GENOTYPE-

ENVIRONMENT
INTERACTION
DEFINITION
 Involves genetic sensitivity or susceptibility to environments.
 Quantitative genetics
 The effect of the environment on a phenotype depends on genotype
 The effect of the genotype on a phenotype depends on the environment

 Variance of a phenotype
 Genes can affect the phenotype independent of environmental effects
 Environments can affect the phenotype independent of genetics effects.
 Genes and environments can interact to affect the phenotype beyond the independent prediction of
genes and environments
 In psychiatric genetics this type of interaction is called diatbesis-stress model (Gottesman, 1991; Paris, 1999).
ANIMAL MODELS
 Easier to be manipulated in laboratory

 Examples: Maze-bright and maze-dull

 Different response to “enriched” and “restricted”
environment vs standard laboratory environment
(Cooper & Zubek, 1958)
 Enriched condition maze-bright selected line
maze-running performance of the maze-dull
rats.
 Restricted condition maze-bright maze-dull
rats
 Restricted vs enriched environments animal’s
genotype
 Little systematic research on genotype-environment
interaction
ADOPTION STUDIES

 Adoptees criminal convictions (birth parents) risk criminal behaviour

 Genetic risk (birth parents) antisocial personality diagnosis or drug abuse.

 Environment risk (adoptive family) marital, legal, or psychiatric problems

 Adoptees genetic risk sensitive to the environment effect of stress in the adoptive family

 Adoptees genetic risk by strees in the adoptive family

 The Early Growth and Development study (EGDS;Leve et al., 2013b)

 Longitudinal adoption study, follows adopted children, their adoptive parents and their birth parents.
 Children 18 month old(birth parents psychopathology symptoms) adoptive mothers use more
structured parenting child behaviour problems than when less structured parenting was used (Leve et
al., 2009)

 Genotype-environment interaction not found cognitive development

 Compared general cognitive ability scores for adopted children whose birth parents were high or low in level of
education and whose adoptive parents were high or low in level of education.
 No environmental effect was found for adoptive parents’ and a bit of effect was found for birth parents.
TWIN STUDIES

 Used to identify genotype-environment interaction, but

large samples are needed.
 Effect of streesful life events on depression individuals at
genetic risk for depression (Kendler et al., 1995).
 Effect of physical maltreatment on conduct problems for
children with high genetic risk (Jaffee et al., 2005).
 Heritability of general cognitive ability is in families more
highly educated parents tan in families with less well-
educated parents (Rowe, Jacobson, & van den Oord, 1999).
 Many twins studies indicate that heritability of behavior
problems in children is due to the social environment, as
parenting or peer rejection.
DNA
 First study
 Adult antisocial behavior, childhood
maltreatment, and a functional
polymorphism in the gene for monoamine
oxidase A (MAOA, involved in
metabolizing neurotransmitters) (Caspi et
al., 2002)
 Childhood maltreatment was associated with
adult antisocial behaviour.
 MAOA associated with antisocial
behaviour in individual who suffered
severe childhood maltreatment.
DNA

 Second study
 Depression, stressful life events, and a
functional polymorphism in the promoter
region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-
HTTLPR) (Caspi et al., 2003).
 No association between the genetic and
depressive symptoms in individuals reporting
few stressful life events.