Academic Performance Affected by Genes?
The academic performance of adolescents will suffer in at least one of four key subjects –– English, math, science, history –– if their DNA contains one or more of three specific dopamine gene variations, according to a study led by renowned biosocial criminologist Kevin M. Beaver of The Florida State University.
The research sheds new light on the genetic components of academic performance during middle and high school, and on the interplay of specific genes and environmental factors such as peer behavior or school conditions.
“We believe that dopaminergic genes affect GPA because they have previously been linked to factors associated with academic performance, including adolescent delinquency, working memory, intelligence and cognitive abilities, and ADHD, among others,” Beaver said. “So, the genetic effect would operate indirectly via these other correlates to GPA and school performance.”
“We found that as the number of certain dopaminergic gene variants increased, grade point averages decreased, and the difference was statistically significant,” Beaver said. “For example, the GPA of a student with specific variants of three dopaminergic genes might be around 2.8, versus a GPA of around 3.3 without the variants. That could mean the difference between being accepted into a college versus being rejected.Findings from the study are described in a paper for which Beaver served as lead author that was published online Aug. 30 in the journal Intelligence. He and his coauthors performed their groundbreaking analysis using DNA and lifestyle data from a representative group of 2,500 U.S. middle- and high-school students who were tracked from 1994 to 2008 in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
“Unfortunately, we know that students with lower GPAs are generally more likely to participate in antisocial or criminal activities, and less likely to attend college and earn comparatively higher salaries as a result.”
The researchers also uncovered a correlation between the variants of dopamine genes that a student possessed and his or her GPA in different subject areas.For instance, they found a marginally significant negative effect on English grades for students with a single dopamine variant in a gene known as DAT1, but no apparent effect on math, history or science. In contrast, a variant in the DRD2 gene was correlated with a markedly negative effect on grades in all four subjects. Students with a single, DRD4 variant had significantly lower grades in English and math, but only marginally lower grades in history and science.
Previous, cutting-edge genetic research in biosocial criminology has revealed the mutual interdependence of genes and environment –– which means, said Beaver, that certain genetic factors may wield tangible effects when paired with certain environmental factors.
“It is quite likely that a similar feedback loop exists with GPA, whereby the genetic liability for low GPA could be moderated by environmental conditions such as school structural characteristics, teacher performance, or behavior of other students,” he said.
“If that is true, then findings such as ours could help lead to more effective, innovative ways of enhancing school and individual performance.”
Beaver is an associate professor in the FSU College of Criminology and Criminal Justice and the coauthor of more than 100 published papers on the biosocial underpinnings of antisocial and criminal behavior. To date, his body of research includes work that links the use of steroids to “roid rage” and genetics to adolescent victimization, formation of delinquent peer groups, and gun violence among gang members –– all among the first such works in the field of biosocial criminology. He won the American Society of Criminology’s 2009 Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award, in recognition of his outstanding scholarly contributions. Beaver is the coauthor/editor of “Biosocial Criminology: A Primer” (Kendall/Hunt, 2009) and six other books.
Source: http://news.fsu.edu/More-FSU-News/News-Archive/2010/September/Low-grades-in-adolescence-linked-to-dopamine-genes
Reflections:
I feel that this might not be good news to students who are under performing. This is because they might be disheartened and feel that they are not performing well enough no matter what they do as their performance is reliant on their genes. They would thus lose their motivation to do study hard and would lose confidence in themselves. However, this might not be entirely a piece of bad news for these students. This students could be able to request for moderation of results, since their genes are partially to be blamed for their results. This might lead to a change of the school structures. Maybe, the student's genes could be analyzed by experts and students can be placed in classes where all students would be able to learn and interact in the same way. Since these students have similar learning styles, these students would be able to do better in their academics. Therefore, I feel that it is unfair for students to be judged based on their academic results. Students might be weak in their academics, but might excel in other areas such as sports. In conclusion, I feel that this is generally a useful discovery to the weaker students as it pushes the schools to change the way students are arranged in the school.
However, although after students have learnt that their genes might cause their poor academic results, they may start to be complacent and feel that no matter how hard they try, they may still be cursed with their poor results. Thus, this research might not be completely beneficial to these students.
However, although after students have learnt that their genes might cause their poor academic results, they may start to be complacent and feel that no matter how hard they try, they may still be cursed with their poor results. Thus, this research might not be completely beneficial to these students.
