Have We Found The “Overhype Gene”?

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In Scientific American, John Horgan criticizes psychiatrist Richard Friedman’s effusive portrayal in the New York Times of a study that allegedly identified the “feel-good” gene in humans.

Horgan quotes Friedman: ā€œFor the first time, scientists have demonstrated that a genetic variation in the brain makes some people inherently less anxious, and more able to forget fearful and unpleasant experiences. This lucky genetic mutation produces higher levels of anandamide — the so-called bliss molecule and our natural marijuana — in our brains. In short, some people are prone to be less anxious simply because they won the genetic sweepstakes and randomly got a genetic mutation that has nothing at all to do with strength of character.ā€

Horgan then writes: “This article, like the one [by Lawrence Altman] touting the alcoholism gene 25 years ago, was written by a physician, Richard Friedman, professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. I emphasize this fact because scientific hype is often blamed on supposedly ignorant journalists like me rather than on physicians and other so-called experts… Friedmanā€™s article is, in effect, an extremely dumbed down, sensationalized press release…”

N.Y. Times Hype of ā€œFeel-Good Geneā€ Makes Me Feel Bad (Scientific American, March 13, 2015)

3 COMMENTS

  2. Hi Sandra — The quote is actually correct from Friedman’s article via Horgan’s article. Horgan compared Friedman’s article to the older article about the alcoholism gene. However, I guess with the way the quote is extracted by me out of context from Horgan’s article that some readers might misconstrue that Horgan was suggesting Friedman wrote both articles. Horgan wasn’t suggesting that. But I can see how that might confuse some people, so thanks for pointing it out — I’ve slipped a bracketed clarification in.

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  3. “ā€œFor the first time, scientists have demonstrated that a genetic variation in the brain makes some people inherently less anxious, and more able to forget fearful and unpleasant experiences. This lucky genetic mutation produces higher levels of anandamide — the so-called bliss molecule and our natural marijuana — in our brains.”
    Even if that was true – how is that a good thing? We need anxiety and ability to remember bad experiences – it’s simply necessary for survival.

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