How revolutionary is the stress gene?

greythinking — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:50:11 +0000

While I was really excited upon seeing this study, it left me with more questions than answers.

The finding that traumatic events can actually alter a stress-related gene is definitely a new idea. However, it has been believed for years that these significant events cause some neurological change. Previously, researchers have found:

1. In a study by Martin Teicher at McLean Hospital, boys who were neglected also had a smaller corpus collosum. The same was true for girls who were sexually abused. Teicher explains that “We believe that a smaller corpus collosum leads to less integration of the two halves of the brain, and that this can result in dramatic shifts in mood and personality.”

2. Patients with a history of sexual or verbal abuse show less blood flow in the cerebellar vermis — a part of the brain that helps with the maintenance of emotional balance. According to Teicher, the vermis is strongly influenced by the environment as opposed to genetic factors.

3. Stress hormones released by abuse affect the brain’s ability to receive and send signals. In this way, the brain is “rewired” to overrespond to stress — increasing fear, anxiety, and the fight-or-flight reaction.

These are just a few examples. So, discovering that there is a stress gene definitely supports the argument that mental health has a biological component, but it leaves us with the same questions.

1. How do people with the PTSD-prone variation of the stress gene who don’t encounter a traumatic event react to other stress? Do they still overrespond?
2. Why are symptoms not manifested until years after the event?
3. Is the stress gene only impressionable during childhood?
4. Do medication and therapy re-regulate the gene? Or just treat the symptoms?

… personally, I am waiting for the therapy gene – the gene that determines who will / will not respond to therapy

Grey Thinking » biological psychology

How revolutionary is the stress gene?