A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Three genetic-environmental networks for human personality
Authors: Zwir Igor, Del-Val Coral, Arnedo Javier, Pulkki-Råback Laura, Konte Bettina, Yang Sarah S., Romero-Zaliz Rocio, Hintsanen Mirka, Cloninger Kevin M., Garcia Danilo, Svrakic Dragan M., Lester Nigel, Rozsa Sandor, Mesa Alberto, Lyytikäinen Leo-Pekka, Giegling Ina, Kähönen Mika, Martinez Maribel, Seppälä Ilkka, Raitoharju Emma, de Erausquin Gabriel A., Mamah Daniel, Raitakari Olli, Rujescu Dan, Postolache Teodor T., C. Charles Gu, Sung Joohon, Lehtimäki Terho, Keltikangas-Järvinen Liisa, Cloninger C. Robert
Publisher: Springer Nature
Publication year: 2021
Journal: Molecular Psychiatry
Journal name in source: Molecular psychiatry
Journal acronym: Mol Psychiatry
Volume: 26
Issue: 8
First page : 3858
Last page: 3875
ISSN: 1359-4184
eISSN: 1476-5578
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-019-0579-x
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/45546560
Phylogenetic, developmental, and brain-imaging studies suggest that human personality is the integrated expression of three major systems of learning and memory that regulate (1) associative conditioning, (2) intentionality, and (3) self-awareness. We have uncovered largely disjoint sets of genes regulating these dissociable learning processes in different clusters of people with (1) unregulated temperament profiles (i.e., associatively conditioned habits and emotional reactivity), (2) organized character profiles (i.e., intentional self-control of emotional conflicts and goals), and (3) creative character profiles (i.e., self-aware appraisal of values and theories), respectively. However, little is known about how these temperament and character components of personality are jointly organized and develop in an integrated manner. In three large independent genome-wide association studies from Finland, Germany, and Korea, we used a data-driven machine learning method to uncover joint phenotypic networks of temperament and character and also the genetic networks with which they are associated. We found three clusters of similar numbers of people with distinct combinations of temperament and character profiles. Their associated genetic and environmental networks were largely disjoint, and differentially related to distinct forms of learning and memory. Of the 972 genes that mapped to the three phenotypic networks, 72% were unique to a single network. The findings in the Finnish discovery sample were blindly and independently replicated in samples of Germans and Koreans. We conclude that temperament and character are integrated within three disjoint networks that regulate healthy longevity and dissociable systems of learning and memory by nearly disjoint sets of genetic and environmental influences.
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