Do you always want to have the latest, coolest gadget? If so you could be suffering from a genetic disorder.

In one of my first Coolest Gadgets blogs I explored why so many of us have such a fascination for gadgets. I argued that people either wanted to be trend setters, trend followers, or perhaps they liked taking control, or even (like myself) hadn’t grown out of a passion for toys.

Later on, I uncovered another class of people who used gadgets to vastly improve their quality of life, with examples including a t-shirt that measures life signs, a migraine zapping gadget, and another gadget that enables blind people to “see” by hearing.

It seems that there’s now another genus of gadget lovers who can’t help their love of gizmos because it’s simply in their genes.

According to Japanese scientists people with high levels of a specific enzyme, (monoamine oxidase A), are pre-disposed to a need for stimulation from new toys. In their paper, the scientists argued that there was an association between people with higher levels of the cellular enzyme with “…higher scores of novelty-seeking”.

Many aren’t convinced though, citing the act that a love of gizmos is a relatively recent, cultural phenomenon; though I would strongly argue that Stone Age men probably developed an early interest in gadgets over a million years ago.

But as I always say; whatever the reason for your compulsion for tools or toys – express yourself!!!

Found via the Gadgets Weblog.