The genetics of brain wiring: from molecule to mind.

Abstract

What makes some people neurotic or schizophrenic or right-handed or fearless? Are these behavioural differences caused by literal differences in how individuals' brains are wired? If so, what causes those differences? This age-old question of nature versus nurture can be recast in more realistic terms based on our modern understanding of genetics, development, and neuroscience. The challenge in this area is to understand how genotype is mapped to phenotype, not just in terms of the average effects of single genes across populations but also in terms of their combined effects in shaping the phenotypes of individuals.