Posts Tagged 'twin studies'

Cracking the code for resilience

Cracking the code for resilience

A VCU School of Medicine researcher is exploring the genetic underpinnings of trauma responses in the hope of improving mental health care.

Given current events ranging from the ongoing pandemic to giant wildfires and powerful hurricanes, it’s not surprising that many people find their emotional reserves are depleted. Statistics from the Kaiser Family Foundation show that about 4 in 10 adults in the U.S. have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic, up from 1 in 10 ...

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VCU, Swedish study finds genetics and environment equally contribute to major depression transmission

VCU, Swedish study finds genetics and environment equally contribute to major depression transmission

Parent-to-offspring transmission of risk for major depression is the result of genetic factors and child-rearing experiences to an approximately equal degree, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and Lund University in Sweden. The discovery is the result of the first large-scale adoption study of major depression.

The study, “Sources of Parent-Offspring Resemblance for Major Depression in a National Swedish Extended Adoption Study,” published Dec. 13 in JAMA Psychiatry, a monthly, peer-reviewed medical journal produced by ...

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Advanced Genetic Epidemiology Statistical Workshop – Oct. 23-27, 2017

Advanced Genetic Epidemiology Statistical Workshop – Oct. 23-27, 2017

The Advanced Genetic Epidemiology Statistical Workshop (AGES) is designed to provide an overview of advanced statistical methodology for genetic studies of substance use and abuse phenotypes. It covers analytical methods for genetic epidemiological and genomic/genotype-based studies, multivariate, longitudinal and causal modeling, statistical & optimization issues and related topics. The focus is on a hands-on approach, in which participants use their own computers to implement and experiment with statistical methods described during presentations by the faculty.

There will be over 20 professional ...

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Brain Structure, Function & Human Development

Brain Structure, Function & Human Development

By Elizabeth Long

Michael Neale, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry, Human and Molecular Genetics, and Psychology, as well as associate director of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics. His career in the field of psychiatric genetics started as an interest in psychology and neuroscience, which developed during his formative adolescent years after reading Jeffrey Gray’s The Psychology of Fear and Stress. Subsequently, he earned both his Bachelor’s and PhD degrees in psychology at the ...

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Understanding The Etiology of Psychiatric Illnesses

Understanding The Etiology of Psychiatric Illnesses

By Elizabeth Long

Kenneth Kendler, M.D. is Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Human and Molecular Genetics as well as one of the founders of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics. In collaboration with Lindon Eaves, Ph.D., Dr. Kendler created VIPBG in 1996 as an effort to bring together expert psychiatrists, statisticians, and molecular geneticists under one roof, where he currently serves as Director.

Throughout his career, Dr. Kendler has published over 850 articles, making ...

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Females more at genetic risk for developing insomnia than males, VCU study suggests

Females more at genetic risk for developing insomnia than males, VCU study suggests

Genes may contribute more to the development of insomnia symptoms in females than in males, according to a new study led by a Virginia Commonwealth University graduate student.

Drawing on pre-existing data from the Virginia Adult Twin Studies of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders (VATSPSUD), a large data set collected by VCU psychiatry professor Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., Mackenzie Lind found evidence that the heritability of insomnia could be higher for females than it is for males, suggesting that genes influence ...

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AGES Workshop – Oct. 26-30, 2015

AGES Workshop – Oct. 26-30, 2015

The Advanced Genetic Epidemiology Statistical Workshop (AGES) is designed to provide an overview of advanced statistical methodology for genetic studies of substance use and abuse phenotypes. It covers analytical methods for twin and family studies, multivariate modeling, measurement and phenotyping, development and dynamical systems, advanced variance components analysis and GxE interaction. The focus is on a hands-on approach, in which participants use their own computers to implement and experiment with statistical methods described during presentations by the faculty

There will be ...

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From DNA To Human Being With Lindon Eaves, Ph.D.

From DNA To Human Being With Lindon Eaves, Ph.D.

By Elizabeth Long

Lindon Eaves, D.Sc. is one of the founders of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics. He is currently professor emeritus at the Institute and has played a significant part in the development and application of a variety of research designs. These include the extended kin-ships of twins and longitudinal studies of twins and their parents. He has also developed some of the first methods for the structural analysis of multivariate genetic data ...

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Genetics of addiction: Twin studies

Genetics of addiction: Twin studies

Twin studies offer a critical method to studying questions of nature and nurture in addiction research. Identical twins arise from the same fertilized egg, so they share 100 percent of their genes. If a trait is entirely genetic, identical twins strongly resemble one another in that trait. Think of hair color, eye color, height. Fraternal twins, on the other hand—people born from the same mother at the same time, but formed from separate eggs—share just 50 percent of their genes, ...

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