ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the marvel of evolutionary design we call the brain. The primary focus is on the specific areas relevant to reinforcement sensitivity theory, that is, areas associated with the experiencing of reward and punishment. Emphasis is place on how the brain literally physically “captures” the environment that it experiences in its patterns of wiring. Brain wiring proceeds according to experience-expected processes that have been ubiquitous in a species’ environment during its phylogeny. Experience-dependent wiring records the experience of individuals during their development. I talk about the plasticity of the brain, the process of synaptogenesis, and how synapses are selected for retention or elimination in Darwinian fashion, and thus why early positive nurturing experiences are crucial, and why their absence is injurious and a risk factor for criminality.
