The impact of antisocial lifestyle on health

The following is a paper I wrote to explain how societies change
biologically. This includes high testosterone and low cortisol,
characteristics of individuals who have reproductive advantages and,
therefore, increase in percentage with time. These individuals also
exhibit a "set" of characteristics which, in addition to impulsive acts,
cause increasingly disturbing problems in maintaining civility. I think
this is an evolutionary sequence which, ultimately, may affect all
societies.

"Testosterone and Cortisol, the Secular Trend, and the Decline of
Forethought and Individuality in Society and Religion*

It is my hypothesis that civilizations have ascended and declined as
a consequence of the degree of development of the prefrontal lobes of the
brains of the majority of citizens. Development of the prefrontal lobes is
a consequence of growth and development of the individual. A change in
growth and development of the individuals of a population over time is a
"secular trend." I suggest the secular trend results in increases,
followed by reductions, in size and function of the prefrontal lobes of
many individuals within a population as the population evolves.

The secular trend is the increase in size and earlier puberty in
children. The secular trend in the United States is real and robust and
is likely "an acceleration of maturation" (Archives of Pediatric and
Adolescent Medicine. 2000; 154: 155). Many think the secular trend
results from increased nutrition, especially increased fat in the diet. I
suggest the trend results from differential reproduction of types of
individuals; increased nutrition, mainly increased calories, simply
accelerates the process. Increased nutrition provides a favorable "feed
and breed" situation. Increased nutrition increases the advantages of a
faster breeding group over a slower breeding group. I think the trend
represents the increase in percentage of individuals who produce different
levels of hormones that directly, and positively, affect their rate of
reproduction. Individuals of higher testosterone and lower cortisol have
a reproductive advantage in our society.

Testosterone increases sex drive and aggression in men and women.
Given time, individuals of higher testosterone will reproduce faster than
those of less testosterone. This trend will increase the percentage of
sexier, more aggressive individuals. The population will change and the
characteristics of these individuals will increase accordingly within the
population. Cortisol is the "stress hormone." When cortisol increases
in response to a stimulus, cortisol reduces the response to that stimulus.

Behaviors that stimulate cortisol do not occur often. Women who produce
less cortisol engage in sexual intercourse at a younger age and produce
less cortisol in response to stress later in life
(Psychoneuroendocrinology 2002; 27: 933). Women of low cortisol and high
testosterone "may" engage in sexual activity much earlier and with
greater frequency than those of higher cortisol and lower testosterone.

Given time, these women and their offspring will increase in percentage
within a population and affect the characteristics of that population.

They are sexy and fearless.

Testosterone affects both the brain and body. From birth until
puberty, the brain and body compete for growth and development. Early in
growth and development, the brain, as a whole, dominates this competition.
As the brain begins to finalize its growth, its ability to compete for
testosterone begins to decrease compared to the body. At this time, the
part of the brain that controls sex drive (lower brain) is complete, but
the final part of brain development (upper brain) is not complete. (This
competition of brain and body development is how the onset of puberty is
delayed until the brain is almost complete.) The part of the brain that
controls sex drive contains more "receptors" for testosterone than the
upper brain. As puberty approaches, this combination of competition for
testosterone from the lower brain and the body adversely affect final
development of the upper brain, specially the prefrontal lobes. In an
individual of higher testosterone, the increased testosterone positively
affects the lower brain during this competition. Puberty occurs early,
the final part of growth and development of the prefrontal lobes is
adversely affected and, in a person of low cortisol, sexual behavior
starts early. The combination of high testosterone and low cortisol
increases the use of testosterone for the behavior controlled by the lower
brain, that is, puberty and sexual activity. These individuals should
exhibit reduced ability to control their behavior because of high
testosterone, low cortisol, and reduced development of their prefrontal
lobes. Outside of their group, they exhibit impulse control problems.

Individuals of high testosterone and low cortisol present real
problems for society. High testosterone is connected with violent,
negative behaviors. "The matched analysis further substantiated the
association between testosterone secretion and learning disabilities."
(Physiol Behav 1993; 53: 583). "The group of rapists who were judged to
be most violent had a significantly higher mean plasma testosterone level
than normals, child molesters, and other rapists in this study."
(Psychosom Med 1976; 38: 257). "In the housing unit where peer ratings
were most reliable, inmates rated as tougher by their peers were higher in
testosterone." (Psychosom Med 1987 49: 174). "Decreased cortisol levels
appear to be most strongly associated with antisocial girls who do not
have other psychiatric disorders." (Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001; 58: 297).
"Low cortisol levels were associated with persistence and early onset of
aggression, particularly when measures of cortisol concentrations were
pooled. Boys with low cortisol concentrations at both time points
exhibited triple the number of aggressive symptoms and were named as most
aggressive by peers 3 times as often as boys who had higher cortisol
concentrations at either sampling time." (Arch Gen Psychiatry 2000; 57:
38). Most importantly to this treatise is the finding that prefrontal
gray matter volume is reduced in a group of people who exhibit
"antisocial personality disorder (APD)" who otherwise "do not have
discernible brain trauma." "The APD group showed an 11.0% reduction in
prefrontal gray matter volume in the absence of ostensible brain lesions
and reduced autonomic activity during the stressor. These deficits
predicted group membership independent of psychosocial risk factors."
(Arch Gen Psychiatry 2000; 57: 119). These individuals are aggressive,
sexy, do not control their impulses easily, and form into groups.

Mathematics, science, language, and law depend upon real
consequences. "Culture" and "religion" depend upon hypothetical
consequences. "Forethought," or hypothesis formation, is dependent upon
development of the prefrontal lobes of the brain. Hypothesis formation
consists of two simple questions: "If this happens, what will happen?"
and its immediate accompaniment, "If I do this, what will happen?" I
specifically stated that religion utilizes "hypothetical consequences"
to enforce the hypothesis: "If I do this, what will happen?" Whether
one believes in a God of the present or of the future, the consequences
that result from transgressions of doctrine remain abstract. One has to
wonder (hypothesize) when consequences will happen, soon or upon one's
death. I have suggested that the prefrontal lobe declines within
civilizations. The last quotation of the paragraph, above, I think,
supports my hypothesis and adds one very significant finding. The
prefrontal lobes of the subjects of the study were actually reduced in
size in "antisocial personality disorder." This results in loss of
individuality: "These deficits predicted group membership independent of
psychosocial risk factors." Reductions in the prefrontal lobes result in
loss of ability to anticipate consequences and also increase group
membership. This translates to thinking with the lower brain, emotional
thinking, and groups of emotional thinkers. Religion relies on some
combination of abstract thinking or emotional thinking. The percentages
of individuals who utilize either abstract thinking or emotional thinking
may produce the different religions and denominations. I suggest some
religions rely on emotional thinking because it exerts more control over
their flocks. These religions contain groups of individuals of higher
testosterone and lower cortisol who may be moved to commit acts that are
in direct contrast to the founding religion. Given time, the secular
trend will produce this phenomenon. There are other, natural
circumstances that may accelerate this phenomenon. Though this occurs in
the "West," there are reasons why religions of the "East" contain more
"zealot" sects. "Western Civilization" and its religions may differ
because of a biological accident.

Again, I think testosterone increases and cortisol decreases in all
civilizations. I think the secular trend is a phenomenon of all human
populations that have succeeded in producing civilizations. Fortuitously
for Europe and the West, another, consequential, negative aspect of too
much testosterone is increased vulnerability to infections. Testosterone
has been connected with increases in all types of infectious agents.

Experimentally, testosterone has been used to prove this connection.
Therefore, populations prior to the advent of anti-microbial agents and
medical care were at increased risk of infections. Where infectious
agents gained entry into high testosterone populations, pandemics
occurred. These plagues of Europe accomplished something "beneficial,"
that is, the plagues removed most of the people of high testosterone. The
surviving people of lower testosterone produced the intellectual
accomplishments known as the "Renaissance." Since the plagues differed
in effect and timing in the "East," there was not as large a removal of
people of high testosterone; the Renaissance was limited to Europe.

"Western civilization" is the result of the "good luck" of having plagues
remove the majority of people of high testosterone. Therefore, fewer
sects have evolved out of the paramount religions in the West. It is
beginning to happen here; there were / are religious atrocities in Western
religions, but the atrocities of Eastern religions far surpass those of
the West at this time.

*Copyright: 2002, James Michael Howard, Fayetteville, Arkansas,
U.S.A. This work is derived from three of my papers: "Hormones in
Mammalian Evolution," Rivista di Biologia / Biology Forum 2001; 94: 177-
184; "Androgens in Human Evolution. A New Explanation of Human
Evolution," Rivista di Biologia / Biology Forum 2001; 94: 345-362, and ¡§
"Mitochondrial Eve, Y Chromosome Adam,Testosterone, and Human
Evolution," Rivista di Biologia / Biology Forum 2002; 95: 319-326.

Competing interests:  
None declared