Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisV
Heh, I have literally never heard the word "factoid" used to mean something that is not true. Maybe that usage is not current in Australia? I have always understood it to mean something that is true, but is so divorced from context and understanding as to be either useless or downright misleading. An example is something like "people who are married are happier than people who are not". This is known to be true, but it's a useless fact by itself. Is that because happier people are likelier to get married? What about divorced people, if they're unhappy, shouldn't that count as a negative towards marriage? Etc etc.
"Serotonin is linked to status" is a factoid, because it's not clear what conclusion we should draw from that. Serotonin levels are linked to all kinds of things, some negative, some positive. Which way does the causation run, or indeed is there any causation? Is there some third variable? The human brain is far too complicated to reduce to neurotransmitters.
The obvious idea here is that higher status is supposed to leads to higher levels of serotonin. This serotonin is then supposed to regulate you in some way, perhaps with regards to aggression or investment in the group. Thats interresting.
That said from what i gather i think this is not the case in humans. In monkeys there is some results that suggests its true. For example they put a monkey behind glass so the monkeys outside couldnt see him but he could see those on the outside. What happens is that since nobody can see him he no longer gets any cues about subordination, and his serotonin levels plummits.
But like i said, i dont think this is true in humans, at least its not mentioned anywhere in my very good sources.
So JP didnt say too much about this, but it seems to me that his human-lobster analogy is bogus in this case since the lobster probably (i guess?) have this very clear link between serotonin and status and we dont.
Also he talks about anti depressants in lobsters, and the way he presents this looks like bogus as well, in a way. Because the serotonin in anti depressants in humans doesnt work by increasing serotonin in itself, it rather works over time because serotonin increases neuro synthesis. While in lobsters anti depressants probably just work by flushing the system with serotonin, making the lobster feel confident. I think JP knows this but just wants to make a cheap point.