How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are - with Kevin Mitchell

What makes you the way you are, and what makes each of us different from everyone else?

Neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell is interested in how human diversity and individual differences stem from how out brains are wired. In this talk, he explores the groundbreaking science behind this subject and uses examples of his own work to answer questions like- how are variations in our brain development linked to adult psychology and behaviour? And can brain development really have an impact on our personality, intelligence or sexuality?

Kevin Mitchell is an Associate Professor in the Smurfit Institute of Genetics in Trinity College Dublin and a member of the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. His book "Innate" is now available at all major book retailers.

This talk and Q&A was filmed in the Ri on 25 October 2018.

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[matyasgembala]

Best 43 mins spent today. Exciting and content rich presentation. Thank you!

[tomsterling]

I like how this gentleman is not trying to be loud and overexcited, no mediocre jokes either. Smooth and informative, thank you!

[spiralsun]

This is one of the best talks I have ever seen. The key to solving conflict on all levels. The key to our entire future is touched on in this one 45-minute talk. It’s the clearest exposition of nature-nurture I have ever seen and it’s genius. Almost every other writer or speaker I have ever seen wallows in political correctness or on a disconnected partial level. You have to look at all of it. We need to understand who we are and we have to jettison our political aspirations and all other lower brain processes to reach our true potential and to reach our highest goals. I can’t say enough about this. It’s a miracle talk. One thing I would add would be that development is a process dependent on initial conditions and genetic differences are like chaos theory in their potential to be affected wherever there are not constraints. Love this stuff. Our individual differences must be known so that we can truly understand and live in peace with each other and know our own strengths and weaknesses and what each of us must overcome our take into account to be our best selves.

[BruceNitroxpro]

Things have changed markedly since I received a BA in experimental psychology in 1965.

[nikolaosdimitriadis]

So glad I have chosen his book as one of the textbooks in my introduction to neuroscience module for business students! Amazing work!

[FortWhenTea]

I am a DZ twin, anyways.. what would be REALLLY intresting, is looking at MZ twins brain that are seperated from each other a birth and raised by two different families and then see how many similarities they have.

[ThinkHuman]

Oh this is fascinating, quite a quick overview yet still very in depth.Thank you for so many interesting speakers on so many different interesting topics!

[sebastjanbrezovnik]

6:00 Minutes in....100% reached.
Would give two if I could. 👍👍

[desidose]

Wonderful lecture - the 99.9% similarity between in any two human beings still blows my mind, yet we treat each other as if we have nothing in common, sad

[p.bamygdala]

Thanks for the video!

I'm one of those people who loves learning new information. So that means I receive a lot of dopamine to my ACC, DMPFC, VMPFC, and other areas of the neo cortex based on novel and unfamiliar stimuli.

The big question is, how can we empower others to become like that, overcome barriers and insecurities and depression, and live a life of confidence pursuing their dreams and passions, willing to explore the unknown and uncertain? (ie: skip the fears of the amygdala)

I'm hoping we'll see a CRISPR-Cas9 development that will reroute dopamine and serotonin to galvanize curiosity and positive feedback for intellectual pursuits, critical reasoning, logical analysis, etc.

[reprogrammingmind]

This is great, thank you for sharing.

[ordinalkirk]

At 25:00 he discovers Chaos Theory! His graphs are nice but he excludes p values/confidence intervals. Respectfully, I think he has ignored evidence for the "nurture" part of the argument.

[valerieferrario]

a lot of info there. as a person who studies neuroplasticity this was very validating. thank you

[tomhepz]

Is the landscape the ball rolls down pre-determined? It seems the initial path is due mainly to genetics and decisions by the mother while you're in the womb, but looks like you can shape that landscape yourself to a certain extent past that point and only the traits of your prior development affect how you choose to shape it

[AstroSquid]

Great talk. I wonder about what comes first, the consciousness or the brain. Plasticity implies an external factor that has an effect on the brain, like a field you'd get from quantum field theory. Have there ever been attempts to resolve what comes first, or to show that there is an external forces behind plasticity?

[sebastjanbrezovnik]

If someone starts
It is my honor to stand here behind this desk...
Already get 99% of a thumb up.
Some presenter resently seen on RI behind that desk I recon don't even know anything about the history there.

[totallyspy]

I am glad that Sir Mitchell got to conclude that the genetics predictions would never be 100% accurate, sadly he took 3/4 of the lecture talking about those innacurate stats... And the interesting facts on brain wiring not even 10min. Thats what is a perfect example of how his genetics, or let's say in a more accurate form: the way his brain was programmed act unconsciously towards his real purposes. Until he get to understand how his brain function and how to reprogram it, rewire it, that might keeps on happening.
Thank you for your eloquence tho, the relevant graphics on neurotransmitters and the conclusion of your lecture: brilliant.

[AnimeshSharma]

crazy to see the highly similar correlation between IQ and Autism of Identical Twins in contrast with Fraternal ones @19:10 !

[Egg-mrnp]

We play the game with the cards we are dealt.

[bill]

Thank you. Very interesting and well presented. Was thinking of what you said that your weight is like 70% inherited. If that’s so, how come so much of the American population is overweight? Since we are a nation of mostly immigrants, how can that be? Thanks.