14 DAY TRIAL // In everyone's body there are some genes that “know” which parent they come from and as our female ancestors spread more than our male ancestors, they can trigger a conflict that influences the way we behave, suggests a new research.
Researchers from Oxford University and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville analyzed the impact the “genomic imprinting” has on how altruistic or how selfish one person is.
It is established historically that women move around more than men do, and because they are less related to their neighbors, maternal genes will encourage a person to be more selfish.
Dr Andy Gardner of Oxford University’s Department of Zoology, an author of the report said that “when women disperse more during their lifetime than men, as seems to be the case for ancestral humans, this leads to you being more related to your neighbors through your father than through your mother.”
Our male genes will encourage us to behave more altruistically with others and “this leads to conflicts over social behavior: the genes you receive from your father are telling you to be kind to your neighbors, whereas the genes you receive from your mother, like a demon sat on your shoulder, try to make you act selfishly,” added Dr Gardner.
Previous research has linked imprinted genes to growth disorders in children, and more recently to neurological issues such as autism and psychosis.
This study shows that the social brain also can suffer some disorders, which will allow it to favor paternal genes and be kind and altruistic, or maternal genes and be selfish.
Dr Gardner finally added that this “research reveals is that the popular idea of someone battling their psychological ‘demons’, that are telling them to behave in a selfish way, has some basis in our genetic makeup – we are all coalitions of conflicting genes.”
A report of this study is published in the journal Evolution.