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Oxytocin Receptor Gene's Link to Optimism & Self Esteem

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Moog
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15 Sep 2011, 9:06 am

Might be of interest to some of y'all

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 101746.htm

Quote:
Oxytocin is a hormone that increases in response to stress and is associated with good social skills such as empathy and enjoying the company of others.


Quote:
At a particular location, the oxytocin receptor gene has two versions: an "A" (adenine) variant and a "G" (guanine) variant. Several studies have suggested that people with at least one "A" variant have an increased sensitivity to stress, poorer social skills and worse mental health outcomes.


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Genes are not destiny

"Some people think genes are destiny, that if you have a specific gene, then you will have a particular outcome. That is definitely not the case," Taylor said. "This gene is one factor that influences psychological resources and depression, but there is plenty of room for environmental factors as well. A supportive childhood, good relationships, friends and even other genes also play a role in the development of psychological resources, and these factors also play a very substantial role in whether people become depressed.


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Surfman
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15 Sep 2011, 2:27 pm

"I originally assumed that biology largely determines behavior, and so it was a tantalizing surprise to see how clearly social relationships forge our underlying biology, even at the level of gene expression," Taylor wrote in her 2002 book "The Tending Instinct: How Nurturing Is Essential to Who We Are and How We Live." "Chief among these social forces are the ways in which people take care of one another and tend to one another's needs. An early warm and nurturant relationship, such as mothers often enjoy with their children, is as vital to development as calcium is to bones.

"The benefits that tending provides to children, especially those with genetic risks, are substantial. From life in the womb to the surprisingly resilient brain of old age, the social environment molds and shapes the expression of our genetic heritage until the genetic contribution is sometimes barely evident. A mother's tending can completely eliminate the potential effects of a gene; a risk for a disease can fail to materialize with nurturing, and a genetic propensity may lead to one outcome for one person and the opposite for another, based on the tending they received."






Going back to fridge mother? I reckon fridge big brother needs some lessons in loving tending....

Maybe 'the state' screws with our oxytocin levels???