PSYC 118a Human Behavioral Genetics
Spring 2016, Block TBA (Block M, P, V, W)
Instructor:
Office Hours:
Email:
Phone:
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
Text:
Plomin, R., DeFries, J.C., McClearn, G. E., McGuffin, P. (2008).
Behavioral Genetics, 5th Edition. Worth Publishers, NY.
Course Synopsis:
This course introduces mechanisms of heredity, evolution, and genetic determination of
behavior/cognition and progresses to discuss current research investigating the interplay of
genetic, environmental and cultural variations in normal and clinical behavior and cognition.
Requires no formal training in genetics.
Pre-requisites:
Any course that satisfies a major in the school of science or the school of social science.
Course Rationale:
The content and pace of this class are designed to instruct social science graduate students and
advanced undergraduates in how to evaluate and conduct behavioral genetic research. The
course will emphasize psychological and neuropsychological perspectives on behavioral genetics
and the role of psychology in advancing the behavioral genetic field.
The discipline of psychology is increasingly interfacing with the biological sciences, including
genetics. The science of human genetics has progressed rapidly in the past 10 years since the
completion of the human genome sequence. However, the definition and measurement of traits
for genetic studies has lagged behind the genetic technology. Thus, the field of genomic science
needs social scientists to apply the theory and measurement of behavior to define reasonable
outcomes for genetic studies. For this reason, psychologists with a working knowledge of
genetics are essential to the progress of behavioral genetics. Additionally, psychology has long
been interested in the idea of nature-nurture interplay and so brings a balanced genetic and
environmental perspective to the study of behavioral genetics. The purpose of this course is to
provide a survey of current approaches in human behavioral genetics in order to achieve the
following objectives:
Learning Goals:
1. Psychologists are increasingly working as part of interdisciplinary research teams that
include genetic components. As part of this class, students will learn the vocabulary and
concepts to participate in the design and analysis of genetic data.
2. Students will learn the basic principles underlying behavioral genetic research and be
able to critically evaluate:
a. Popular press articles for common myths and misunderstandings in writings about
genetics.
b. The behavioral genetic literature for common flaws in genetic designs that can
lead to false negative and false positive results.
c. The psychological literature for alternative explanations of “environmental”
findings that may have genetic underpinnings
3. Students will learn to think critically about unanswered questions in one’s research field
and genetic designs that may address these questions.
Class Structure:
A combination of lecture, seminar, lab and student presentation formats will be used in different
classes.
Lecture – Fundamental concepts of human behavioral genetics will be presented in a lecture
format.
Seminar – Class concepts will be illustrated with recent research papers. Where there are
significant ongoing controversies, accompanying popular press perspectives may be integrated to
add additional perspectives. These segments of class will rely on discussion among class
members about the papers.
Labs – There will be two lab sessions set aside to discuss online resources and genetic tools
available.
Student Presentations – Students will present a genetic research idea in their own field of
interest. This will be an opportunity for students to practice their oral presentation skills and for
the class to brainstorm together and trouble-shoot any difficulties the student is encountering
with their idea.
Course Work and Grading: You are expected to spend at least 9 hours per week reading and
contemplating the assigned material and working on the following assignments:
Short Paper #1 (20%) – Choose a recent popular press article about a psychological trait or
topic of interest to you. If applicable, retrieve the scientific article on which it was based.
Evaluate the article for evidence of the common genetic myths (discussed in Lecture 1). Provide
an overall assessment of the article and its strengths and weaknesses in communicating genetic
ideas to a lay audience. (max 5 double-spaced, 12 point font pages)
Short Paper #2 (20%) – Choose 1 genetic research paper in your field of interest. Identify the
strengths and weaknesses of the paper. Evaluate the conclusions of the paper. What questions
remain and what follow-up study might you conduct to answer them? (max 5 double-spaced, 12
point font pages)
Class Participation (10%) – Part of the participation grade will include written comments on
assigned journal articles on LATTE. For each article, you should raise at least 1 question,
comment, or discussion point and post it on the class website. You can miss journal comments
for 3 classes without a deduction from your class participation grade. These comments will be
due by ??? on the day of class. Comments will not be necessary on days when only textbook
reading is assigned.
Student Presentation (15%) – This will be a short presentation on your final project. It will be an
opportunity for you to describe your research area and your idea for a genetic design. You will
be able to get feedback from the class to help you write your final project.
Final Project (35%) – The idea for this project is for you define a research question in your
research area and design an idealized study to answer this question. The genetic design must
address a question of interest that extends beyond whether or not the trait is heritable. For
instance, you might like to know if the trait heritability changes across development or with
certain environmental circumstances. You may also consider a molecular genetic study that
would address specific candidate genes or a genome-wide association study. You will write the
assignment in NRSA grant format which will help familiarize you with this grant-writing style, a
very useful skill to develop for graduate school. More information and resources will be
provided about this format. (max 6 single-spaced pages, 12 point font)
Electronic Resources: The website for the course is available through LATTE . You will find
course information, the syllabus, a discussion forum for class, and links to genetic resources for
the labs. Articles for class will be posted on this site along with assigned online commentaries.
Academic Integrity. You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Please consult
Brandeis University Rights and Responsibilitiesfor all policies and procedures related to
academic integrity. Students may be required to submit work to TurnItIn.com software to verify
originality. Allegations of alleged academic dishonesty will be forwarded to the Director of
Academic Integrity. Sanctions for academic dishonesty can include e failing grades and/or
suspension from the university. Citation and research assistance can be found at LTS - Library
guides
Disabilities: If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University
and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me
immediately.
Assigned Readings:
Attia, J., Ioannidis, J. P., Thakkinstian, A., McEvoy, M., Scott, R. J., Minelli, C., et al. (2009a).
How to use an article about genetic association: A: Background concepts. JAMA, 301(1),
74-81.
Attia, J., Ioannidis, J. P., Thakkinstian, A., McEvoy, M., Scott, R. J., Minelli, C., et al. (2009b).
How to use an article about genetic association: B: Are the results of the study valid?
JAMA, 301(2), 191-197.
Caspi, A., Hariri, A. R., Holmes, A., Uher, R., & Moffitt, T. E. (2010). Genetic sensitivity to the
environment: the case of the serotonin transporter gene and its implications for studying
complex diseases and traits. Am J Psychiatry, 167(5), 509-527.
Cirulli, E. T. & Goldstein, D. B. (2010). Uncovering the roles of rare variants in common disease
through whole-genome sequencing. Nat Rev Genet, 11(6), 415-425.
Corvin, A., Craddock, N., & Sullivan, P. F. (2009). Genome-wide association studies: a primer.
Psychol Med, 40(7), 1063-1077.
Dar-Nimrod, I. & Heine, S. J. (in press). Genetic essentialism: On the deceptive determinism of
dna. Psychol Bull.
Duncan, L. E. & Keller, M. C. (in press). A Critical Review of the First Ten Years of Candidate
Gene-by-Environment Interaction Research in Psychiatry American Journal of
Psychiatry.
Ellis, B. J. & Boyce, W. T. (2008). Biological Sensitivity to Context. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 17(3), 183-117.
Frueh, F. W., Greely, H. T., Green, R. C., Hogarth, S., & Siegel, S. (2011). The future of directto-consumer clinical genetic tests. Nat Rev Genet, 12(7), 511-515.
Goldstein, D. B. (2009). Common genetic variation and human traits. N Engl J Med, 360(17),
1696-1698.
Gottesman, II & Gould, T. D. (2003). The endophenotype concept in psychiatry: etymology and
strategic intentions. Am J Psychiatry, 160(4), 636-645.
Hallmayer, J., Cleveland, S., Torres, A., Phillips, J., Cohen, B., Torigoe, T., et al. (2011).
Genetic Heritability and Shared Environmental Factors Among Twin Pairs With Autism.
Arch Gen Psychiatry.
Hirschhorn, J. N. (2009). Genomewide association studies—illuminating biologic pathways. N
Engl J Med, 360(17), 1699-1701.
Kendler, K. S. & Neale, M. C. (2010). Endophenotype: a conceptual analysis. Mol Psychiatry,
15(8), 789-797.
Lichtenstein, P., Carlstrom, E., Rastam, M., Gillberg, C., & Anckarsater, H. (2010). The genetics
of autism spectrum disorders and related neuropsychiatric disorders in childhood. Am J
Psychiatry, 167(11), 1357-1363.
Manolio, T. A., Collins, F. S., Cox, N. J., Goldstein, D. B., Hindorff, L. A., Hunter, D. J., et al.
(2009). Finding the missing heritability of complex diseases. Nature, 461(7265), 747753.
Meyer-Lindenberg, A. & Weinberger, D. R. (2006). Intermediate phenotypes and genetic
mechanisms of psychiatric disorders. Nat Rev Neurosci, 7(10), 818-827.
Morrow, E. M. (2010). Genomic copy number variation in disorders of cognitive development. J
Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 49(11), 1091-1104.
Munafo, M. R. (2006). Candidate gene studies in the 21st century: meta-analysis, mediation,
moderation. Genes Brain Behav, 5 Suppl 1, 3-8.
Munafo, M. R., Brown, S. M., & Hariri, A. R. (2008). Serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR)
genotype and amygdala activation: a meta-analysis. Biol Psychiatry, 63(9), 852-857.
Neale, B. M., Ferreira, M. A. R., Medland, S. E., & Posthuma, D. (2008). Statistical Genetics:
Gene Mapping Through Linkage and Association. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
O’Dushlaine, C., Kenny, E., Heron, E., Donohoe, G., Gill, M., Morris, D., et al. (2011).
Molecular pathways involved in neuronal cell adhesion and membrane scaffolding
contribute to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder susceptibility. Mol Psychiatry, 16(3),
286-292.
O’Roak, B. J., Deriziotis, P., Lee, C., Vives, L., Schwartz, J. J., Girirajan, S., et al. (2011).
Exome sequencing in sporadic autism spectrum disorders identifies severe de novo
mutations. Nat Genet, 43(6), 585-589.
Petronis, A. (2010). Epigenetics as a unifying principle in the aetiology of complex traits and
diseases. Nature, 465(7299), 721-727.
Purcell, S. M., Wray, N. R., Stone, J. L., Visscher, P. M., O’Donovan, M. C., Sullivan, P. F., et
al. (2009). Common polygenic variation contributes to risk of schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder. Nature, 460(7256), 748-752.
Risch, N., Herrell, R., Lehner, T., Liang, K. Y., Eaves, L., Hoh, J., et al. (2009). Interaction
between the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), stressful life events, and risk of
depression: a meta-analysis. JAMA, 301(23), 2462-2471.
Sapolsky, R. M. (2004). Mothering style and methylation. Nat Neurosci, 7(8), 791-792.
Wang, K., Li, M., & Hakonarson, H. (2010). Analysing biological pathways in genome-wide
association studies. Nat Rev Genet, 11(12), 843-854.
Weaver, I. C., Cervoni, N., Champagne, F. A., D’Alessio, A. C., Sharma, S., Seckl, J. R., et al.
(2004). Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior. Nat Neurosci, 7(8), 847-854.
Commentaries:
Autism online commentaries:
Pro: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110704174608.htm
Con: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/332202/title/Environment_blamed_for_autism
Genome-wide association study (GWAS) – controversies
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/health/research/16gene.html
Gene by Environment commentary
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/12/the-science-of-success/7761/
Class Schedule:
The field of behavioral genetics is rapidly changing. The following is the planned list of
readings, but it should be considered a continual “work in progress.” If a change occurs, it will
be announced in class and the syllabus will be updated online more than a week before the
scheduled change. This structure also means that the course can be responsive to the interests of
the class. Any student who finds relevant readings to discuss during the semester is welcome to
bring them to my attention for inclusion in the syllabus.
Date/Format
Class 1
Lecture
Class 2
Lecture
Class 3
Lecture
Class 4
Lab
Class 5
Lecture
Class 6
Seminar
Topic
The Psychology of Genetics
Reading Assignment
Dar-Nimrod & Heine (in press)
History of Genetics
Plomin Chapters 1-3
DNA – biology and technology
Plomin Chapter 4;
Attia (2009A)
Class 7
Lecture
Class 8
Lecture/Seminar
Class 9
Lecture/Seminar
Class 10
Seminar
Linkage vs. Association
Class 11
Lab
Class 12
Lecture/Seminar
Class 13
Lecture/Seminar
Class 14
Lecture/Seminar
Genetic Association Software
Class 15
Lecture/Seminar
Class 16
Lecture/Seminar
Complexities – epistasis &
pathways
Gene x Environment interaction
& correlation – models
Class 17
Seminar
Class 18
Lecture/Seminar
Class 19
Lecture/Seminar
Gene x Environment interaction
– application
Phenotypes – endophenotypes
Assignments Due
Online Genetic Resources
Familiality and heritability
Heritability controversies
Candidate gene association
GWAS – methods
GWAS – controversies
Copy Number Variation
Next generation sequencing
Complexities – epigenetics
Phenotypes – imaging genetics
Plomin Chapter 5
Additional Readings TBD
Hallmayer (2011);
Lichtenstein (2010)
Online commentaries
Plomin Chapter 6
Short Paper 1 due
Attia (2009B);
Munafo (2006)
Corvin (2009);
Purcell (2009)
Goldstein (2009) vs. Hirschorn (2009);
online commentary
Manolio (2009)
Neale (2008) chapters – GWAS and
appendix chapters
Morrow (2010)
O’Roak (2011);
Cirulli & Goldstein (2010)
Petronis (2010);
Weaver (2004); summary Sapolsky
(2004)
Wang (2010);
O’Dushlaine (2011)
Plomin chapter;
Ellis & Boyce (2008); online
commentary
Risch (2009) vs. Caspi (2010);
Duncan & Keller (2011)
Gottesman & Gould (2003);
Kendler & Neale (2010)
Munafo (2008);
Meyer-Lindenberg & Weinberger
(2006)
Short Paper 2 due
Class 20
Presentations
Class 21
Presentations
Class 22
Presentations
Class 23
Presentations
Class 24
Presentations
Class 25
Seminar
Class 26
Lecture/Seminar
Specialized Topics
TBD
Specialized Topics
TBD
Specialized Topics
TBD
Specialized Topics
TBD
Specialized Topics
TBD
Policy implications – direct to
consumer testing
Genetic counseling and clinical
applications
Frueh et al. (2011)
Guest lecture - TBD
Final Paper due