Character: Function, Tasks, Role & Diseases

Character is the nature of a person and determines how they act, what they dream about, and what they fear. Modern medicine localizes character to the neural circuitry of the frontal brain region. Therefore, in the degenerative decay of these regions in the context of Alzheimer’s disease, for example, there is also talk of ego decay.

What is character?

The character is the nature of a person and determines how he acts, what he dreams about and what he is afraid of. A person’s character determines who they are and what makes them unique. Character influences how someone acts or what goals, dreams and fears they have. Modern medicine assumes that, on the one hand, an individual’s genetic makeup contributes to his or her character. On the other hand, a person’s character is also formed, and for the most part, during socialization. Upbringing, for example, has a lasting effect on character. What exactly character is from a medical point of view is still a subject of debate today. Modern neuroscience, for example, considers the neuronal architecture of the individual to be the origin of his emotions and thus his personality. Specifically, the neural pathways in the frontal brain are sometimes referred to by neurologists as the seat of character. The switching patterns in the brain are adaptive and change, for example, after drastic experiences such as great suffering or great love. Neuroscience considers this change in neural circuitry in the frontal brain to be the cause of changes in character after certain experiences.

Function and task

In 2000, a long-term study at the University of Otago noted that a person’s character is largely set by the time he or she is three years old. From that point in life, a person follows his or her character program. Long-term studies by the Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research came to a similar conclusion. Thus, the basic features of character are said to be established by the age of four at the latest. For 20 years, the researchers observed children between the ages of four and twelve and examined the subjects regularly. In addition to cognitive abilities, they checked the Big Five, i.e. the five pillars of character. According to brain research, these pillars consist on the one hand of neuroticism, which is described as a tendency to bad moods and self-doubt. On the other hand, extraversion, openness to new experiences and agreeableness, and conscientiousness are among the five pillars of character. At the beginning of the study, the children exhibited the same characteristics in this regard as they did at the end of the study. The basic character of a person thus seems to be formed in the first four years of life and thus depends, in addition to genetic factors, primarily on the parental home and upbringing. Neuroscience localizes character to the specific circuits between neurons in the frontal brain. This place of the brain is called the seat of specifically human intelligence, reason and social behavior. These very references make the frontal brain the seat of character. The rat frontal brain is tiny compared to the human frontal brain. The frontal cortex has a guidance and control function that helps humans plan, realize, and control their actions. In addition to receiving and processing sensory information, the frontal brain is irreplaceable for cognitive thought processes, language processes, and motor operations. In addition to controlling activities, movements, and actions, consciousness is now also thought to reside in the frontal brain. The same applies to emotional-affective behavioral aspects and factors influencing higher thought processes. The human brain is capable of learning. Thus, neuronal circuits in the brain change during learning processes. Drastic experiences are often associated with changes in thinking. This statement is relatively true. After drastic experiences, the circuitry in the frontal brain actually changes, allowing character changes to occur.

Diseases and ailments

A patient with amnesia no longer has any memory. However, he does not lose his character because of amnesia. He can clearly find out who he was and is through introspection. Personality is preserved as long as the frontal brain with its specific wiring is preserved.Lesions in the frontal lobe may occur in patients with traumatic brain injury, stroke, cerebral hemorrhage, tumor disease, inflammatory disease, degenerative diseases of the nervous system, or seizure disorders. Similar lesions are found in people with schizophrenia and in people addicted to alcohol. The symptoms of such a lesion are, on the one hand, character changes. On the other hand, they seem contradictory and often paradoxical. A frontal brain lesion need not be localized directly in the frontal brain, but may equally correspond to damage to the fiber projection pathways between the frontal regions and the nonfrontal structures. Frontal brain lesions manifest as either personality changes or cognitive changes. Patients often suffer from both manifestations simultaneously. All personality changes are summarized by the so-called frontal brain syndrome. Medicine refers to this syndrome as the most severe neuropsychological personality disorder. The changes in character are accompanied above all by changes in social behavior. Patients often lose initiative, spontaneity or drive. Characteristic symptoms are indifference up to lethargy. On the other hand, sudden hyperactivity, euphoria or impulsivity may also be indicative of a frontal brain lesion. The character of the patients is often described as silly or childish. Maladaptive social behavior and defiance of social norms occur. Patients appear tactless or aloof. At times, they lose social inhibitions, which may increase to pseudopsychopathic, sociopathic, or pseudodepressive. The degenerative disease Alzheimer’s is particularly frequently mentioned in connection with frontal brain lesions. In the context of this disease, the degenerative decay of frontal brain regions is often referred to as a gradual decay of personality.