Psychology Commons^™

A Genetically Informed Study Of Acute Threat Endophenotypes For Callous-Unemotional Traits, Ashlee A. Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction. Callous-unemotional (CU) traits predict socially debilitating outcomes including Antisocial Personality Disorder and violent crime in adulthood. Despite significant research, the etiology of CU traits is not well understood. This dissertation incorporates genetic, physiological, neuroanatomical, and self-report measures to investigate the etiology of CU traits. Specifically, this project focuses on measures previously found to associate with impaired fear-processing observed in individuals high on CU. Brain morphometry for paralimbic regions of interest (ROIs) and electromyographic facial eyeblink reflex to startle and fear-potentiated startle probes were investigated as potential endophenotypes for CU traits. Methods. Two genetically informative (ages 9-20) twin samples ( …

Genome-Wide Systems Genetics Of Alcohol Consumption And Dependence, Kristin Mignogna

Theses and Dissertations

Widely effective treatment for alcohol use disorder is not yet available, because the exact biological mechanisms that underlie this disorder are not completely understood. One way to gain a better understanding of these mechanisms is to examine the genetic frameworks that contribute to the risk for developing this disorder. This dissertation examines genetic association data in combination with gene expression networks in the brain to identify functional groups of genes associated with alcohol consumption and dependence.

The first study took advantage of the behavioral complexity of human samples, and experimental capabilities provided by mouse models, by co-analyzing gene expression networks …