PSYCH 2AA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Quantitative Trait Locus, Haemophilia, Trisomy
9 Dec 2014
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Mechanisms of heredity: biology of heredity, 5ml of sperm containing 200-500 million sperm cells with only a few hundred reaching the finish line. One sperm penetrates and egg blocks off all the others: diploid somatic cells have 46 chromosomes, while haploid gametes have 23, finish later, genetic disorders. Huntington"s defective dominant allele on chromosome 4. Some important concepts: behavioural genetics is a branch of genetics that deals with inheritance of behavioural and psychological traits, genes and environment work together and affect one another, ex. Babies are born with certain temperaments but this could change as time goes. Happens through parental discipline and other environmental factors: epigenetics. False environments change gene regulations: e. g. Genotype could code 5"11 but with a different diet, one could be shorter or taller: psychiatric disorders (caspi et al. , 2003) Genes determined level of serotonin in the brain major factor in depression. Hypothesis those with genes for high levels of serotonin should have lower risk for depression.
