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9.19J | Spring 2001 | Undergraduate

# Cognitive & Behavioral Genetics

The notes below show the subtopics that are covered within each lecture.

### General Overview

- Why study cognitive and behavioral genetics?
- Some major techniques and discoveries of behavioral genetics.
- Nature and nurture.
- Social and ethical concomitants of cognitive and behavioral genetics: eugenics, social Darwisinism, race, sex.

### Remedial Genetics

- Multigene traits, QTL.

### Gene Structure / Function

- Gene exon/intron structure. Allelic variation.
- Basal transcription. Cis and trans regulatory elements.
- mRNA structure. The genetic code. Coding/non coding regions. Translational control.
- Point mutations, small and large-scale deletions, chromosomal abnormalities.

### Single Gene Mutations

- How can a single gene mutation lead to a complex psychiatric phenotype?
- Animal models 1: the GABAa receptor and enhanced anxiety and bias for threat cues.
- Animal models 2: proline deyhdrogenase and sensorimotor gating (relevance to attention deficits in multiple psychiatric disorders).

### Neurogenetics

- Mendelian genetics in the setting of neuropsychiatry.
- How can molecular genetics be used to find the gene responsible for a human disorder inherited in a simple Mendelian pattern and to provide an explanation for the patterns of pathology which are observed: Huntington’s Disease, a single gene autosomal dominant mutation.

### Environmental and Genetic Context

- Genomic environment.
- Cellular and local environment.
- Body + brain, hormones, (estrogen).
- External environment. Activity-dependent wiring and gene expression.

### Williams Syndrome

- Genetic, neurobiological, cognitive, linguistic, and social dimensions of Williams Syndrome.

### Genetics of Language

- Heritability of normal variation and pathologies of language.
- Specific Language Impairment.
- Dyslexia.
- Developmental language delay.
- Stuttering.

### Challenge of Defining Phenotype

- Schizophrenia, manic depressive illness, alcoholism.
- Diagnostic issues.

## Course Info

##### Instructors

- Prof. Elly Nedivi
- Prof. Steven Pinker

##### Departments

- Brain and Cognitive Sciences
- Biology

##### As Taught In

Spring 2001

##### Level

Undergraduate

##### Topics

- Science
  - Biology
    - Genetics
    - Neuroscience
  - Cognitive Science
- Social Science
  - Psychology

##### Learning Resource Types

assignment Written Assignments

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