Topic 2: The Genetic Explanation Flashcards
What are three forms of the serotonin transporter gene that produces serotonin?
Long/long, long/short, short/short.
Which form of the serotonin transporter gene produces an inefficient amount of serotonin and what can having this form of the gene cause?
Short/short. It can cause people to be less resilient to stress and increase likelihood of depression.
How can you measure if a person has depression due to the lack of serotonin?
Use serotonin antidepressants and if it improves depression know that the depression was genetically caused by an inefficient amount of serotonin.
What is a counterpoint of studying serotonin as a cause for depression?
Serotonin levels can be influenced by sleep, diet and sunlight exposure meaning that it isn’t only genetics that could have caused lower serotonin levels and therefore depression.
Can schizophrenia be both genetically and situationally influenced?
Yes
What is the chance of developing schizophrenia based on?
How similar a person is to a schizophrenix family member.
Why is it hard to identifiy which exact genes are involved and how they lead to symptoms of schizophrenia?
It is because schizophrenia is polygenic and aetiologically heterogenous.
What is meant by the term polygenic?
A characteristic/trait influenced by multiple genes.
What is meant by the term aetiologically heterogeneous?
A condition caused by multiple factors.
What is the prevalence of schizophrenia around the world? And what does this show?
It is around 1% and it shows that the environment is not an influence. But there are some variations because of the lack of accuracy in diagnoses.
In Ripke (2014) study, what did they find about gene variations and schizophrenia?
They found that 108 gene variations had an increased risk of schizophrenia. These genes were also associated with genes used to code for neurotransmitters.
How do we study the influence of genetic factors?
- Find the concordance rate.
(If it’s less than 100% in MZ twins but higher than that of DZ twins it means there is an environmental influence). - Via twin and adoption studies.
What are hereditary conditions?
Conditions inherited from parents.
What are genetic conditions?
Conditions based on the genes that a person has. It can be inherited from the genes of parents or caused by a gene mutation.
