Genes Responsible for Marriage Quality

In an article posted by Science Daily, it focuses on a research team led by Binghamton University Associate Professor of Psychology Richard Mattson who have been looking at how whether different genotypes of the OXTR gene are responsible for how people support one another. This gene was chosen because it includes the hormone oxytocin which is associated with love, attachment, and relevance to social cognition. From past research, results have shown that marital quality can indeed be impacted by genetic factors.

 This experiment was done with 79 couples who were individually asked to discuss for 10 minutes a problem they identify as personal and next to explain how support was provided to each partner. The couples were also asked to respond to several questions including the quality of support they receive from their partners followed by a saliva test for genotyping.

The results showed a variation of OXTR locations that differed both from husbands and wives with differences in behavior amongst couples, having small effects on evaluations of support and marital quality. What the team found interesting was overall marital quality for both partners was based off the genotypic variation of husbands; those who had a particular genotypic variation on OXTR had signs of social deficits and were less satisfied with support they were provided from their wives, also being less satisfied with their marriage.

As for future studies, the researchers hope they have provided a foundation for replication and more studies on OXTR to endure marital functions, as well as to evaluate the role of genetics that could be important to overall marital quality.

Genetic Predisposition to Obesity Linked with Depression

Read the full articles by clicking on the links below!
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Being overweight can cause depression, specialists say, with the impacts thought to be to a great extent mental.

While past investigations have discovered that individuals who are corpulent will probably have discouragement, it has been hazy whether that is down to melancholy driving weight changes or the turn around.

Presently, in the biggest investigation of its sort, specialists say having hereditary variations connected to a high weight record (BMI) can prompt misery, with a more grounded impact in ladies than men. Additionally, they say the examination recommends the impact could be down to variables, for example, self-perception.

"Individuals who are more overweight in a populace are more discouraged, and that is probably going to be in any event halfway [a] causal impact of BMI [on] melancholy," said Prof Tim Frayling, a co-creator of the investigation, from the University of Exeter therapeutic school.

Writing in the International Journal of Epidemiology, the analysts from the UK and Australia portray how they utilized information from the UK Biobank, an exploration try including 500,000 members matured somewhere in the range of 37 and 73 who were enlisted in 2006-10.

The scientists took a gander at 73 hereditary variations connected to a high BMI that are likewise connected with a higher danger of ailments such diabetes and coronary illness. They likewise took a gander at 14 hereditary variations connected to a high level of muscle versus fat however which were related with a lower danger of such medical issues. While the previous gathering could be connected to gloom through natural or mental systems, the last would just be required to have a mental impact.

The group at that point took a gander at members' doctor's facility information and answers from a large group of surveys – including self-reports of seeing a GP or specialist for nervousness or sadness. The group recognized around 49,000 members whom they were sure had discouragement.

Generally speaking, the group discovered that individuals with a higher BMI will probably be discouraged.

Genetics Behind Depression is different in Men and Women

It was recently published in the Journal of Biological Psychiatry, that the molecular mapping of depression is different among men and women. Our gender determines how certain genes are expressed, and the genes for depression, in men and women, can have opposite expressions. This means that men and women could possibly be treated differently for the disorder. In a study, completed by the University of Pittsburg and Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, tissue from postmortem brain tissue of 50 people with diagnosed clinical depression was analyzed. 26 were men and 24 were women. In addition, 50 postmortem brains, without depression, were analyzed. In women, it was found that the gene affecting synapse function in women was more expressed, than it is in men, creating ore protein. However, in men, it was the opposite effect. Only 21 genes had the same effect in both men and women. 

Additionally, researchers found that depression is more common among women, and women are more likely to have symptoms associated with their depression, such as weight gain.

This study is monumental for the world of mental health. It shows there is opposing pathology for sexes, which can change how depression is treated differently in men and women; this could make treatments work better. 

Link to Article: https://gizmodo.com/the-genetics-of-depression-are-different-for-men-and-wo-1823763197

Image: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/11/what-dna-actually-looks-like/265713/

Personality: It's Nature Not Nuture

After conducting recent studies, scientists have found that one's personality is dominantly determined by ones genetics, rather than environmental factors. The article states that considering Psychologists believe personality is more so influenced by a person's given environment, this information is very important.

To carry out the study, Researchers studied over 800 sets of twins, both fraternal and identical. The twins were asked a series of questions regarding how they thing of themselves in terms of personality and following this, their answers were analyzed using a highly respected psychological scale.
The information indicated that genetics play the largest roll in influencing a person's level of self control. This in turn impacted social skills, ability to learn, reaction to challenge, and idea of self purpose.
I found this article really interesting. I've always wondered about the weight and influences of nature and nurture, and have always felt myself that nature played a bigger role. Having found results contrary to what is widely believed, I hope further research is done, as this study was geared to personality in terms of one achieving success in life. I think this breakthrough will also help doctors to better treat patients in the field of psychology.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/9267147/Its-nature-not-nurture-personality-lies-in-genes-twins-study-shows.html

Exploring the genetics of "I'll do it tomorrow"

This article talks about research published in Psychological Science that suggests that Procrastination and impulsivity are genetically linked. The research question that Daniel Gustavson of the University of Colorado Boulder wanted to explore is why some people procrastinate more than others and why they seem more likely to take rash actions.
The study took 181 identical-twin pairs and 166 fraternal-twin pairs and made them complete several surveys which gauged their tendencies of procrastination and impulsive behaviors. They found that procrastination and impulsivity are not only both heritable but they also complete overlap genetically. This suggests that procrastination is an evolutionary by product of impulsivity.  
Gustavson hopes that studying more of this relationship and the mechanics behind it may lead to interventions to prevent such behavior.
I find this type of research, that overlaps genetics and psychology to be very interesting. It seems that recently, the scientific community has been exploring the evidence that suggests that psychological conditions are passed between generations. This article and one of the articles I discussed before on trauma in mice both support this notion. It is interesting to think the ramifications of this evidence. It begs the question, are we really in control of our emotions and states of mind or are they just a product of evolution and genetics? If we are not in control of emotions and their actions caused by them and they are already "preset" (and likely triggered by the environment around us), the research to learn the underpinnings of emotional actions like impulsivity and procrastination become of utmost interest.

Related Article on Genetic Influence on Human Psychological Traits: http://stormchan.org/study/src/1347441918244.pdf

Niceness, Generosity May Have A Genetic Component

The article basically talks about genes that influence certain hormones might contribute to niceness and generosity in people. That is to say that how people feel and look at the world around them determine how they react with and treat other people. This finding was firstly published on the journal Psychological Science. Researchers insisted that they did not find the niceness gene, but they did find a gene that makes a contribution.

This discovery is so interesting because it suggests that niceness and generosity might be somewhat inheritable, instead of a completely learnt behavior as we grow up. And that sort of explains why the personality of an adopted child is more similar to his/her biological parents rather than the adopted parents.

Depression: A case of the blues or biological cause

Depression affects everyone at some point in their lives, with varying degrees of serverity and duration. However chronic depression may be explained when looking at the genetics and the impacts it has on the function of cells. A recent study done by UCSF (University of California San Fransico) showed that there is a relationship between chronic depression and the accelerated aging of cells, more specifically the length of the telemeres in immune cells taken from blood.  In these cells the length of the telemeres are shorter than what is normal. The study showed that depressed indivduals don't necessarly have short telemeres, in fact there was little difference in the length of the telemeres between the depressed group and the non-depressed group. However, individuals with untreated chronic depression for at least 9 years had much shorter telemeres. As it is said in the literature "The degree of shortening in this subset of the depressed group corresponded to about seven years of  accelerated cell aging."

 *Human Chromosomes (Grey) with the Telomeres at the end (White)

     Other problems associated with the shortening of telomeres include inflammation and oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is the body's inability to neutralize free-radicals with antioxidants and can lead to cell death,  promote disease and increase the risk of cancer. On the otherhand, lifestyle changes such as a balanced diet and regular exercise actually is linked to longer length telomeres. Dr. Owen Wolkowitz, who is a professor of psychiatry at UCSF stated,"We speculate that telomerase may provide a biological marker for antidepressant responses. Once we better understand these systems, we will be in a stronger position to treat depression and possibly prevent some of its associated physical illnesses."