ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R
主办:中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理科学进展 ›› 2022, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (7): 1574-1588.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.01574

• 研究前沿 • 上一篇    下一篇

利他行为的遗传基础: 来自定量遗传学和分子遗传学的证据

李海虹1, 尚思源2,3, 谢晓非1()   

  1. 1北京大学心理与认知科学学院, 行为与心理健康北京市重点实验室, 北京 100871
    2杭州师范大学心理系, 杭州 311121
    3杭州师范大学附属医院认知与脑疾病研究中心, 杭州 311121
  • 收稿日期:2021-09-26 出版日期:2022-07-15 发布日期:2022-05-17
  • 通讯作者: 谢晓非 E-mail:xiaofei@pku.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金(91224002);国家自然科学基金(71772007);国家自然科学基金(71974005);中国博士后科学基金(2021M690236)

The role of genes in altruistic behavior: Evidence from quantitative genetics and molecular genetics

LI Haihong1, SHANG Siyuan2,3, XIE Xiaofei1()   

  1. 1School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
    2Department of psychology, School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
    3Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
  • Received:2021-09-26 Online:2022-07-15 Published:2022-05-17
  • Contact: XIE Xiaofei E-mail:xiaofei@pku.edu.cn

摘要:

利他行为是指个体耗损自身资源帮助他人的行为,对群体和个人而言具有重要意义。在现实生活中,利他行为具有极大的个体差异,而遗传在其中起着关键作用。近年来,基于定量遗传学和分子遗传学两类研究方法,研究者关注利他行为的遗传基础。首先,采用定量遗传学研究方法探讨利他行为的遗传率,已有的大量研究证实利他行为确实受遗传所影响,同时遗传率估计在不同研究中有所差异(0~0.87),利他的遗传程度可能受年龄、测量方法、环境等多种因素影响。其次,基于分子遗传学研究方法,研究者发现了四类利他候选基因,包括多巴胺受体基因、5-羟色胺转运体基因、催产素受体基因、和加压素受体基因,以上发现证实一些基因位点与利他行为具有一定的相关性。同时不容忽视的是,无论是在定量遗传学研究,还是分子遗传学研究中,环境已被证实不仅会影响基因遗传率,同时也在基因对行为的影响过程中发挥着关键作用。一方面基因与环境相关联,二者共同影响利他行为,即基因-环境相关,共有三种基因-环境相关类型,包括被动型、唤起型、和主动型;另一方面基因的效应受环境影响,即差别易感性模型,外部环境以“更好或更坏”的方式影响着易感基因携带者的利他行为发展,这在催产素受体基因和多巴胺受体基因中发现了大量的基因与环境对利他的交互作用。目前研究存在利他候选基因选择具有推测性,现有结论不一致等问题,未来研究需拓展神经生物系统探索,注重全基因组研究、元分析和机制探索,和进行系统的环境干预实践。

关键词: 利他行为, 基因, 基因-环境相关, 差别易感性

Abstract:

Altruistic behavior is a behavior that benefits others at a cost to oneself, which is of great significance to groups and individuals. People differ significantly in their everyday altruistic behaviors, which is partly influenced by genetic factors. Recently, researchers have focused on the role of genes in altruistic behavior.
First, the heritability of altruistic behavior was explored based on the method of quantitative genetics. A large number of studies have confirmed that altruistic behavior is indeed affected by heredity, and heritability estimates vary among studies (0~0.87). The heritability of altruistic behavior may be influenced by factors such as age, the method of measurement, and some environmental factors (e.g., culture, family environments). Second, based on molecular genetic research, researchers have found four categories of altruism-related candidate genes, including dopamine receptor genes, serotonin transporter genes, oxytocin receptor genes, and vasopressin receptor genes. These findings confirmed that altruistic behavior was correlated with some gene loci. Taken together, both quantitative and molecular genetic studies have provided abundant genetic evidence of altruistic behavior.
Furthermore, according to the aforementioned studies, the environment has been proven not only to affect the heritability of altruistic behavior but also to play a key role in the influence of genes on altruistic behavior in both quantitative and molecular genetic studies. On the one hand, genotype is associated with an environment that jointly influences altruistic behavior, known as gene-environment correlation. There are three types of gene-environment correlations: passive, evocative and active. On the other hand, the effect of genetics on altruistic behavior is influenced by the environment, known as the differential susceptibility model; that is, the environment affects the development of the altruistic behavior of susceptibility gene carriers in a manner of “strengthening or weakening.” Accordingly, a large number of findings regarding the interactions between genes and the environment on altruism have been found in oxytocin receptor genes and dopamine receptor genes.
The current studies have some problems, such as speculative selection of altruistic candidate genes and inconsistent conclusions. Future research needs to expand on and further explore the effect of neurobiological systems on altruistic behavior, which may focus on genome-wide research, meta-analysis, mechanism exploration, and systematic environmental intervention practice.

Key words: altruistic behavior, gene, gene-environment correlation, differential susceptibility

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