Sunday, May 6, 2012

Optimism Gene

UCLA psychologists discover a gene's link to optimism, self-esteem.
Stuart Wolpert

  • Oxytocin- hormone that increases in response to stress; associated with good social skills (empathy, enjoying company of others, etc)
  • First study to find a gene related to psychology
  • There are two variations of the gene- "G" variant and "A" variant
  • Those with A variant are more sensitive to stress, do not have good social skills, and poor mental health
  • Adenine seems to cause more depressive symptoms in one specific area of the gene than guanine does- if a person has two A or and one A and one G in a specific area the person is more likely to have low levels of optimism, self esteem, and high depressive symptoms
    • Adenine causes a harmful mutation?
  • Genes don't set a person's future in stone- people have the ability to work around their genes.
  • Environmental factors play a huge role in something like optimism and self- esteem.
    • I think the same goes for happiness (?)
  • This study says that people would benefit from training their brains to be more optimistic, have high self-esteem, etc. (Like Train Your Brain to Get Happy)
  • Social relationships still play a huge role 
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-life-scientists-discover-215259.aspx
Published- September 13, 2011
Author- Stuart Wolpert; Source- UCLA newsroom
Author sites information- It came from Shelley E. Taylor, a "distinguished professor of psychology at UCLA and senior author of the new research."


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