rs6265 (A) is my bodyguard
It’s generally not fun to be browbeaten, bullied, bulldozed or downright oppressed – by the schoolyard bully or perhaps the micromanaging boss – in any form. While we’ve all been there – sometimes with...
View ArticleGPR6 teaches B.F. Skinner that actions have consequences
Image via Wikipedia I’m not sure what Skinner would have thought, but its clear that, nowadays, mechanisms of behavior can be understood in terms of dynamic changes in neural systems and, furthermore,...
View ArticleHumans & li’l birdies share genetic pathway for speech
Image via Wikipedia The evolution of language sometimes seems like a sort of jewel in the evolutionary crown of homo sapiens. Evidence of positive selection in the verbal dyspraxia FOXP2 gene, is often...
View ArticleGenetic ski patrol up and down the inverted U
The selection and dosing of medication in psychiatry is far from scientific – even though a great deal of hard science goes into the preclinical design and clinical development. One reason, among many,...
View ArticleBeauty is in the ventral striatum of the beholder
Image via Wikipedia You see a masterpiece while I see splatters of paint on a canvas. Why – in neural terms – do we see the same painting and feel so subjectively different ? Understanding the neural...
View Article3D brain atlas gets comprehensive genetic makeover
The brain is a wonderfully weird and strange organ to behold. Its twists and folds, magnificent, in and of themselves, are even moreso when we contemplate that the very emotional experience of such...
View ArticleIndulging my inner rat over a few drinks
Image by Scrunchleface via Flickr A recent GWAS study identified the 3′ region of the liver- (not brain) expressed PECR gene (rs7590720(G) and rs1344694(T)) on chromosome 2 as a risk factor for...
View ArticleRARB says I was born when my late born striosomal cells were born
Image via Wikipedia Everyone has a birthday right. Its the day you (your infant self) popped into the world and started breathing, right? But what about the day “you” were born – that is – “you” in...
View ArticleCoping with the shifting sands of development one grain at a time
Image by mbrownstone via Flickr Walter Dean Myers, an author of The Young Landlords and many other classic coming of age novels once remarked, “The special place of the young adult novel should be in...
View ArticleSplitting in defense of my DRD2 alleles
As a big fan of black and white photography, I’m intrigued by the concept of “Splitting” or so-called “black and white” thinking. It’s something we all do to different degrees … when we avoid dealing...
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