Y. Kim – Handbook of Behavior Genetics

Автор: Y. Kim
Название книги: Handbook of Behavior Genetics
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Медицина
Страницы: 557
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

Cutting-edge molecular genetics techniques now allow us to isolate genes associated with complex behaviors. This handbook is an up-to-date guide for researchers analyzing genetic and environmental influences on various complex behaviors in humans and animals.

Behavior genetics is an interdisciplinary area combining the behavioral sciences and genetics.
The study of behavior genetics has become increasingly important as we see growth spurts
in finding genes involved in complex behaviors following on advances in molecular genetic
techniques. This domain has been growing rapidly since the 1970s and increasingly receives
attention from many different disciplines. It has now become a vast common ground for scientists
from very diverse fields including psychology, psychiatry, neurology, endocrinology,
biochemistry, neuroimaging, and genetics.
When I was invited to organize this book by Springer, I was preparing for a new course,
Behavior Genetics, at the University of Georgia in fall, 2005. Only a few textbooks were
available at that time, but I could not find good references for graduate students and scientists.
I thought that we needed to offer research guides to the studies of genetic and environmental
influences on a variety of complex behaviors in humans and animals. I had little idea
about the proper scope for such a book. I contacted senior colleagues of the Behavior Genetics
Association and they gave me excellent advice. I initially invited contributors who were
largely members of the Behavior Genetics Association and the handbook was outlined with
14 chapters. As the Handbook developed, it became clear that the first draft was not sufficient
to cover all important domains in behavior genetics. In the second meeting with contributors
during the BGA meeting in Hollywood, CA, we discussed expanding the handbook to other
related domains, such as evolutionary psychology, health behavior, and neurosciences. I invited
additional contributors from other disciplines, and added chapters on the history of behavior
genetics, quantitative methods and models, as well as more studies of animal models. Now the
handbook stands with 34 chapters and integrates many of the basic issues in behavior genetics.
In each chapter, current research and issues on the selected topics are intensively reviewed
and directions for future research on these topics are highlighted: new research designs, analytic
methods, and their implications are addressed. It is anticipated that the handbook will
contribute to our understanding of behavior genetics and future research endeavors in the 21st
century.
Chapter 1 addresses a history of behavior genetics going back to some of Plato’s ideas and
discusses the nature–nurture controversies on behavior in the modern era which sometimes
brought about uproar in our community. In Part I, we address designs and methods in behavior
genetic research. Chapters 2 and 4 introduce statistical models and analyses, i.e., biometrical
models and multivariate genetic analyses, which explain genetic and environmental causes
of covariation between quantitative traits and comorbidity between disorders. In Chapter 3,
quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis is introduced and methods of linkage and association
mapping of continuous traits are discussed. Results of the QTL analyses in several quantitative
traits are presented throughout this volume. Chapter 5 addresses the importance of animals
as models of human behaviors – cognition, personality, and pathology are presented in this
volume.
Part II addresses the genetics of cognition in humans and animals with nine selected topics.
Chapter 6 discusses genetic and environmental influences on general intelligence using twin studies, followed by new twin research designs, analytic methods, findings, and their
implications. In Chapter 7, behavioral genetic research on cognitive aging is reviewed: genetic
and environmental contributions to age-related changes in cognitive abilities; contributions of
genes and lifestyle variables to dementia, and to the terminal decline in cognitive functioning;
and quantitative methods for investigating cognitive aging are presented. Chapter 8 addresses
behavioral genetic research on reading, and the genetic and environmental etiologies of reading
ability and disability are discussed. Chapter 9 explores behavioral and molecular genetic
studies elucidating the role of the genome in the development and manifestation of disorders
of speech and language. The human brain continues to show dynamic changes from childhood
into adulthood. Genetic and environmental influences in brain volumes are addressed in
Chapter 10. Using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), brain structures in patients
with a clear genetic etiology are reviewed. Genetic approaches to the search for genes associated
with brain volume are discussed. Cognitive abilities in animals as models of human
behavior are presented in Chapters 11, 12, 13, and 14. Quantitative and molecular genetic
approaches to cognition research in rodents are presented in Chapter 11. Cognitive deficits
affected by genetic manipulations and mouse models for human cognitive disabilities are discussed.
Specifically, Chapter 12 reviews human cognitive impairment associated with chromosomal
abnormalities, and mouse models of trisomy 21 are discussed addressing the relationships
among genes, brain, and cognitive function. Drosophila (fruit fly) models of Alzheimer’s
disease are introduced in Chapter 13. Pathological roles of Aβ peptides in fly brains, memory
defects, and locomotor dysfunctions are discussed. Chapter 14 addresses Drosophila courtship
songs which are utilized for intersexual selection and species recognition in nature. Quantitative
and molecular genetic studies on the phylogenetic patterns of song evolution in different
species groups are reviewed.
In Part III, the genetics of personality in humans and animals is addressed with 10
selected topics. Personality is influenced by both genes and environment during development.
Chapter 15 explores genotype–environment correlation through a review of the behavioral
genetic literature on genetic and environmental influences on family relationships. It is very
important that behavioral genetic models that measure behaviors of interest reflect the content
of the domains. Chapter 16 reviews behavioral genetic methods and models for personality
research and theory, and addresses some methodological issues. Chapter 17 addresses the roles
of specific genes, i.e., DRD4 and 5-HTTLPR genes, contributing to the multifaceted dimensions
of human personality, including altruism. Temperament, developing early in life and
possibly forming the basis for later personality and psychopathology, is explored in Chapter 18
in which quantitative and molecular genetic findings, as well as endophenotypic approaches,
are discussed. Sexual orientation is a controversial issue in our communities. A growing body
of evidence suggests that familial and genetic factors affect human sexual orientation. Quantitative
and molecular genetic studies on sexual orientation are reviewed in Chapter 19. Three
chapters introduce animal models of personality and aggression. Chapter 20 explores personality
differences in rats widely used in laboratories and discusses anatomical and neurochemical
analyses in this endeavor. Behavioral and genetic research on offensive aggression in mice is
reviewed and comparative genetic studies of aggression across species are addressed in Chapter
21. Chapter 22 discusses aggressive behavior in fruit flies from the ecological, genetic,
neurological, and evolutionary perspectives. Approximately 10% of the population are lefthanders.
The history, determination, and etiology of handedness are addressed in Chapter 23.
Chapter 24 introduces exercise behavior as a new discipline in behavior genetics. A large proportion
of adults in the world do not regularly engage in exercise, although benefits of exercise
are well documented. Genetic determinants of variability in exercise behavior are discussed.
In Part IV the genetics of psychopathology is represented with nine selected topics. Some
psychiatric disorders like ADHD are only diagnosed by questionnaires or psychiatric interviews,
rather than by clinical tests, and consequently the genetic studies of the disorders
can vary as a function of applied assessment methods and informants. Chapter 25 addresses
such behavioral measure issues concerning ADHD. Depression and anxiety have their origins in childhood and arise from genetic and shared environmental effects. Epidemiological and
behavior genetic research on childhood depression and anxiety are discussed in Chapter 26.
Autism is familial and, thus, relatives of probands with autism are at high risk for depression,
anxiety, and personality attributes. Chapter 27 reviews current findings in the genetic
epidemiology of autism and its etiological issues concerning the definition of autism phenotypes
are discussed. Two chapters address substance abuse behaviors, that is, smoking, drugs,
and drinking. Smoking behaviors aggregate in families and in peer networks due to genetic
dispositions and common environmental influences. Chapter 28 reviews behavioral genetic
research on smoking behavior and nicotine dependence, using Finnish sample studies, and its
comorbidities with other substance use, depression, and schizophrenia are discussed. Behavioral
and molecular genetic research on the use and abuse of both alcohol and drugs is reviewed
in Chapter 29. Substance abuse and substance use disorder co-occur with conduct disorder and
antisocial behavior. Chapter 30 gives results of a meta-analysis of twin and adoption studies
examining genetic and environmental influences on conduct disorder and antisocial behavior.
Association and linkage studies for genes influencing antisocial behavior are discussed. Chapter
31 explores the behavioral and molecular genetic approaches to the origins of two major
psychoses: schizophrenia and bipolar mood disorder. The concept of endophenotypes, which
are measured intermediate traits or states between genotypes (genetic liability) and phenotypes
(disorders), is discussed. Chapter 32 discusses indepth longitudinal ”high-risk” studies
that intend to identify endophenotypes in the first-degree relatives of schizophrenic probands
and to offer putative behavioral predictors of future schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Mouse
models of cognitive dysfunctions in schizophrenia are explored in Chapter 33 where the role
of dopamine in attention and working memory is discussed. Finally, in Chapter 34, future
directions for behavior genetics are addressed.
It is not surprising that, at the final publication date of a book like the Handbook of Behavior
Genetics, research has moved on. In 2008 we saw the publication of genome wide association
studies for Bipolar disorder (Ferreira et al., 2008), for five dimensions of personality (Terracciano
et al., 2008), ADHD (Neale et al., 2008) and major depressive disorder (Sullivan
et al., 2008). Many more GWA studies of complex behavioral and psychiatric phenotypes are
expected in the next few years. The landscape of behavior genetics has changed remarkably
in a relatively short space of time. The field continues to progress from comparatively small
studies to consortia-based efforts that target the inherited components of complex diseases and
behaviors and which typically involve thousands of participants (Orr & Chanock, 2008).