), better security (more people to defend) and ultimately settlements.

If that theory is true, then what will happen if we do not use it as much? We know from various studies that brain exercises can help cognitive decline - reverse-engineering this argument means less cognitive engagements result in underutilization of our brain and hence decline. Over time, this might mean a decline in brain size.

There is this scientific article (summary) that one could spin into dark feature: our brains decline, because AI has become smart. Smart enough to see, that human cognitive performance is declining, which prompts them to develop “humanoids” or “abiotic beings” and we are no more. 🤖

(NewScientist)

Dr. Peter Attia: Research worth exploring

Regularly, Dr. Peter Attia shares interesting research on longevity. His podcasts are a class on his own. I haven’t read his book yet, but apparently it is a class on its own.

In a recent post, Attia shared a study on resting-state fMRI studies, that could help to diagnose the potential for dementia, and more specifically Alzheimer’s. Analysis of imaging data through AI could further fast track the state of the disease. (study summary here).

Early detection of first signs in the brain can help to slow down or even disrupt the disease process.

If that can work, and fMRI can become more accessible, it could help hundreds of thousands of people to get better treatment, reduce the immense cost burden on health care.

(Peter Attia MD)

“Our Future Living with Personal Brain Scanners” - Royal Society Exhibition in London

This was this year’s theme for the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in London. At the center of it, was the question of how quickly this technology will get into our homes, what it means for the workplace and for our daily interaction.

(Royal Society Exhibition)

Find my research: office

REM-Sleep disruption and its impact on physical and mental health

REM sleep is an important component of the sleep cycle. Not getting enough is linked with obesity, heightened risk of metabolic diseases, and disruptions in emotional processes. REM sleep is longer in the second part of the night, as REM sleep portions of your sleep cycle lengthen over the course of the night.

A study reviewed the impact of REM sleep disruption, e.g. in shift workers. The results suggest that you’d rather stay up late than wake up super-early in the morning, as REM sleep remains more stable.

That being said, you would deprive yourself of deep sleep stages, as these continue to shorten over the course of the night.

So the best: allow for a good night sleep if schedule permits. 😉

(News Medical)

On top of tech

Tech-power marketplace for personlized teen therapy

I love when the result of tech + healthcare is a no-fuss, easily accessible solution.

Mental health issues are rising in teens. The causes aren’t clear, some argue it is social media and the constant influx of dopamine-inducing triggers, causing anxiety, depression and other symptoms. The US seems to be hit hard, with 1/3 of female teenagers having been diagnosed with depression.

Rex Woodbury, an investor at Daybreak, has highlighted some more data in his newsletter two weeks ago. The Australian highlighted this topic in its weekly magazine (unfortunately behind $ wall).

Marblehealth provides a marketplace in the States, connecting families with psychiatrists covered by US Medicare. It has programmes even for schools. As waiting list are huge, getting around that by matching cross-country provides big benefits.

Similarly, KiteTherapy provides a matching platform for Autism treatment for children in Australia.

Media Box

The Brain Health Atlas provides amazing insides into the impact of brain health on each country.

In the “Factsheet” section, you can drill down into each country to see demographic and population health context, health spending, growth trajectory and the health issues most likely to impact the health system the most.

Let us take Germany vs. India as an example:

(data taken July 2024, from link)

(Brain Health Atlas)

Misc but not least…

You know I love coffee. But what you probably did not know: I don’t own a coffee machine. Not even a simple one.

I own a hand grinder from Normcore, a French press, an Aeropress, and I only order coffee from roasters, that deliver fresh roasts (no supermarket beans).

Recently, I got gifted with a Moka cup. I owned one when I lived in Africa. There, I only owned a gas stove and getting the temperature right not to burn the coffee to death, was nearly impossible.

I love playing around with coffee equipment, and so I spent the last two weeks learning Moka coffee makers. This video is probably the best manual I found to make really good coffee with a Moka coffee maker, which actually got invented in Italy.

Thank you for reading.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

Alex