INTERESTING TIMES

We're on season 3, watching the last season of Lie to Me. The first season is perhaps the best, with plenty of good information mixed in about how to read people's emotions on their faces and bodies. The second season turns into a FBI story, and the third season is more police oriented---they were trying for a larger audience but apparently didn't get it. Only dorks like me who are curious about nonverbal communication stick with it.

The lead character, Cal Lightman, is a great study in body language. I don't know the actor's name but I am impressed. He does this thing I call the "Lightman Flop" which is to say that he jumps up into the air and lands on people's couches in a sprawled position that says "I own this place" and also "climb aboard" to any attractive women. He also shows his distrust of various characters with a toothy "smile" that isn't friendly at all---it's more of a snarl, and he is showing his teeth as if to say "Look out, I bite". One other notable thing that Cal the character does is he is very relaxed, intentionally relaxed. Being able to shrug off tension, to grimace and then release the face, is something most of us could use some practice at. Watching his swaying walk and the way his mouth hangs open when he is listening carefully has me experimenting with new ways of relaxing myself, and of conveying that I am paying my full attention. One of the recent episodes in season 3 showed him training a cop to fool lie detection specialists, and the main tidbit I took from it is "relax your cheeks" and keep after it, to avoid showing emotions that you don't want to show.

There's a lot that is said out loud in this program to teach people about nonverbal cues, but there is more that is not said, it is simply modeled, and it is up to the watcher to identify it.

Recent research has shown that children who are young relative to the other kids in their school classes are more likely to be diagnosed and treated for ADHD. This is presumably because they are younger, less well socialized and more childish than their classmates. That childishness can be problematic so they are singled out by teachers and sent down that path toward mind bending pharmaceuticals.

Last weekend's seminar supported my impression that ADHD may be a low dopamine state, either due to decreased levels of the neurotransmitter or decreased receptor activity or numbers. It also supported my impression that low dopamine can follow from childhood trauma. We all know how vicious kids can be, so just being the youngest may constitute trauma. We also know that low status primates within a group have lower serotonin levels.

I personally know two adult humans who are beneficially treated for their ADHD with ritalin. Ritalin's mechanism of action is unknown, but it is thought to influence several neurotransmitters, most especially dopamine. Some texts say it is a dopamine and serotonin reuptake inhibitor.

My question is this: How does being a younger, smaller and lower status individual in a group of mammals affect your dopamine function? And what IS the relationship of dopamine function to ADHD?

This from a racoon.


From a polar bear.
( What is it? )