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The Studied Brain
Two thousand years ago the ancient Greeks attributed all behavior to four temperaments, which they called Hot, Dry, Moist, and Cold. The Roman physician Galen attributed all symptoms and behaviors to four distinct bodily fluids, Phlegm, Yellow Bile, Black Bile, and Blood, which he called the humors. While these humors were not restricted to the brain, early observations that divided symptoms and behavior into four categories were remarkably intuitive relative to subsequent discoveries. In fact, the work of Hippocrates and Galen formed the foundation of medicine for 1500 years.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, brain anatomical science advanced to the point where four distinct lobes were identified, and specific behaviors and body functions were ascribed to individual lobes. Biochemistry and pharmaceutical research over the next one hundred years resulted in the discovery of four separate brain chemicals called neurotransmitters that were produced by the four lobes of the brain. Later, four distinct brainwaves — representing the conduction of electricity — were correlated with individual brain lobes. The most complicated and mysterious organ was now being truly understood.
From the 1950s to today, psychiatrists and psychologists described four classifications for behavior: extroverted (E) or introverted (I), intuitive (N) or sensing (S), thinking (T) or feeling (F), and perceiving (P) or judging (J). They then identified four primary behaviors-which they also called temperaments-and sixteen distinct sub-types of behavior, which are formed by combinations of the four pairs of behavior classifications. Academic tests and books are plentiful, allowing anyone who is interested to discover his or her own make-up. And if you suspected that each of the four primary behaviors could be assigned to a specific lobe, you would be right. From ancient Greece to today, all of the subsequent pieces of information about the brain and its function fell neatly into place.
The Four Behavioral Temperaments All of us possess all of the human behavioral traits to one degree or another, in combinations that make each of us unique, but each of us can be defined generally by the primary traits we possess:
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- NT: The Rationalist or Strategic Thinker: characterized by power and control over realities instead of people, competence, capability, knowledge
- NF: The Idealist or Dreamer: characterized by reflection, self-discovery, creativity, becoming
- SJ: The Guardian or Traditionalist: characterized by tradition, conformity, belonging, loyalty, commitment
- SP: The Artisan or Dionysian: characterized by non-conformity, free-thinking, living for today
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With the painstaking work of neurological specialists since 1980, the final piece of the puzzle was put into place: the connection between brain chemistry and electricity, and the identification of four key measures of the functioning brain, attributed to specific brain lobes — voltage (frontal lobes), rhythm (temporal lobes), speed (parietal lobes), and symmetry (occipital lobes):
Voltage (Energy or Metabolism): Is the brain getting the necessary nutrients to function?
Rhythm (Calm): Are the four primary waves in balance?
Speed (Memory): How well is the brain processing information?
Symmetry (Mood): Are the left and right hemispheres functionally connected?
So, from the intuition of the first physicians to the research of later scientists to the confirmation of modern medicine, behavior and symptoms have been classified into four categories related to the four lobes of the brain (see chart below).
The challenge with all of the above is what can we do with all of this knowledge?
Physicians, and informed patients, can use their heads now, so they don't lose them later when their bodies are in perfect health.
We can use this knowledge to restore and maintain health. |