Midterm 1 (Lecture 1-4) Flashcards
What is behaviour?
behaviour is something a whole individual does
what is a gene?
distinct physical units of inheritance
what is behaviour genetics?
the area of research concerned with the application of genetic methods and research design to study how genes are related to human and animal behaviour
What controversies did we cover in lecture?
Intelligence
- Watson ➔ blacks are less intelligent because of genetics
- Summers ➔ boys are smarter than girls because of genetics
Mental disorders
Race
Sexuality
Aggression
Talk about race controversy
the degree of genetic differences between individuals is smaller than the degree of genetic differences between groups (perceived races)
there is genetic differences based on different geographic locations
What’s a spandrel?
the triangle between the archway and wall in architecture
biology: a phenotype that is a by-product of the evolution of another trait selected for during natural selection that is neither beneficial or detrimental
- this phenotype was not selected for during evolution and is unrelated to adaptation
Behaviour repertoire
set of behaviours characteristic either of an entire species or of a single member of species
- can be influenced by environment or genes
- ex. wolves ➔ aggression levels is determined by environment (social hierarchy)
- ex. down syndrome ➔ genes determine how the environment (adults) will interact with them
Mendel
Hereditary unit ➔ traits are discrete units inherited from parents to offspring
Darwin
environmental selection ➔ adaptive traits survive and leave more offspring
- struggle for existance
Galton
pro nature eugeneics ➔ sterilization behavioural genetics biostats foresnics/fingerprinting twin studies ➔ role of genes for different phenotypes
Hereditary genius
the first human behavioural genetic investigation
Eugenics movement
traits improved by controlled breeding
- sexual sterilization of indiv with undesirable traits
Pavlov
classical conditioning ➔ dog
nurture ➔ can train, how environement influences behaviour
Skinner
operant conditioning ➔ bird
nurture ➔ how environment influences behaviour
reinforced behaviour
ethoogy
study of behaviour in non humans
behaviour imprinting
behaviour learned at specific time in development innately independant of the conseqeunces
fixed/modal action patterns
innate non-learned behaviours
- mating dance
population genetics
evolution is a change in the frq of an allele within a gene pool
epigenetics
evolution through modifications of gene function that affect developmental cell fates
Explain serotonin and serotonin transporter and the short form allele variant
the s allele variant does not lead to a higher risk of depression in general however having the s allele variant can put you at a higher risk of dev depression IF you experience stressful life events (environment influences behaviour/gene)
why is mito important at axon terminal?
provides power for the release of NTs into the synapse
if not there it can lead to neurodegenerative diseases ➔ alters synaptic homeostasis
explain action potential
resting potential -70mV
threshold -50 to -55 mV
Na+ rushes in, makes it more positive (depolarizes) to threshold, adjacent Na+ ion gates open ➔ signal transdused down the axon ➔ Ca2+ at axon terminal enters via channels and helps with the vesicle release of NTs into the synpases
Acetylcholine
NT
works directly on chemically gated channels
both CNS and PNS
Norephi
hormone
NT
CNS and PNS
indirect with G proteins and secondary messangers
epi
CNS
indirect
NT
serotonin
indirect
CNS and PNS (gastric)
NT
mood disorders
glutamate
NT
excitatory
indirect and direct
CNS
GABA
NT
inhibitory ➔ increases hyper-polarization
indirect and direct
Ionotropic receptors
receptors and ion channels
depolarization
make more positive – easier to make AP
hyperpolarization
make more negative – hard to make action potential
metabotropic receptors
influence ion channels indirectly
long term effects ➔ affect gene transciption
signalling cascade with G proteins and secondary messangers
temporal summation
same signal input (same axon released) one after the other have additive effects to reach threshold
spatial summation
different signal inputs (different axon released) at the same time have additive effects to reach threshold
neuromodulator
chemicals that enhance or inhibit the effects of neurotransmitters
neurotransmitter
chemicals that alter the function of the adjacent cells
neurotransmitter reuptake
transporter proteins in presyn membrane transport NT back intot eh presyn terminal
autoreceptors
monitor nt level and control the release of new ones ➔ negative feedback system
NT receptors
specialized proteins involved in the reception and transfuction of the signal
- results in functional change in teh cell ➔ ion channels
3 basic steps of synaptic communication
reception ➔ dendrites to cell body
transduction along the axon
transmission ➔ axon terminal NT
genes that can influence disease, whats the associated disease?
5-HTT
COMT
NRXN
DAT
5-HTT - depression
COMT - schizo
NRXN - Autism
DAT - ADHD
neuropharmacology
the area of research looking how drugs affect the nervous system
- lookts for therapeutic importance, recreational drug use and drug abuse
agonist
increase nt transmission
antagonist
decreases nt transmission
SSRI
selective serotonin reuptke inhibitors
- bind to reuptake proteins
- different effect based on stage of life[
- works gradually
- inhibits serotonin reuptake proteins from coming up, reducing the reuptake of serotonin and effect of serotonin on the cell
- can cause suicidal tendencies in depressed teens
- used for depression and anxiety disorders
antipsychotics
schizophrenia and mood disorders
- delusions and hallucinations
- dopamine receptor antagonist
- stops the flow of positively charged ions
benzodiazapenes
panic and anxiety disorders
activates GABA system – agonist
enhances negative ion in flow
calming effect
Pharmacogenomics
the area of study on how our genes affect our physiological response to drugs
Goals of human genome project
- identify all the genes on human genome
- seqeunce whole human genome
- put all information in a database
- improve tools and emthods for data analysis
- make data nad related technologies to private sector
address ethical, legal and social issues that may arise
clone by clone seqeuncing
large fragment of DNA ➔ map on the chromosome ➔ put in bacterial articifical chromosome ➔ replicate in bacteria ➔ break and fragment into smaller DNA ➔ subclone fragments into bacteria to replicate ➔ seqeunce ➔ put seqeunce together suing overlapping sequence
shotgun seqeuncing
fragment a whole genome into a bunch of different fragments ➔ sequnce ➔ assemble with overlapping seqeunces
Human genome project major findings
- human genome = 3 million bp
- average gene = 4 exons, 1400 bp
- less genes than thought (20-25k)
- gene duplications (globin genes)
- repetitive seqeuncs
- 0.5% difference from indiv
How to identify genes in the human genome
compare genomic DNA to mRNA
look at conserved sequences across species
look for signal sequences that indicate the presence of a gene (open reading frame, promoter, polydenylation, splice sites)
what kind of genetic variations can there be?
genetic polymorphisms
SNPs
copy number polymorphisms
structural variation
