Are there gender differences in happiness? American scientists have shown that there is a gene that makes women happy but that, however, does not work in the male gender. Its aboutmonoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene, which regulates an enzyme that breaks down brain neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, two substances that cause well-being.
In their experiments, the researchers found thatwomen with a low-expression version of the MAOA gene were much happierthan the rest of the women. Specifically, those with one copy of this version scored higher on the happiness scale, and those with two copies scored even higher. In the opposite sex, however, although many men subjected to DNA analysis carried the low-expression version of the MAOA gene, they were neither more nor less happy than the rest of their peers, as the authors clarify in the journalProgress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry.
The finding of this new “female happiness gene” surprised the researchers, becauseUntil now, low-expression MAOA had been linked to alcoholism, aggression, and antisocial behavior. ? Some scientists have even dubbed it the ‘warrior gene’ but, at least for the female sex, our study points to a brighter side of this gene, “explains Henian Chen, of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Florida. South.
In women there is a double circumstance that, although they show higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders, they also tend to exhibit agreater vital happiness than men. The new finding could help explain this sexual difference in mood and its relationship to specific genes, Chen said.
One possibility considered by the authors of the work is thatthe differences are explained because men have much more testosterone than women, so the hormone could negate the blissful effect of the low-expressing version of MAOA in men.
