Understanding Genes

Child Psychology – Genes, the Environment and Mental Health

In this course, Professor Yulia Kovas (Goldsmiths, University of London) explores the interactions between genes, mental health, and development. In the first lecture, we think about what genes are from biological and conceptual perspectives. In the second lecture, we think about some ways in which genes and the environment interact, including a brief introduction to epigenetics. In the third lecture, we think about how genes and the environment can impact mental health, including the way in which early trauma can impact later life. Next, we think about the interplay between personality characteristics, genes, and life outcomes. In the fifth and final lecture, we think about what it means to be living in the genomic era, wherein the human genome has been fully sequenced.

Understanding Genes

In this lecture, we think about what genes are, focusing in particular on: (i) the importance of keeping in mind that humans are biological systems when considering psychological concepts; (ii) the biological definition of a gene as a section of DNA which encodes a function in the organism by defining a protein arrangement; (iii) DNA, from a conceptual view, as a sequence of letters (formed by nucleotides), which encodes our cells; (iv) the recently debunked view that much of a DNA sequence is without function, replaced with the view that some of DNA is coding (genes) and some is non-coding; (v) polymorphisms as defined as genetic contributions to individual differences.