With swelling prison populations, researchers are trying to understand the biology behind aggressive behavior. National Institute of Mental Health scientist Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg is looking for clues to how genes wire our brains early in life.
"One of the most fascinating things," Meyer-Lindenberg says, about this field of science called psychiatric genetics, "is how it is possible that genes [can] encode for molecules that affect something as complex as behavior, even psychiatric illness such as depression and social behavior."
He's focusing on a specific gene that was previously linked to impulsive violence. A study in 2002 found that subjects with a particular form of a gene had a significantly higher risk of violence, but only in certain populations.
Genes can affect complex behaviors like aggression, because they direct the production of proteins—the building blocks of living systems. Certain types of proteins, called enzymes, break down chemicals in the brain, most notably, ...
