Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Scand J Psychol. 2009 Dec;50(6):574-82. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00785.x.
The relative influences of genetic and environmental factors in the development of human behavior have been a long-term topic for an intense debate. Recent behavioral genetic studies suggest focusing on the joint effect of genes and environment, and especially on the life-course developmental interplay between nature and nurture. Vulnerability to environmental adversities and sensitivity to its benefits may be conditional on genetic background, and regarding psychological outcomes, these kinds of gene x environment interactions may be of higher importance than direct gene-trait associations. In our recent series of studies, we have shown that different variants of serotonergic and dopaminergic genes may moderate the influence of environmental conditions on a range of psychological outcomes, i.e. temperament, depression, hostility, and educational attainment. These studies suggest that depending on their genotype, people may be differentially sensitive to the environmental conditions they encounter. In the light of these results it seems highly plausible that the effects of genes may become evident only when studied in the context of environmental factors.
遗传和环境因素对人类行为发展的相对影响是一个长期以来激烈争论的话题。最近的行为遗传学研究表明，重点应该放在基因和环境的共同作用上，特别是关注自然与教养之间的生命过程发展相互作用。对环境逆境的脆弱性和对其益处的敏感性可能取决于遗传背景，就心理结果而言，这类基因与环境的相互作用可能比直接的基因-特征关联更为重要。在我们最近的一系列研究中，我们已经表明，5-羟色胺能和多巴胺能基因的不同变体可能会调节环境条件对一系列心理结果的影响，例如气质、抑郁、敌意和受教育程度。这些研究表明，根据个体的基因型，他们可能对所遇到的环境条件有不同的敏感性。鉴于这些结果，似乎很有可能只有在研究环境因素的背景下，才能发现基因的影响。
