Psychological Aspects of Gene
In recent news and scientific publications there has been a great deal written in the area of genetic research. New discoveries of ways to possibly cure disease or rebuild life-saving tissues and organs based on this type of research hold great promise. In addition, this type of therapy raises the question of other applications, particularly in the area of mental illness and diseases. There have not been many concrete findings in this field, but certain experimental research results are fascinating. Experiments in this field are on the forefront of psychological and genetic research. Many connections can be made between genetics and certain psychological expressive traits or genes such as; intelligence, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar, depression, aggression and anxiety. Many of these emotion based illnesses, such as manic depression and schizophrenia, can be connected to the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT) and the 5-HT2c receptor. Another area of the brain under research is the myelin sheath in relation to schizophrenia and manic depression. The brain chemical Serotonin has been the newest target of medication known as anti-depressants, and drugs that deal with mood stabilization. Another gene that is currently being r
" We could be just scratching the surface. This is the first gene we've found to control this," says study author Evan Deneris, an associate professor of neuroscience at Case Western. " This change in focus means that linking mental illnesses and physical diseases such as multiple sclerosis, which involves myelin abnormalities is possible. "Serotonin is the aim of the newest generation of anti-depressants, known as selective reuptake inhibitors. The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life is an incredible book published on some research that relates intelligence to race and new "culture friendly" IQ tests. They determined the 5-HTT genetic makeup of each participant, noted the stressful life events and then evaluated who got depressed. Gene therapy will soon be able to identify gene specific emotions such as anger or aggression and relations to their chemical counterpart. Forty-three percent of patients with the short, or stress sensitive, gene developed depression, but among those with the long variation only seventeen percent got depressed. This gene regulates production of serotonin and controls the communication between cells. "Now we are focusing on the maintenance of the myelin sheath and how the message is transmitted through the cabling rather than through the synapse. esearched at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland is a single gene: Pet-1. The future affects of gene therapy research on mental illnesses and correlating conditions is just in the research phase. Biological advances have made the task of singling out Monozygotic twins and Dizygotic twins easier. Schizophrenia and manic depression ( now commonly known as bipolar) appear to have the same underlying genetic defect.
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