tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post7377422827858835867..comments2024-03-14T23:52:09.893-07:00Comments on The Neurocritic: Myth of the Depression GeneThe Neurocritichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-70038294139842112852011-01-06T15:52:30.487-08:002011-01-06T15:52:30.487-08:00Risch et al was a meta-analysis based upon a biase...<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19531786" rel="nofollow">Risch et al</a> was a meta-analysis based upon a biased selection of studies. A new, more complete meta-analysis by <a href="http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/archgenpsychiatry.2010.189v1?rss=1" rel="nofollow">Karg et al</a> disproved their conclusion. Scientists have <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-01/uomh-rts122810.php" rel="nofollow">called</a> upon the media to cover this correction.nooffensebuthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02461190919466049463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-40459112272110188922011-01-04T20:43:58.003-08:002011-01-04T20:43:58.003-08:00You should update this post since the study you ci...You should update this post since the study you cite is now known to have been biased and inaccurate.nooffensebuthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02461190919466049463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-50486278732881609952009-08-05T00:17:23.675-07:002009-08-05T00:17:23.675-07:00Perhaps I should take up your hobby: leaving troll...Perhaps I should take up your hobby: leaving trollish comments.The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-41004994522353811102009-08-04T07:52:03.840-07:002009-08-04T07:52:03.840-07:00not nicely done...quite a lazy and apathetic confi...not nicely done...quite a lazy and apathetic confirmation bias. time for a new hobby, huh?53nnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10582316780127989641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-58798966433100054502009-07-29T11:28:00.678-07:002009-07-29T11:28:00.678-07:00Always the same... Just like in the 1800s with Gal...Always the same... Just like in the 1800s with Galton: nature & nurture. The two are important. Not only the nature (genes, or better: multiple genes), but also the nurture (experiences). And not only nurture, without nature... That's also silly.<br /><br />If we think, worry, cry, be happy, or whatever, we change the neurotransmitters (like serotonin), or the chemistry in our brains. Without brains (and chemistry), there's no thinking. <br />Or, if the chemistry in our brains has been changed (by our biology or our environment), our thinking will change. It's not 'or, or', it's 'and, and'. <br /><br />We can change our chemistry in our brain bij changing our thinking (like psychotherapy), or by changing the chemistry (by medication). <br />The problem is that we aren't yet able to do that perfectly. Not by medication and not by psychotherapy. So, the best we can do for the moment when the depression is severe, is working on the two: psychotherapy AND medication. <br /><br />MiekMieknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-7351041617640228042009-06-26T10:15:03.183-07:002009-06-26T10:15:03.183-07:00The Neurocritic - I agree that the ApoE story is c...The Neurocritic - I agree that the ApoE story is complicated: That ApoE is not The Gene for late-onset Alzheimer. I guess I got carried away by the relatively high odds ratio - above 3 - in AlzGene. No other gene seems to get anywhere near. Also in the SczGene schizophrenia meta-analyses all genes seems to have ridiculous low odds ratio (i.e. near one). Doesn't that mean that ApoE is the only gene for any major neuropsychiatric disorder and disease where meta-analyses so far have revealed any 'large' association?Finn Årup Nielsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00215184657980755493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-65625864189020794562009-06-24T11:46:33.108-07:002009-06-24T11:46:33.108-07:00As a psychologist in the mental health field, I...As a psychologist in the mental health field, I'm often frustrated by the lay "wisdom" that insists depression is purely biological, and leads many prospective clients to come in expecting immediate or automatic referral for psychotropic medications because depression is caused by a serotonin deficit.. right? In an ideal world, I'd require all depression researchers to read <i>The Myth of Depression as Disease</i>, by Leventhal and Martell. I don't think a person has to agree with every point in there (or in the literature as a whole) to acknowledge that the antecedents of depression may be predominantly environmental, and that changes to the context and environment may be preferable to a chemical "fix" (when, in fact, a successful "fix" occurs).Dr. Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01278244130486474822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-72655845389729274942009-06-22T02:12:30.381-07:002009-06-22T02:12:30.381-07:00I always thought that is absurd to try to blame on...I always thought that is absurd to try to blame on a single gene (specially that we know we have many), a certain trait or expression of it that is obviously a complex thing. <br />Besides I think that is highly likely that the dna works like a kind of networks where one part influences other, and so on. And maybe there are even hierarchical connections which coordinate the basic ones.<br />They think they understand a lot about the dna, but I think they are missing a lot, just a couple of years ago they thought that the non coding dna parts where junk, and obviously it resulted that not.Mariana Sofferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13351209522681966230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-17851495056807977142009-06-21T22:02:52.309-07:002009-06-21T22:02:52.309-07:00Finn Årup Nielsen - The ApoE story seems to be com...Finn Årup Nielsen - The ApoE story seems to be complicated. Here's Schipper (2009) in a recent <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19482376" rel="nofollow">review of Apolipoprotein E</a>:<br /><br /><i>"It is important to acknowledge that about half of E4 homozygotes do not contract AD by 90 years of age, and lack of the allele does not ensure immunity from the disease (Henderson et al., 1995). Thus, the apoE E4 gene or protein does not constitute a biological marker of sporadic AD and its utility as a routine AD diagnostic tool is minimal or nil (Hyman, 1998; Mayeux et al., 1998)."</i><br /><br />Jonathan - I agree that autism is another good example.The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-78302719402684990472009-06-21T17:13:27.991-07:002009-06-21T17:13:27.991-07:00I have mild autism, and it is probably the same fo...I have mild autism, and it is probably the same for autism also, a combination of many genes found on autosomes and sometimes x-linked and lead to similar phenotypes.jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14972394536850151087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-58231328521336016862009-06-21T15:14:40.007-07:002009-06-21T15:14:40.007-07:00Typo: It should have been "So to me that appe...Typo: It should have been "So to me that appears not to be a myth" or "it is a myth that is a myth..." :)Finn Årup Nielsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00215184657980755493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-60369584549519410362009-06-21T07:46:35.037-07:002009-06-21T07:46:35.037-07:00One of the first articles on the 5-HTTLPR argued f...One of the first articles on the 5-HTTLPR argued for link to the personality dimensions 'neuroticism' and 'harm avoidance' (that have been linked to depression). This association has also been very much weakened by newer meta-analyses. (I put the references in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-HTTLPR" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a>) Though these cases make a mock of one-gene-one-disease claims I believe that rare familial Alzheimers may be linked to individual genes. Also for 'ordinary' Alzheimer the AlzGene meta-analysis odds ratio for the APOE gene is pretty high: 3.7. So to me that appears to be a myth.Finn Årup Nielsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00215184657980755493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-60526962436531479602009-06-18T16:01:23.017-07:002009-06-18T16:01:23.017-07:00Thanks. You made a good point, Dave.
One could do...Thanks. You made a good point, Dave.<br /><br />One could do a separate post on the before-and-after headlines. Here's ScienceNOW:<br /><br /><a href="http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2003/718/3" rel="nofollow">Getting the Short End of the Allele</a><br />18 July 2003<br />Gene influences risk of depression after stressful events<br /><br /><a href="http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/616/1" rel="nofollow">Sad News for "Depression Gene"</a><br />16 June 2009<br />Analysis fails to find link between much-touted gene variant and depressionThe Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-2551596271327675202009-06-18T15:48:57.357-07:002009-06-18T15:48:57.357-07:00Great blog.Great blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com