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Click here for previous Articles, Psych Bytes, News, and Book Reviews by topic. September 2010 PSYCHBYTES Resilience Resilience is about overcoming adversity so that one does not experience the most serious effects of such traumas as abuse, war, or natural disasters. So how can we explain the miraculous recovery of the deer in Dr. McArthur’s article of the month? Ann Masten, a resilience researcher has described resilience as “ordinary magic.” The latest research indicates that resilience is an interaction between particular genes and the environment. This is described as GxE, genetics plus environment. Researchers have found that a particular variation of a gene can act as a buffer against serious adversity. But if there are no environmental problems the gene doesn’t express itself in this way. Terri Moffet, a researcher on the faculty of Rutter’s research center at the Institute of Psychiatry in London and the University of Wisconsin, published a paper in Science that described the relationship between the gene, 5-HTT and childhood maltreatment in causing depression. 5-HTT helps to regulate the serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical in the brain that regulates mood and promotes a feeling of wellbeing. This gene has two alleles that occur in a long and short version. People with at least one short 5-HTT allele are more prone to depression. In the research, children with two short alleles had serious emotional difficulties when their environment was abusive or there was some form of trauma in their lives. Children with one short and one long allele fared better and children with two long alleles were the most resilient to adversity. However if there were no serious environmental problems, children with short alleles did as well as children with long alleles. home | article of the
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