Genes can predict whether people follow advice

By Staff Writer

Researchers at Brown University have found specific genetic variations that explain why some people are so eager to believe new advice that they discard their own experiences.

Psychologists call the phenomenon “confirmation bias,” and have found evidence of it in cultural debates such as astrology and politics, as well as academic disciplines like science.

The condition results from a conflict between the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the area of the brain that stores incoming instructions such as advice, and the striatum, the brain region that processes experience.

Published in the April 20 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, the paper describes how the neurotransmitter dopamine affects the brain. For example, a variation in the COMT gene can change the level of dopamine in the PFC, altering the way that people work with advice.

Likewise, a variation in the DARPP-32 gene affects dopamine in the stratium, allowing some people to learn more quickly from experience without advice, but also making them more impressionable when they did receive advice.

The study helps explain some differences in learning styles. It could suggest therapies for students who have trouble learning in a typical classroom environment and may benefit by attending boarding schools for teenagers.