DON’T tell the grant funding agencies, but, in at least one way, the effort to relate genetic variation to individual differences in cognitive function is a totally intractable waste of money. Let’s say we ask a population of folks to perform a task – perhaps a word memory task – and then we use neuroimaging [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Development’
Thousands of genes together with thousands of resting-state nodes actually makes the genes-to-cognition problem LESS complex
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Biology, Brain, Cognition, connectome, default network, Development, DNA, Dopamine, Frontal lobe, Functional magnetic resonance imaging, Genetics, Memory, Mental health, Prefrontal cortex, Psychology, resting state network on January 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
On the genetics of epigenetics (part un)
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged aging, Development, DNA, DNA methylation, Epigenetics, Gene, Gene expression, Genetic testing, histone, histone acetylation, Transcription factor, Twin on January 5, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Last year I dug a bit into the area of epigenetics (indexed here) and learned that the methylation (CH3) and acetylation (OCCH3) of genomic DNA & histones, respectively, can have dramatic effects on the structure of DNA and its accessibility to transcription factors – and hence – gene expression. Many of the papers I covered [...]
Epigenetics and cognitive development – quick sketch overview
Posted in BDNF, MECP2, tagged Anxiety, Art, autism, Cognition, cognitive development, Development, Epigenetics, Gene, Gene expression, MECP2, meme-art, Rett Syndrome, schizophrenia, Stress, synaptogenesis, Transcription on December 16, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Some quick sketches that might help put the fast-growing epigenetics and cognitive development literature into context. Visit the University of Utah’s Epigenetics training site for more background! The genome is just the A,G,T,C bases that encode proteins and other mRNA molecules. The “epi”genome are various modification to the DNA – such as methylation (at C [...]
Recalling finch beaks using variable decision criteria to learn from whence we came
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Charles Darwin, Development, episodic memory, evolution, Frontal lobe, Functional magnetic resonance imaging, Galápagos Islands, Genetics, individual differences, John Gould, Jonathan Weiner, Memory, Natural selection, Neuroimaging, Psychology on December 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image via Wikipedia In his book, The Beak of the Finch, Jonathan Weiner describes the great diversity of finches on the Galapagos Islands – so much diversity – that Darwin himself initially thought the finch variants to be completely different birds (wrens, mockingbirds, blackbirds and “gross-bills”). It turns out that one of the pivotal events [...]
Epigenetic loss of an insensitive period of cognitive development
Posted in Hippocampus, Hypothalamus, NRXB1, tagged Brain, Bruce McEwen, Chemical synapse, Development, DNA, DNA methylation, Epigenetics, Gene expression, Health, Neural development, Rett Syndrome, Rockefeller University, Stress, synapse, synaptic plasticity on December 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
We are all familiar with the notion that genes are NOT destiny and that the development of an individual’s mind and body occur in a manner that is sensitive to the environment (e.g. children who eat lots of healthy food grow bigger and stronger than those who have little or no access to food). In [...]
Genes for Down syndrome isolated in mouse model
Posted in DYRK1A, KCNJ6, tagged Chromosome, Development, Down syndrome, Genetics, Hippocampus, Karyotype, Mental disorder, Mental health, mouse-model, Neurological Disorders, Prenatal, synaptogenesis, Trisomy 21 on December 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The human brain is renown for its complexity. Indeed, while we often marvel at the mature brain in its splendid form and capability, its even more staggering to consider how to build such a powerful computing machine. Admittedly, mother nature has been working on this for a long time – perhaps since the first neuronal [...]
Genetic causes and non-genetic consequences of schizophrenia play out within 2mm of neocortex
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Archives of General Psychiatry, Brain, cerebral cortex, Development, Frontal lobe, Genetics, Mental disorder, Mental health, neocortex, Neuron, schizophrenia, synapse, synaptogenesis on November 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image by Biking Nikon PDX via Flickr One of the difficult aspects of understanding mental illness, is separating the real causes of the illness from what might be secondary or tertiary consequences of having the illness. If you think about a car whose engine is not running normally, there may be many observable things going [...]
Know thy epigenome in fatal purpose of the Heart
Posted in Cerebellum, Frontal cortex, NTRK2, tagged Depression, Development, DNA methylation, Epigenetics, Frontal lobe, Gene expression, Mental disorder, Mental health, Suicide on November 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image by sludgegulper via Flickr Few events are as hard to understand as the loss of a loved one to suicide – a fatal confluence of factors that are oft scrutinized – but whose analysis can provide little comfort to family and friends. To me, one frightening and vexing aspect of what is known about [...]
Krill-sized genetic risk factors caught with fine NRG1 netting
Posted in NRG1, tagged Brain, Development, Genetic marker, Genetic testing, Genome-wide association study, Mental health, schizophrenia on November 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image via Wikipedia The neuregulin-1 (NRG1) gene is widely known as one of the most well-replicated genetic risk factors for schizophrenia. Converging evidence shows that it is associated with schizophrenia at the gene expression and mouse model levels which are consistent with its molecular functions in neural development. However, in several recent genome-wide association studies [...]
Astrocytes hold dendrites in a warm thrombospondin embrace
Posted in CACNA2D1, THBS1, THBS2, tagged CACNA2D1, Chemical synapse, Dendrite, Dendritic spine, Development, gabapentin, Neuron, neurontin, synaptogenesis, Voltage-dependent calcium channel on November 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
If you compare the left panel to the right panel, you’ll see a dendrite (grey) with dendritic spines (green) on the left-side and then, on the right-side, these spines enveloped by the membrane of an astrocyte (white). These images were obtained from synapse-web.org who use a method known as 3D reconstruction of serial section electron [...]
Gabapentin receptor makes nurture stick and your synapses grow
Posted in CACNA2D1, tagged Brain, Development, gabapentin, Genetics, Human genome, neurontin, synaptogenesis, Tempest on November 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image by shehal via Flickr “A devil, a born devil, on whose nature Nurture can never stick; on whom my pains, Humanely taken, all, all lost, quite lost And as with age his body uglier grows, So his mind cankers.” So says the wizard Prospero about the wretched Caliban in Shakespeare’s The Tempest (Act IV, [...]
Development of autism vs. schizophrenia depends on a mere 600 kilobases of DNA on chromosome 16
Posted in Chromosome structural variants, tagged autism, Bipolar disorder, Brain, Development, DNA, Gene expression, Mental disorder, Mental health, Mood, schizophrenia on October 27, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Image via Wikipedia File this story under “the more you know, the more you don’t know” or simply under “WTF!“ The new paper, “Microduplications of 16p11.2 are associated with schizophrenia” [doi:10.1038/ng.474] reveals that a short stretch of DNA on chromosome 16p11.2 is – very rarely – duplicated and – more rarely – deleted. In an [...]
Interview with Dan Weinberger, M.D. on KCNH2 and schizophrenia
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Development, evolution, Frontal lobe, Gene expression, Genetic testing, Mental health, Podcast, schizophrenia on October 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image by Oliver Lavery via Flickr Daniel R. Weinberger, M.D., Chief of the Clinical Brain Disorders Branch and Director of the Genes, Cognition and Psychosis Program, National Institute of Mental Health discusses the background, findings and general issues of genes and mental illness in this brief interview on his paper, “A primate-specific, brain isoform of [...]
Building and maintaining synapses
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Brain, Chemical synapse, Development, Genetics, Human behavior, Neuron, Psychology, synapse, synaptic plasticity on October 17, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Phrenological thinking, a popular pseudoscientific practice in the 1800′s suggested that the structure of the head and underlying brain held the clues to understanding human behavior. Today, amidst the ongoing convergence of developmental science, molecular & biochemical science and systems-dynamical science (to name just a few), there is – of course – no single or [...]
DCDC2 deletion shows that mo’ brain ain’t betta fo’ language skilz
Posted in Frontal cortex, Fusiform gyrus, Hippocampus, Parahippocampal gyrus, Temporal lobe, tagged brain structure, Development, Dyslexia, reading disability on October 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image via Wikipedia A recent analysis of brain structure in healthy individuals who carry a common 2,445-bp deletion in intron 2 of the doublecortin domain containing 2 (DCDC2) gene found that heterozygotes for the deletion showed higher grey matter volumes for several brain areas known to be involved in the processing of written and spoken [...]
Interview with Dr. Christina Barr
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Addiction, Depression, Development, Emotion, evolution, Genetics, Mental health, National Institutes of Health, Stress on October 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image via Wikipedia Many thanks to Dr. Christina S. Barr from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism-Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies, National Institutes of Health Animal Center for taking the time to comment on her team’s recent publication, “Functional CRH variation increases stress-induced alcohol consumption in primates” [doi:10.1073/pnas.0902863106] which [...]
Nature meets nurture on BDNF promoter IV
Posted in BDNF, tagged BDNF, Biology, CREB, Development, Epigenetics, Gene expression, Genetics, Michael Merzenich, Neuron, Rett Syndrome on October 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
According to Joseph LeDoux, “One of the most important contributions of modern neuroscience has been to show that the nature/nurture debate operates around a false dichotomy: the assumption that biology, on one hand, and lived experience, on the other, affect us in fundamentally different ways” (ref). Indeed. While I know not where the current debate [...]
podcast: Rett Syndrome Research Trust
Posted in MECP2, tagged Development, economics, Epigenetics, Genetic Disorders, Genetic testing, Mental disorder, Mental health, Podcast, Rett Syndrome on October 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It was a delight today to chat with Monica Coenraads, Executive Director of the Rett Syndrome Research Trust. The RSRT has teamed up with a deeply focused world-class team of research scientists to translate the fruits of basic research on Rett syndrome into viable cures. Whether you are a scientist, student or concerned family member, [...]
Too much yin and not enough yang in cortical networks of MeCP2 mutant mice
Posted in MECP2, tagged autism, Development, Epigenetics, Gene, Gene expression, Long-Term Potentiation, MECP2, Mental disorder, Mental health, Mental retardation, Neural network, Neuron, Rett Syndrome on September 30, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Image via Wikipedia In previous posts, we have explored some of the basic molecular (de-repression of chromatin structure) and cellular (excess synaptogenesis) consequences of mutations in the MeCP2 gene – a.k.a the gene whose loss of function gives rise to Rett syndrome. One of the more difficult aspects of understanding how a mutation in a [...]
Retweetin’
- Photo: tmblr.co/ZVTWNvMQGNQT 35 minutes ago
- Photo: tmblr.co/ZVTWNvMPi86c 7 hours ago
- "Dear God, Please save the world from researchers seeking to develop diagnostic tests for ailments they..." tmblr.co/ZVTWNvMPhRgi 7 hours ago
- Photo: tmblr.co/ZVTWNvMPgIqJ 7 hours ago
- Photo: tmblr.co/ZVTWNvMPeg3B 7 hours ago
-
Remarks
James Rayment on The vagus nerve as a living Ku… thesingernurse on DRD4 and gene-twitter interact… Dr Robert Peers on Are individual differences in … dendrite on Genomic solutions for really b… Neural Outlet.. on Genomic solutions for really b… cariaso on Are there genes for my favorit… dreambot on The vagus nerve as a living Ku… Aubrey de Grey Gets … on Movie star SIRT1 makes for a g… Kala Pierson on What is the sound of Aum? Jeremy Peirce on What is the sound of Aum? Alexei Morozov on red purple blue dendrite on Genetic testing across the US … dendrite on Genetic testing across the US … dendrite on Genetic testing across the US … rh on Genetic testing across the US … -
Blog Stats
- 75,385 clickitas
Posting since April 2007
Who are you? & thanks for your interest!
General topics
Specific Items
- 5HTT
- ABCB1
- acetylcholine
- Actin
- ACTN3
- ADH1C
- ADORA2A
- ADRA2A
- AMPA receptor
- Amygdala
- Angular gyrus
- ANK3
- APOE
- ARHGAP18
- ASIC1a
- ASPM
- ATXN1
- AVPR1a
- BAF53b
- Basal Ganglia
- BDNF
- CABYR
- CACNA1C
- CACNA2D1
- Caudate nucleus
- CB1 receptor
- CDC34
- CDH13
- Cell adhesion molecules
- Cerebellum
- CHAT
- CHRM3
- CHRNA4
- CHRNA7
- Chromosome structural variants
- Cingulate cortex
- clinical trial
- CNTNAP2
- Collateral sulcus
- COMT
- Corpus callosum
- COX1
- CREB
- CRHR1
- DARPP32
- DAT
- default network
- DISC1
- DLPFC
- DNMT
- Dopamine
- DRD2
- DRD4
- DTNBP1
- DYRK1A
- EDA2R
- EGR1
- Estrogen
- evolution
- FGF20
- FMR1
- FNBP1L
- FOXA2
- FOXP2
- Frontal cortex
- Frontal pole
- Fusiform gyrus
- G-protein
- GABA
- GABRA2
- GATA4
- Glucocorticoid receptor
- Glutamate
- GPR6
- GRIA3
- GRIK2
- GTPase
- HDACs
- Hippocampus
- HOXB8
- HTR2A
- Hypothalamus
- immunity
- Inferior frontal gyrus
- Insula
- Intronic or repetitive sequences
- Kalirin
- KCNA2
- KCNH2
- KCNIP3
- KCNJ6
- Kinesin
- Lateral septum
- Lateral ventricle
- LDB1
- Leptin
- LIMK1
- Locus coeruleus
- MAOA
- MAPK
- MCPH1
- MCR1-4
- MDGA2
- MECP2
- meditation
- metabolism
- MHC loci
- microRNA
- Middle frontal gyrus
- middle occipital gyrus
- Middle temporal gyrus
- Mindfulness
- MKP-1
- Motor cortex
- Myelin
- Neural crest
- NEUROG1
- NLGN3/4
- Noradrenaline
- NPSR1
- NRG1
- NRXB1
- NTRK2
- Nucleus accumbens
- NURR1
- Olfactory bulb
- OPRM1
- Orbitofrontal cortex
- OTR
- OXTR
- Parahippocampal gyrus
- Parasympathetic NS
- Parietal cortex
- PARP-1
- PCLO
- PINK1
- Posterior parietal cortex
- PSD95
- Putamen
- quantum physics
- RARB
- RGS2
- RGS4
- Rho GTPase
- RLN
- Rostral fronto-occipital fasciculus
- RSRC1
- SAPAP3
- self-awareness
- SEMA(1-7)
- SETDB1
- SEZ6
- SIRT1
- SLC1A1
- SLITRK1
- SNAP25
- SNORD115
- SNRPN
- SOD2
- Somatosensory cortex
- SRPX2
- Stria terminalis
- Striatum
- Substantia nigra
- Subthalamic nucleus
- Superior temporal cortex
- Suprachiasmatic nucleus
- Supramarginal gyrus
- SWI/SNF
- Sylvian fissure
- Telomere
- Temporal lobe
- TGF-alpha
- TH
- Thalamus
- Thap1
- THBS1
- THBS2
- TNF-alpha
- Torsin A
- TPH2
- UBE3A
- UGT2B17
- Uncategorized
- Vagus
- VEGF
- Ventral tegmental area
- VGF
- Visual cortex
- White matter
- Yoga and Meditation
- ZNF804A
