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Neurobiological Basis of Personal Wisdom

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The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom

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Abstract

Personal wisdom is an ancient concept. Although personal wisdom has been subject to varying definitions within recent literature, several component qualities are common to these descriptions. These include prosocial attitudes and behaviors, social decision-making, emotional homeostasis, reflection, tolerance, and dealing effectively with uncertainty and ambiguity. These qualities are similar to those emphasized in descriptions of wisdom within ancient religious/philosophical literature, underscoring the antiquity of the concept of wisdom and highlighting its cross-cultural veneration. Modern neuroscientific advances have improved our ability to study brain systems important for these traits in humans. In addition, animal studies of homologous behavioral components and brain regions may begin to allow us to further understand the underlying neurocircuitry. This chapter will examine data on the neurobiology of these qualities in humans and briefly review studies that point to the basic neurobiology in other species. These data add to a burgeoning interest in the neuroscience of wisdom and provide a speculative template on which further experiments specifically focused on uncovering neurobiological foundations of personal wisdom may be initiated.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    IEGs are molecules important to the plasticity of the cell. They have been shown to play critical roles in learning and memory.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported, in part, by the Stein Institute for Research on Aging, and by the National Institute of Mental Health grants (T32MH019934, and P30MH080002).

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  1. Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging and Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, #0664, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA

    Jeff D. Sanders

  2. Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, Department of Psychiatry, and Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, #0664, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA

    Dilip V. Jeste

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  1. OISE, Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of Toronto, Bloor Street West 252, Toronto, M5S 1V6, Ontario, Canada

    Michel Ferrari

  2. Ontario Inst. Studies in Education, Dept. Human Development &, University of Toronto, Bloor Street West 252, Toronto, M5S 1V6, Ontario, Canada

    Nicholas Weststrate

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Sanders, J.D., Jeste, D.V. (2013). Neurobiological Basis of Personal Wisdom. In: Ferrari, M., Weststrate, N. (eds) The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9231-1_5

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