All in mom and all in dad
The behavior of sons is influenced by the genes of the mother, the behavior of daughters is influenced by the father
Georgy Golovanov, Hi-tech+
Among psychologists, the debate about the role of nature and education in the formation of personality does not stop. In a recent study on mouse models, scientists from the United States demonstrated that genes inherited from one parent affect hormones and significant neurotransmitters that regulate mood and behavior. Moreover, in the case of sons, these are the genes of the mother, and in the case of daughters, the genes of the father.
Like chromosomes, genes also go in pairs. Mom and dad have two copies—or alleles—of each of the genes, but each of them transmits only one of the copies to the child. These genes determine the color of hair, eyes and skin, but not only the appearance. As experts found out from The genes tyrosine hydroxylase and aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AAAD), which are actively involved in the synthesis of hormones and neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine and epinephrine, are expressed differently, depending on who passed the genes - mother or father.
These chemicals play a big role in regulating a number of important functions, from mood to movement. In addition, they are involved in the production of the hormone adrenaline, which triggers the "fight or flight" reaction in case of danger or stress. Together, these pathways form the axis between the brain and the adrenal glands that governs decision-making, writes ZME Science.
To study the function of inherited alleles in this axis, scientists "highlighted" the AAAD enzyme and were able to trace with a microscope whether this gene was borrowed from the mother or father.
It turned out that there are 11 regions in the brain where there are groups of neurons that use copies of only the maternal AAAD gene. Conversely, there is a group of cells in the adrenal gland that are expressed exclusively by copies of genes passed on by fathers.
Scientists immediately had a question, can these genetic differences lead to a difference in behavior? The answer was given by an analysis of mice with disabled genes, which were released freely to look for food in an environment as close to natural as possible. Their behavior was analyzed by a specially created algorithm that revealed subtle but important patterns.
Article by Bonthuis et al. Noncanonical genomic imprinting in the monoamine system determines naturalistic foraging and brain-adrenal axis functions published in the journal Cell Reports – VM.
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