mugsby said:
certinly genes affect thought (schizophrenia), so one might argue that thought can affect genes say like in the progression from ape to man or as described in the bell curve (smarter men and women have smarter babies).
The OP isn't talking about changing genes, just changing the expression of genes. Thoughts actually changing the genes themselves is much more far-fetched.
zoobyshoe said:
Still way over my head. I really, honestly, truly know zilch about genes.
Sorry. I thought the problem might have been that I gave too simple of an explanation at first, so offered more detail thinking that might clarify. I see I needed to back up a bit first. Let's see if I can give a quick primer on gene expression.
Genes are bits of DNA code located within chromosomes (this much you probably knew already). The chromosome is actually not like a really long thread as it is sometimes depicted in illustrations, but is wrapped around molecules called histones (often illustrated as spools...it's a reasonable analogy). So, there will be DNA looped around these histones (just one loop per histone), and then all this is coiled up more, like a big, tangled phone cord. For any gene on that strand of DNA to be "read," enzymes and cofactors need to get to it and temporarily snip open the DNA and unwind it from those histones so it is relaxed enough for the transcriptional machinery (more enzymes) to move along and transcribe the DNA to RNA. Another set of enzymes translates RNA into proteins. Proteins are what are actually functional for doing "stuff" in the cell.
When something signals a molecule in the cell of an environmental event (or an internal event as well), either by a direct action of that environmental stimulus on the cell, or by an indirect action of other cells acting as intermediates producing molecules that stimulate that cell, a series of events happens in the cell. One common thing that happens is some of these proteins are phosphorylated, and this phosporylation changes the shape of the protein, as well as it's energy, and allows it to function differently than before it was phosphorylated. Some of these molecules, once their function is changed, are able to get into the nucleus, where the DNA is stored. And there, they can act as transcription cofactors, which do things to help speed up transcription of DNA to RNA. Some work by opening up the DNA coiled around the histones, some by recruiting more of the transcriptional machinery, some by sitting down at special places on the DNA to say that section is the part that should be transcribed, etc.
So, to the extent that thinking would involve synaptic transmission and release of neurotransmitters that would signal receptors on other neurons, there is the ability of thinking to trigger these signal transduction pathways and affect gene expression (picking and choosing which genes get used as a template to make proteins).
