Molecular and quantitative genetic methods to investigate complex traits. Diagnostic, presymptomatic and predictive genetic testing: its bearing on genetic counselling and on the assessment of recurrence risk. Neurodegenerative disorders. Mood disorders. Autism Spectrum Disorders. Personality and personality disorders. Genetics of addiction. Evolution and evolutionary psychology: genetic basis. Students will be expected to use recent research reports as the basis of small group presentations.
Behavioral Genetics 5th Edition by Robert Plomin, Gerald E. McClearn, Peter McGuffin, John C. DeFries. Worth Publishers, Inc.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the unit, students will be able to: describe the biochemical mechanisms underlying the major neurodegenerative disorders; describe bio-informatics resources, experimental designs and statistical methods used to identify genetic contributions to behaviour and behavioural traits; describe the problems raised by the execution of genetic tests; use this evidence to critically evaluate the current molecular genetic literature, in particular focusing on strengths and weakness of these methodologies.
Prerequisites
Biology (recommended)
Teaching Methods
Lectures,
Group teaching
Further information
20 hours of traditional lectureship,
20 hours of group teaching
Type of Assessment
oral exam, final mark (18-30 out of 30)
Course program
Complex traits: multiple allele, polygene, multifactorial models
Genetic and environmental variation and their sources
Non-shared environment and genotype-environment interaction
Quantitative genetics: Nature of genetic variation, number of loci, values and means, variance and partitioning into components, average gene effect and breeding values, degree of genetic determination, resemblance between relatives and heritability in broad and narrow sense
Measures of association: correlations and regression
Odds and ratio of the odds (relative risk)
Towards the identification of liability genes: linkage vs. association studies; candidate gene vs. genome –wide approaches; affected sib-pair analysis; transmission disequilibrium test; genome-wide association studies
Key internet resources for studying the genetics of complex traits
Diagnostic, presymptomatic and predictive genetic testing: its bearing on genetic counselling and on the assessment of recurrence risk
Neurogenetics: circadian rhythms, learning and memory
Cognitive disorders: mental retardation, learning disabilities, communication disorders, dementia
General cognitive ability, specific cognitive abilities, academic performance
Psychopathology: schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders
Personality and personality disorders
Body weight and obesity
Addictions
Evolutionary Psychology