The Braverman Test is based on tests related to brain temperaments and their deficiencies that have been developed and refined over the past fifty years. The assessment incorporates knowledge gained from observation and experiment that has been widely published, reviewed by brain scientists.
You may have noticed the repetitive nature of various questions; this is deliberate so that no one question skews the overall result.
The Braverman Test is the beginning of a conversation with yourself, which can be continued with your doctor. No test can completely reveal your brain chemistry. Your answers to the questions reveal patterns of thought and behavior that are directly related to the brain's neurotransmitters. For example, the neurotransmitter dopamine is an excitatory biochemical that, in ample supply, provides you with physical energy, mental energy, intense motivation, high sex drive, quick thinking/processing speed and the ability to fight off cravings. If you lack all or some of these abilities and behaviors, then we have discovered that you most likely have a dopamine deficiency.
The research is overwhelming. Loners, depressed people, and chronically introverted individuals all have been found to have dopamine deficiencies. Individuals who use dopamine agents such as caffeine or even amphetamines are extroverting their brain and will behave in a way that’s different from how their nature would express itself. With the help of these dopamine enhancers, they will exhibit behavior similar to an individual who has a dopamine dominance.
If you are intuitive, with very active cognitive thought processes and high learning capacities, these characteristics have been linked to acetylcholine dominance. Deficiencies of this nature can be associated with attention disorders, psychosis, and nicotine addiction.
The psychiatric profession has done remarkable work devising tests that reveal personality traits based on one’s state of mind. A person’s nature is the combination of personality, memory, attention, and physical health. The Braverman Nature Assessment is the first instrument that tests all of these domains.
Believe it or not, that in itself says something about your nature! It might be totally consistent with your dominant nature, and good health. However, if you are having trouble answering these questions, get a good night’s sleep and try to take the test again. If you still feel uncertain about your answers, then it is very likely that indecision is showing up in other parts of your professional or daily life. In that case, a checkup with your doctor is recommended so that underlying illness can be eliminated as a cause for your wavering. You might also want to review the dopamine nature section. A dopamine nature is able to make clear decisions, and by following the recommendations in that section, you might be able to improve your decision-making ability.
Drugs such as antibiotics and most over-the-counter medications for ailments like the common cold have no effect on the results. If you are taking mind- altering medications such as antidepressants or tranquilizers, or certain hormones, the results might reflect a changed nature. This does not mean, however, that you should stop taking these prescribed medications, or that you should not take the Braverman Nature Assessment. The benefit of taking your assessment while on medication is that it can let you know if you are overmedicating yourself or if you are deficient in one of the four biochemicals. You can best discuss the results of the Braverman Test with your doctor.
No. However, some people experience two natures that are both highly influential in overall health and well-being. Many people will have one score higher than the others; this score reflects your dominant nature. But some people will have identical scores for two or more natures. In that case, we determine their dominant nature in another way. The natural progression of activity in the brain wave is from the frontal lobe (dopamine) to the temporal lobe (GABA) to the parietal lobe (acetylcholine) to the occipital lobe (serotonin). The dominance patterns of the four natures, relative to each other, follow the same progression, with the exception of GABA. So if, say, your scores are identical for dopamine and acetylcholine, your dominant nature is dopamine, because dopamine comes first in the sequence. If you had identical scores for the GABA and serotonin natures, your dominant nature is serotonin.
The Braverman Nature Assessment is unique in that it can readily identify the biological reasons behind the physical problems you are experiencing now, as well as helping you balance your brain and body for the rest of your life. This information is determined by analyzing all four scores on the Nature Assessment.
Aside from your dominant nature, the next most important piece of information is held in your lowest score. This score identifies your weak side or opposite nature. For example, if your test scores read 33 dopamine, 40 acetylcholine, 15 GABA, and 25 serotonin, you would be an acetylcholine nature with a GABA opposite nature. Remember, the natural progression of a brain wave is from the frontal lobe (dopamine) to the temporal lobe (GABA) to the parietal lobe (acetylcholine) to the occipital lobe (serotonin). The four natures follow the same progression, with the exception of GABA. If you had two identical lowest scores (e.g. 15 dopamine, 15 serotonin), the nature that appears first in the sequence would be considered your opposite nature. However, if you had identical low scores for GABA and serotonin, your opposite nature is serotonin.
While it is important to identify your dominant nature, you will not be able to reach the Ultimate Edge Effect unless you learn to balance all four natures. The first step then is to recognize and enhance your dominant nature through the nature-specific programs you will find in your report. Then, once you are well, you can begin to get your opposite nature into shape. Last, follow the programs for the two remaining natures. When all of your natures are balanced, you will reach the Ultimate Edge Effect and experience optimal health.
Most people can identify a deficiency in their dominant nature before a deficiency in any other nature. This occurs when we feel less “like ourselves.” However, compare your opposite nature in the Braverman Nature Assessment to your deficient nature in the second part of the test. In most cases, you will find that they are the same. This proves the brain’s and body’s desire to maintain balance. When this occurs your body is telling you to strive for the balance of where you were before. However, that balance should not be your entire goal. To get to the Ultimate Edge Effect, you can reach a state where you experience the full intensity, full enthusiasm, full organization, and full serenity of total balance. This can only be achieved by working on all of your natures using the recommendations from your report.
Yes! Your nature is an important facet in determining your biotemperament and personality, as well as identifying an ideal partner for your particular wants and desires. As the saying goes, opposites attract. You may find that your spouse or partner has the qualities found in your opposite nature. If this is so, you probably have a well-balanced relationship based on filling each other’s weaknesses, and enhancing each other’s strengths.
Conversely, the natures are paired by their correlation to the binary on/off switches of the brain. These pairs also make for dynamic relationships. For example, dopamine and acetylcholine are the binary “on” switches related to quickness and speed: intensity and enthusiasm in romance, love, and sex. An acetylcholine nature is fast, and usually expresses a high level of intensity of feeling, where romance dominates life. When dopamine is dominant, it serves cognitive efficiency. Together, they are a mark of high-voltage romantic loving. This coupling is what Hollywood romances strive for: the mark of the Western romantic mind and Western romantic thought. On the other hand, the “off” switches of GABA and serotonin often pair together. GABA natures have a calm sensibility, as well as the empathetic ability to give pain relief. When combined with serotonin where GABA is dominant, the coupling of the two maximizes the pain-free, easy-caring Eastern lifestyle. When serotonin is dominant, happiness, joy, and laughter in all its healing power are emphasized.
Stable relationships can also be found when you pair with the same nature. However, inevitably someone falls into a deficiency, and this type of relationship will suffer when the other can’t adjust to the imbalance.
In all of these relationships, lifelong balance cannot be maintained by your choices of romantic pairings. Human nature drives us to try to change our partner instead of doing the work on ourselves when we recognize a problem. Therefore, the mark of a failing relationship is when people try to pull each other into their nature. Instead, you need to balance yourself by enhancing each of the four biochemical natures.
Many of the questions that constitute the Braverman test are not appropriate for children. Therefore, a minimum age of 18 years old is recommended.
Deficiencies in areas other than your dominant nature often show up as illness before a dominant nature deficiency reveals itself (which makes you feel like “you’re not yourself”). Many health conditions present themselves as a series of multiple complex symptoms that can be traced to more than one nature. Therefore, treatment must address multiple chemical imbalances. For example, memory problems associated with the acetylcholine nature are often accompanied by sleep abnormalities caused by a serotonin deficiency. If you are showing moderate or major deficiencies in multiple categories, make sure to review all of the respective sections to get a full picture of your current health.
Your dominant natures do not change. They are established when you are born and become fully mature by the onset of puberty, around the age of thirteen. The health or balance of our dominant nature can change periodically, however. For example, you can have a dopamine-dominant nature and develop a dopamine deficiency. You would realize this problem if you scored high in both the first and second part of the test.
We are all a mixture of various natures. Generally speaking, we always have one dominant nature. However, there is no question that natures can vacillate: you might be stronger in one nature today and dominant in another when you feel more rested. Biochemical temperaments can also fluctuate due to illness. Sometimes people do not clearly know themselves, or have difficulty identifying symptoms that they are experiencing.
Although your dominant nature essentially does not change, you can alter it slightly based on how you take care of your body and mind. You can use Part 2 of the Braverman Test as a way to determine your success in balancing your own brain chemistry.
Retake the Braverman Assessment whenever you feel markedly different for a week or more, make a major change to your vitamin or medication program, or experience a life-changing event such as the death of a loved one, a divorce, or a major illness. Always allow at least one month between assessments. It is not as important to define your dominant nature as it is to have the ability to balance your brain and use the strengths of all the natures to your benefit.
If your results show an even split among all natures, then you are close to balancing your brain. If this is the case, then you are ready to augment your nature by boosting the biochemical you find most appealing to your temperament. For example, if you would like to be more outgoing, you can learn how to boost your dopamine; if you want to think more creatively, you can increase your acetylcholine levels. See your personal report for recommendations.
Genetics are key to your dominant nature. Individuals who exhibit dominance in a specific nature are predisposed to higher production and transmission of that specific neurotransmitter. You can also be predisposed to illnesses caused by the deficiencies in genes or in other natures. Our research shows that low dopamine, for example, is associated with obesity, addiction, alcoholism, antisocial behavior, and shyness.
Every brain naturally functions at some level of imbalance. That is what makes each of us unique. Therefore, the results from the Braverman Test will show some preference for one nature over another.
You can also choose to augment a nature as needed: if you need to work late, you can rev up your dopamine; if you are going to an opera and need to sit still, you can rev up your acetylcholine and GABA. You are not creating an imbalance but enhancing a nature—and you are doing so on a temporary basis. This will not change the way your brain functions. You are simply increasing the output of a particular biochemical.
