Gene expression is highly contingent on the environment

To state that childhood development plays a strong role in the development of mental illness and addiction is not to rule out genetic factors. However, the emphasis placed on genetic influences in medicine and psychiatry is an impediment to our understanding. The view that genes play a decisive role in the way a person’s brain and body develops has been replaced by a radically different notion: the expression of genetic potentials is, for the most part, contingent on the environment. Genes do dictate the basic organization, developmental schedule, and anatomical structure of the human central nervous system, but it’s left to the environment to sculpt and fine-tune the chemistry, connections, circuits, networks, and systems that determine how well we function.

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References

• Mate, Gabor. (2010). In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts Close Encounters with Addiction Chapter 17. Their Brains Never Had a Chance (p. 228). Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

Metadata

Type:🔴 Tags: Biology / Neuroscience / Genetics Status:☀️