Team close in on wisdom secrets
Updated on 06 April 2009
Scientists are closing in on the biological seat of wisdom that has guided the likes of King Solomon, Confucius and Socrates.
Neuro-imaging studies have highlighted several brain regions that appear to be involved in thinking wisely.
Wisdom is a gift that has been recognised by many different civilisations for thousands of years. Generally it is taken to mean knowledge associated with living a good and moral life.
Components of wisdom are commonly agreed to include positive traits such as empathy, compassion, altruism, emotional stability, self-understanding, and pro-social attitudes such as tolerance.
Professor Dilip Jeste, one of two US scientists from the University of California at San Diego who have been investigating whether wisdom has a biological source, said: "Our research suggests that there may be a basis in neurobiology for wisdom's most universal traits."
Prof Jeste and colleague Dr Thomas Weeks scoured the scientific literature looking for evidence of neurological links to the six attributes most often associated with wisdom. They focused mainly on neuro-imaging studies which highlight brain activity by measuring blood flow and metabolic changes, and also looked at brain chemistry and genetics.
The scientists identified a number of brain activity patterns that seemed to have a bearing on wisdom. For instance, pondering a situation calling for altruism activated the medial pre-frontal cortex region of the brain.
Moral decision-making, on the other hand, combined rational, emotional and social, and conflict-spotting elements. These in turn were linked to the dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex, which plays a role in sustaining attention and working memory, the medial pre-frontal cortex, and the anterior cingulate cortex.
They suggest that being wise may involve striking the right balance between older (emotional) and newer (thinking) brain regions.
"Understanding the neurobiology of wisdom may have considerable clinical significance, for example, in studying how certain disorders or traumatic brain injuries can affect traits related to wisdom," said Prof Jeste.
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