Developmental behavioral genetics research on school achievement is missing vulnerable children, to our detriment

Gene–environment processes tell us how genes and environments work together to influence children in schools. One type of gene–environment process that has been extensively studied using behavioral genetics methods is a gene-by-environment interaction. A gene-by-environment interaction shows us when the effect of your context differs depending on your genes, or vice versa, when the effect of your genes differs depending on your context. Developmental behavioral geneticists interested in children’s school achievement have examined many different contexts within the gene-by-environment interaction model, including contexts measured from within children’s home and school environments. However, this work has been overwhelmingly focused on White children, leaving us with non-inclusive scientific evidence. This can lead to detrimental outcomes when we overgeneralize this non-inclusive scientific evidence to racialized groups. We conclude with a call to include racialized children in more research samples.

Genetics of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

Although chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) garners substantial attention in the media and there have been marked scientific advances in the last few years, much remains unclear about the role of genetic risk in CTE. Two athletes with comparable contact-sport exposure may have varying amounts of CTE neuropathology, suggesting that other factors, including genetics, may contribute to CTE risk and severity. In this review, we explore reasons why genetics may be important for CTE, concepts in genetic study design for CTE (including choosing controls, endophenotypes, gene by environment interaction, and epigenetics), implicated genes in CTE (including APOE, MAPT, and TMEM106B), and whether predictive genetic testing for CTE should be considered.

Genetic Risk Factors of Depression

Research on the genetic underpinnings of depression has rapidly advanced in the past decade. This field of research provides a promising avenue toward improving the diagnosis of, prevention of, and treatment for this devastating disorder. The goal of this chapter is to review the main genetic and gene-by-environment interaction findings on depression. We first describe family and twin studies used to empirically study the familial aggregation of depression. Second, we provide a review of the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) published to date. Building on GWAS findings, we will discuss the use of polygenic risk scores in predicting depression. We also review the most robust candidate gene studies and gene-by-environment interaction studies. Finally, we discuss the clinical implications of the findings and promising strategies for making further progress within this field.