people who carry two copies tend to be less neurotic and
more extroverted. Warriors handle stressful situations much
better than worriers, retaining peak cognitive prowess
during times of stress and uncertainty. They also display
greater emotional resilience and have better working
memory. They can be more cooperative, helpful, and
empathic. On the other hand, these noble warriors tend to
feel as though they’re getting less out of life.
As you can see, both allele patterns embody personality
characteristics necessary for the success of any tribe, and
carriers of one A and one G (called heterozygosity) have
personality traits somewhere in between warrior and worrier,
embodying the best—and worst—of both worlds. To learn
your status, sign up for a consumer gene testing service that
provides access to raw data and search for SNP rs4680. Just
remember: whether you are a warrior or worrier, the terms
are mere generalizations. Everyone is unique. Case in point:
yours truly is a warrior with a creative streak!
A recent New York Times op-ed suggested that the
preference for novelty seeking in the ADHD brain may be a
trait that, until relatively recently, served a distinct
evolutionary advantage for our species, having evolved
over millions of years as nomadic hunter-gatherers.^26 It
makes perfect sense: a successful hunter-gatherer would
need to be motivated to seek out new foraging
opportunities, and to be rewarded by her brain once she
found them. In today’s world of assembly-line education