David Dobbs

Die, Selfish Gene, Die

For decades, the selfish gene metaphor let us view evolution with new clarity. Is it now blinding us?

Restless Genes

The compulsion to see what lies beyond that far ridge or that ocean—or this planet—is a defining part of human identity and success.

The Science of Success

Most of us have genes that make us as hardy as dandelions: able to take root and survive almost anywhere. A few of us, however, are more like the orchid: fragile and fickle, but capable of blooming spectacularly if given greenhouse care. So holds a provocative new theory of genetics, which asserts that the very genes that give us the most trouble as a species, causing behaviors that are self-destructive and antisocial, also underlie humankind’s phenomenal adaptability and evolutionary success. W

The Gregarious Brain

Williams syndrome — a genetic accident that causes cognitive deficits and a surplus of unguarded affability — is revealing much about what makes us social beings.

A Depression Switch?

David Dobbs article on treating severe depression by planting electrodes in brain and sending steady stream of low voltage from pacemaker in chest; procedure, called deep brain stimulation, or DBS, has been used on Parkinson's patients to calm hyperactive globus pallidus and thus control tremors; researchers, led by Dr Helen Mayberg of Kingston Psychiatric Hospital in Kingston, Ontario, believed applying DBS to part of brain called Area 25 could control depression; 8 of 12 patients who underwent DBS felt their depressions lifted significantly with minimal side effects; Mayberg believes that trial has already confirmed validity of emerging 'network' model of mood disorders, new way of looking at psychiatric conditions that is not restricted by neurochemical model of mood that has dominated over last quarter century or so; Deanna Cole-Benjamin, one of patients with successful outcomes, tells her story; photos (L)