A PILOT ANALYSIS  FOR POPULATIONAL  DISTRIBUTION OF THE 5-HTTLPR POLYMORPHISM COMPARED TO A GEOGRAPHIC DATABASE OF SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF HAPPINESS

Um estudo piloto sobre a distribuição populacional do polimorfismo 5-httlpr em comparação  com o banco de dados  geográfico de percepção  subjetiva de Felicidade

Raquel Carvalho de Queiroz1, Manuela Barbosa Rodrigues de Souza1, João Ricardo Mendes de Oliveira1,2

ABSTRACT

There is a current interest in performing molecular psychiatric studies simultaneously with different populations, to find global associations  between different genetics,  social and  ethnic backgrounds  versus mood states, life quality parameters  and  self perception  of life satisfaction. This article aims to start  a pilot analysis about  the potential of finding  correlation between  populational frequencies distributions on the polymorphism within the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene  (5-httlpr), in comparison with a world wide web database of subjective perception of “happiness” (http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl). The objective is to start exploring the biological basis for cultural differences between  some populations that might be more optimistic than others, despite living under more stressful social and economic conditions, like in Brazil.