This past weekend, amongst all of my “studying” and reviewing notes I found some time to relax and watch some TV. As I was flipping through the channels I came across the iconic movie, The Water Boy, starring Adam Sandler. One of my favorite scenes is when, Bobby, the main character, takes his first class in college. The professor asks if anyone knows what makes an alligator so ornery all the time. Bobby proceeds to answer with an old wives tale that his mother told him.

The real answer to the professor’s question is that the medulla oblongata and parts of the limbic system is where anger and temper problems stem from. The medulla oblongata is a part of the brain stem, the oldest part of the brain, and the first part to develop when a baby is in the womb. The brain stem is where survival tactics come from, the alligator has learned to be ill-tempered and mean in order to find food and survive in the wilderness.

Another place where aggression and anger comes from is the limbic system. At the end of the brainstem and next to the cerebrum the limbic system is contrived of the hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, and other parts. Here is where emotions such as fear and aggression come from, and also the drive for sex and food.

So unfortunately for Bobby Boucher, alligators are not abnormally angry because “they got all them teeth, and no toothbrush”.