Academic Journal
Main Category: Genetics
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 30 Jul 2013 - 8:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Happiness is expressed in your genes
"If you're happy and you know it..." Researchers have studied how "positive psychology" impacts gene expression in humans.
Steven Cole from UCLA led a team who examined the human genome - some 21,000 genes - in light of two different classifications of happiness:
Eudaimonic well-being - the type of happiness associated with having "a deep sense of purpose and meaning in life"Hedonic well-being - the type of happiness associated with unmitigated self-gratification.The researchers assessed 80 healthy adults for hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, and they took into account potential negative psychological and behavioral elements. They then drew blood from the participants and mapped the varying biological effects of either hedonic or eudaimonic well-being, using a gene-expression profile known as conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA).
The CTRA is a shift associated with an increase of inflammation and a decrease in antiviral activities with the genes. This response, notes Steven Cole, probably evolved to aid the immune system in the wake of changing patterns, such as microbial threats accompanying shifting socio-environmental conditions - for example, social conflict and contact.
The study showed that people who had high levels of eudaimonic well-being had low levels of inflammatory gene expression and exhibited a strong expression of antiviral and antibody genes.
The opposite was true for people who had high levels of hedonic well-being - giving high inflammation and low antiviral/antibody expression.
Steven Cole and his team have been studying how the human genome reacts to negative psychology, including stress, misery and fear, for the last 10 years.
He notes that "in contemporary society and our very different environment, chronic activation by social or symbolic threats can promote inflammation and cause cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and other diseases, and can impair resistance to viral infections."
This recent study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first of its kind to study positive psychology effects on gene expression.
Although the study participants with eudaimonic well-being had positive gene profiles in their immune cells and those with hedonic well-being had more adverse profiles, Cole notes that both groups did not feel any different.
Both groups had similar levels of positivity but their genomes responded quite differently.
Cole adds:
"What this study tells us is that doing good and feeling good have very different effects on the human genome, even though they generate similar levels of positive emotion.
Apparently, the human genome is much more sensitive to different ways of achieving happiness than are conscious minds."
A recent study located a happiness gene, which researchers say affects people's satisfaction with life.
Written by Marie Ellis
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Visit our genetics section for the latest news on this subject.
“A functional genomic perspective on human well-being,” Steven Cole, et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online 29 July 2013.
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:MLA
30 Jul. 2013.
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
'Happiness is expressed in your genes'
Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.
If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.
All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam). We reserve the right to amend opinions where we deem necessary.
Contact Our News Editors
For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.
Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:
Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.
No comments:
Post a Comment