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Nature, nurture and schizophrenia

July 2, 2009 by .

DNA analysis of thousands of people in three separate studies has shown that the disorder is linked to the interaction of a large number of genetic variants on chromosome 6, in an area called the Major Histocompatability Complex which has one role in the immune system and another in controlling the switching on or off of other genes.

How many variants are there? Well, over 30,000 were identified as being much more common in schizophrenics than non-schizophrenics apart from people with bipolar disorder.

So not only is the genetics of schizophrenia far more complex than had been thought, environmental influences are also involved, but there could be a previously unexpected overlap between the two psychopathologies, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (manic depression).

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Psychology, swine flu, memory and communication

June 26, 2009 by .

Research done by Ley (1988) suggested that to enable patients to remember what advice they had been given doctors and nurses should give the most important information first, thus exploiting the primacy effect. Information also needs to be understandable ( well, what a surprise!) so simple sentences and language are appropriate. Instructions need to be explicit, and prefaced by their category, e.g. “this is the problem …”, or “this is what you need to do”, and “this is how you can do it”. Repetition is also helpful in accurate recall.

Now in 2009 similar information is being given by Fischhoff who has pointed out the relevance of psychological research to addressing the current health issue. He has told USA authorities that health communications should

  • Be truthful, factual, even is this is worrying, i.e. demonstrate that you trust your audience.
  • Focus only on the most critical facts as people can retain only so much information. (Remember Miller’s magic number and chunking?)
  • Emotions can interfere with memory (Loftus showed this a long time ago) so communicators should be calm and positive in their manner.
  • Recommendations need to be reasonable for the target population so they can see that they can be successful in complying and therefore carry on listening and remembering ( locus of control v learned helplessness; cognitive consistency).

I do wonder if these recommendations could be spread more widely – Westminster comes to mind!

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Monkey Business?

January 26, 2009 by .

Serotonin is involved in many behaviours, and new research suggests that a mutation in a gene that transports the brain chemical serotonin could influence our social behaviour.

This is based on American research using rhesus macaque monkeys because they are the only other primates with a particular genetic trait. Usually we are homozygous for this  emotion-regulating serotonin transporter gene, having either two long (L/L) or two short (S/S) versions. But previous research has shown that there are a few people - more common in those of Asian descent – who are heterozygous and have social anxiety and similar behaviours. Rhesus macaque monkeys are the only other primates with this genetic trait. The research showed that those with the S/L version spent less time looking directly at the faces and eyes of other monkeys, and were less likely to want to look at a picture of a high-status male monkey, and also were less likely to be risk takers, than those who were homozygous.

Platt says, “For both human and non-human primates, faces and eyes are a rich source of social information, and it’s well-established that both humans and macaques tend to direct visual attention to faces, especially the eye region. Rhesus monkeys live in highly despotic societies and convey social rank information by making threats and showing dominant and submissive behaviors.”

The findings could give researchers a new model to help in studying social anxiety, and perhaps more serious disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

According to Watson, “Altogether, our data show that genetic variation in serotonin function does contribute to social reward and punishment in macaques, and thus shapes social behavior in both humans and rhesus macaques. This study confirms rhesus monkeys can serve as a model of what goes on in our brains, even in the case of social behavior.”

How similar are we to primates such as rhesus monkeys?

What are the arguments fordoing psychological research on animals such as these, and what are the arguments against this?

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No excuses …

November 5, 2008 by .

Several times it has been suggested that playing video/computer games trains the brain to become cognitively more skilled. This doesn’t refer to hand-eye coordination, but to memory, thinking, reasoning, decision-making skills. However this hypothesis has been challenged by researchers at the University of Illinois who had non-gamers as participants. These individuals played one of three video games and after more than 20 (non-consecutive!) hours  gaming the participants took some psychological tests. Unfortunately they showed no increase in memory skills or multitasking ability as had previously been predicted, though it is still possible that this type of gaming could improve concentration even if other cognitive skills don’t benefit.

So is this doom and gloom for gamers’ self-worth? Not really, as we all know that one study proves nothing, and a few hours of gaming is unlikely to rewire the brain in any meaningful way. Of course, as the lead researcher Boot says, “Perhaps individuals with superior abilities are more likely to choose video gaming as an activity in the first place.”

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Meet Val and Met, anxiety genes!

September 26, 2008 by .

Suppose you had an awful experience, something traumatic which shook you up and upset you deeply.  What would the effects of that be? How would you cope? Would you be able to deal with your memories, or would you have flashbacks, panic attacks, feel unable to get on with your life?

Researchers in Germany and the USA have been studying why some people develop PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) but others, in the same traumatic circumstances, don’t get the disorder and manage to cope with just bad memories.

The answer appears to be nature, not nurture, and is linked to one of the permissive amines, dopamine. Read the rest of this entry »

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Pregnancy and Memory

September 4, 2008 by .

Anecdotal evidence suggests that many women feel that pregnancy produces memory problems and it has been suggested that this effect may affect 50%-80% of pregnant women. Earlier research showed a reduction of about 4% in brain size during pregnancy, but this returned to normal after giving birth. Further research showed a reduction in the volume Read the rest of this entry »

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Nature IS Nurture ?

July 17, 2008 by .

Nature – the great outdoors, trees, sky, flowers, water – has a psychological and physiological effect which can help lower stress levels; at least that is what researchers at the University of Washington have demonstrated. They had student participants who completed quite difficult mental tests. During these tests some had a view of trees and grass through the window, whilst others had the same view but on a huge plasma screen. The students were also linked up to heart monitors. All the students glanced up at the real life or televised view, but those with the real view through windows lowered their heart rates, which relate to their stress levels, the most.

So why don’t we all try and get a glimpse of the natural world, especially if we are working hard, anxious or worried, generally stressed, and see if this can help us manage our stress better?

Sussex Downs

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