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Join the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology on Thursday, April 3, 2014 for the James 9I制作厂免费 Speaker Series in Educational and Counselling Psychology for

, Harvard University

Bad Genes, Bad Moms, and Bad Brains: A Casual Biology of Poor Self-Control

From聽deciding聽between a cupcake and a carrot聽to聽choosing a retirement fund,聽we鈥檙e all faced聽with聽the need聽to delay gratification in order to achieve long-term goals.聽聽While聽everyone聽indulges聽temptation聽occasionally, highly impulsive people consistently make聽immediate-focused choices聽with聽serious聽adverse consequences.聽Impulsivity is a stable聽trait that聽is聽associated with profound individual dysfunction and impairment, and causes significant financial costs society-wide. While we know that "bad genes" and "bad聽environments" can account for most of the variability in impulsivity, the specific systems-level neurobiological mechanisms聽through which these factors act to affect behavior are poorly characterized.聽Using a combination of pharmacological, genetic, and multi-modal brain imaging approaches, I will provide evidence that specific "bad genes" (MAOA, DRD2, and LEPR) selectively聽disrupt information processing聽within brain circuits for emotional arousal and reward motivation.聽Finally, I will show that a specific "bad environment" (childhood maltreatment) is associated with dysfunction in these same circuits, possibly accounting for observed gene-by-environment interactions in risk for psychiatric disorders characterized by poor self-control.

To share the poster (.pdf) for this event, please click on the following link: Dr. Joshua Buckholtz - April 3, 2014.pdf

A wine and cheese will be held following the talk.