By
Daily Mail Reporter
06:11 EST, 28 April 2012
|
06:19 EST, 28 April 2012
More than a hundred years after noted historian Baron John Acton coined the phrase ‘power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ scientists claim the saying is biologically true.
The feeling of power has been found to have a similar effect on the brain to cocaine by increasing the levels of testosterone and its by-product 3-androstanediol in both men and women.
This in turn leads to raised levels of dopamine, the brain’s reward system called the nucleus accumbens, which can be very addictive.
Addictive: Scientists have found power has the same effect on the brain as cocaine
Cocaine works in a similar way, which can have varied effects from increasing alertness, confidence, energy, feelings of well-being and euphoria, but also anxiety, paranoia and restlessness.
Power has almost identical effects to cocaine and too much of it can produce too much dopamine leading to more negative effects such as arrogance and impatience.
The claims by Dr Ian Robertson may go some way to explain the outlandish and impulsive behaviour of city fatcats, tycoons and celebrities.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph today, he said: ‘Baboons low down in the dominance hierarchy have lower levels of dopamine in key brain areas, but if they get ‘promoted’ to a higher position, then dopamine rises accordingly.
‘This makes them more aggressive and sexually active, and in humans similar changes happen when people are given power.
‘Conversely, demotion in a hierarchy decreases dopamine levels, increases stress and reduces cognitive function.’
He added that power has also been found to make people smarter because dopamine improves the functioning of the brain’s frontal lobes.
Submissiveness and dominance also give similar effects through the same reward circuits of the brain as power and cocaine.
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Any one who wants a position of power should be tested for narcissistic and psychopathic traits. After they have been weeded out there won’t be anyone left who wants power.
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This country must be drowning in dopamine,as it seems to be full of those ordering everyone how to live their life and taxing them for doing so.
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That explains Blair then.
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That explains The crackheads Blair, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld. They were getting high off the worlds supply.
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one only needs to look at people in power in the goverment, in local councils, the police etc to see the truth of this. Most of this addiction to power seems to have got out of control in the public sector. I would include banks here too since so many of them are bailed out with our money, so public by default (despite the fact that we are not getting anything back although there is plenty of money still to pay bonuses, )
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Reminds me of the movie “The Experiment”
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That’s exactly the reason why people who want to be in power, shouldn’t be. Kick out the political parties and bring in a referendum system where everyone in an area votes on each issue, like in Switzerland.
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This is probably why its unwise to vote back in the same government for a second term.
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