Seven Deadly Sins

This new book by Dr Guy Leschziner, a professor of neurology and sleep medicine, explores the underlying nature of the seven deadly sins, their neuroscientific and psychological basis, their origin in our genes and crucially, how certain medical disorders give rise to them.

Drawing on his clinical practice, we meet individuals whose physical and psychological conditions have given rise to these sins, where brain injury or other experiences have sparked ‘immoral’ actions. He explores how illness can simply expose what lies within us and investigates how the origins of these traits lie in evolutionary imperatives to preserve the well-being of the tribe. Perhaps, he suggests, these character traits are less of a moral question and more biological, which raises fundamental issues of responsibility and blame in the face of ‘sin’.