PSY100H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Heritability, Heredity, Proprioception
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PSY100H1 Full Course Notes
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What is a gene: unit of heredity transferred from parent to offspring. From genes to behaviour: variations in genes can lead to variations in behaviour, genes we inherit from our parents play a powerful role in determining our physical traits, e. g. eye colour, hair colour, height, weight, body shape, etc. Genetic differences within families: more similar we are in genes = more similar (not identical) we tend to be, behaviourally. Identical twins have strongly correlated similar traits: also for physical traits and risks for various disorders. Psychiatric disorders are heritable: some disorders have very high heritability, e. g. bipolar disorder, graph on right. Nature (genetics) vs nurture (env): there is no debate about this!!, both forces are recognized as significant and interact with each other in complex ways. Stress + depression: stress more frequently associated w/ depression in people w/ a specific variant of gene for 5-htt (transporter for neurotransmitter, serotonin, certain types put you at higher risk (e. g. s/s)
