Adversity and the Genome

The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in the understanding of the environmental impact on our genes. Sunday’s Theme Program, “Gene-Environment Interplay in Stress and Health,” presented the latest research in how environmental stress impacts health and behavior from the genetic level up.  (more…)

Emotional Rollercoaster

Although we can all fly off the handle every now and then, our ability to control and deal with our emotions is a critical tool in our interpersonal relationships and career success. In the wide-ranging theme program “Emotional Ups and Downs: Experiencing, Self-Regulating, and Capitalizing on Affect,” researchers from a variety of disciplines (industrial/organizational psychology, developmental, cognitive, and neuroscience) explained their different approaches to the study of emotional regulation. (more…)

The Architecture of the Mind

This morning began with the first theme program of the convention, “The Architecture of the Mind.” This unique program brought together six speakers from fields ranging from psychology to neuroscience to anthropology to discuss their recent findings about how behaviors are influenced by genes and environment, how the architecture of the mind is formed, and how behavior can shape the mind. 

Dario Maestripieri kicked off this program by showing compelling evidence that physical abuse runs in families and that genetic factors may be implicated. Next, Daniel M.T. Fessler described his work on disgust, suggesting that this reaction evolved from keeping us from ingesting toxins to playing a role in reproduction: His data suggests that women are more disgusted by certain sexual behaviors when they are most likely to conceive. Akira Miyake then presented results of twin studies that suggest a strong link between behavioral problems in childhood and executive-function abilities in adulthood.  (more…)