A person's intellectual interests are determined, in part, by genetic inheritance. A study published in the journal PLoS ONE has found that people whose families have cases of autism or Asperger's syndrome are more likely to choose technical and scientific professions. In contrast, those who prefer the arts and humanities are more likely to find a family history of depression, bipolarity or substance abuse.
The study was conducted by surveying more than 1,000 freshmen at Princeton University who had to answer questions related to their academic goals and the incidence of neuropsychiatric disorders in their family. Although the intellectual interests of each person also depend on environmental factors, researchers have found that there is a strong hereditary component. Genes could guide us in one direction or another, or determine certain behaviors that, when pushed to the limit, can be pathological. For example, some experts suggest that autism is an extreme manifestation of highly methodical characters, more typical of scientifically minded people.
