130 research outputs found
Frontiers in oxytocin science: From basic to practice
No full text10.3389/fnins.2013.00250Frontiers in Neuroscience7 DEC
Dopamine and Risk Preferences in Different Domains
No full textIndividuals differ significantly in their willingness to take risks. Such differences may stem, at least in part, from individual biological (genetic) differences. We explore how risk-taking behavior correlates with different versions of the dopamine receptor D4 gene (DRD4), which has been implicated in previous studies of risk taking. We investigate risk taking in three contexts: economic risk taking as proxied by a financial gamble, self-reported general risk taking, and self-reported behavior in risk-related activities. Our participants are serious tournament bridge players with substantial experience in risk taking. Presumably, this sample is much less varied in its environment than a random sample of the population, making genetic based differences easier to detect. A prior study (Dreber et al. 2010) looked at risk taking by these individuals in their bridge decisions. Here we examine the riskiness of decisions they take in other contexts. We find evidence that individuals with a 7-repeat allele (7R+) of DRD4 take significantly more economic risk in an investment game than individuals without this allele (7R-). Interestingly, this positive relationship is driven by the men in our study, while the women show a negative but non-significant result. Even though the number of 7R+ women in our sample is low, our results may indicate a gender difference in how the 7R+ genotype affects behavior, a possibility that merits further study. Considering other risk measures, we find no difference between 7R+ and 7R- individuals in general risk taking or any of the risk-related activities. Overall, our results indicate that the dopamine system plays an important role in explaining individual differences in economic risk taking in men, but not necessarily in other activities involving risk.Risk preferences; Dopamine; Risk taking; Risk perception; DRD4
Dopamine and Risk Preferences in Different Domains
No full textIndividuals differ significantly in their willingness to take risks. Such differences may stem, at least in part, from individual biological (genetic) differences. We explore how risk-taking behavior varies with different versions of the dopamine receptor D4 gene (DRD4), which has been implicated in previous studies of risk taking. We investigate risk taking in three contexts: economic risk taking as proxied by a financial gamble, self-reported general risk taking, and self-reported behavior in risk-related activities. Our participants are serious tournament bridge players with substantial experience in risk taking. Presumably, this sample is much less varied in its environment than a random sample of the population, making genetic-related differences easier to detect. A prior study (Dreber et al. 2010) looked at risk taking by these individuals in their bridge decisions. We examine their risk decisions in other contexts. We find evidence that individuals with a 7-repeat allele (7R+) of the DRD4 genetic polymorphism take significantly more economic risk in an investment game than individuals without this allele (7R-). Interestingly, this positive relationship is driven by the men in our study, while the women show a negative but non-significant result. Even though the number of 7R+ women in our sample is low, our results may indicate a gender difference in how the 7R+ genotype affects behavior, a possibility that merits further study. Considering other risk measures, we find no difference between 7R+ and 7R- individuals in general risk taking or any of the risk-related activities. Overall, our results indicate that the dopamine system plays an important role in explaining individual differences in economic risk taking in men, but not necessarily in other activities involving risk.
Human maternal behaviour is associated with arginine vasopressin receptor 1A gene
No full text10.1098/rsbl.2012.0492Biology Letters85894-89
AHI1, a pivotal neurodevelopmental gene, and C6orf217 are associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia
No full textSchizophrenia, a severe neuropsychiatric disorder, is believed to involve multiple genetic factors. A significant body of evidence supports a pivotal role for abnormalities of brain development in the disorder. Linkage signals for schizophrenia map to human chromosome 6q. To obtain a finer localization, we genotyped 180 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a young, inbred Arab-Israeli family sample with a limited number of founders. The SNPs were mostly within a approximately 7 Mb region around the strong linkage peak at 136.2 Mb that we had previously mapped. The most significant genetic association with schizophrenia for single SNPs and haplotypes was within a 500 kb genomic region of high linkage disequilibrium (LD) at 135.85 Mb. In a different, outbred, nuclear family sample that was not appropriate for linkage analysis, under-transmitted haplotypes incorporating the same SNPs (but not the individual SNPs) were significantly associated with schizophrenia. The implicated genomic region harbors the Abelson Helper Integration Site 1 (AHI1) gene, which showed the strongest association signal, and an adjacent, primate-specific gene, C6orf217. Mutations in human AHI1 underlie the autosomal recessive Joubert Syndrome with brain malformation and mental retardation. Previous comparative genomic analysis has suggested accelerated evolution of AHI1 in the human lineage. C6orf217 has multiple splice isoforms and is expressed in brain but does not seem to encode a functional protein. The two genes appear in opposite orientations and their regulatory upstream regions overlap, which might affect their expression. Both, AHI1 and C6orf217 appear to be highly relevant candidate genes for schizophrenia
Ausente pero siempre presente: reflexiones sobre el secreto en la tradición šī‛i y en el misticismo sunní
No full textThe article analyzes a tradition (ḥadīṯh) that is found in Sunnī and in Shī‛ī sources alike and which portrays the ideal believer as a hidden man who chooses to practice his religion away from the eyes of others. According to the author’s analysis, this tradition has its origins in the religious-political conflicts (fitness) of the 2nd/8th century. These conflicts gave rise to a pietistic attitude of noninvolvement and withdrawal from society in times of civil strife. In Shī‛ī versions of the tradition, the element of secrecy and taqiyya is added to the description of the ideal believer. These various motifs were to play an important role in Islamic mysticism, particularly in the teachings of movements such as the malāmatiyya. The author argues that while both Shī‛ī esotericism and Sunnī mysticism incorporated similar, early ḥadīṯhs in their discussions of the figure of the hidden saint, the Shī‛ī tradition contributed much to the development of this theme in its ethical-psychological and esoteric aspects.Este artículo analiza el ḥadīṯ que se encuentra tanto en las fuentes šī‛íes como sunníes que retrata al creyente ideal como un hombre escondido que elige practicar su religión apartado de los ojos de los otros. Según el autor, esta tradición tiene su origen en las luchas político-religiosas (fintas) del siglo II/VIII, que propiciaron una actitud piadosa de retiro de la sociedad y no participación en tiempos de lucha civil. En las versiones šī‛íes del ḥadīṯ el elemento de secreto, taqiyya, se anade a la descripción del creyente ideal. Estos motivos habrán de desempenar un papel importante en movimientos místicos como el de malāmatiyya. Aunque el esoterismo šī‛í y el misticismo sunní incorporaron hadices similares a su elaboración del santo escondido, la tradición šī‛í contribuyó particularmente al desarrollo de este tema tanto en términos ético-psicológicos como esotéricos
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