Re: [xmca] talking about nature nurture interactions on IQ...

David,
   
  The point is about testing the possiblity of falsifying the interpretation. The proposed experiment, if it showed that the bottle fed infants did not produce the same results, would falsify the interpretation that the gene is responsible. Since that is possible it is a valid challenge to the finding.
   
  Paul

David Preiss <davidpreiss@uc.cl> wrote:
  Paul,
i think the issue IS the nutritive nature of the milk, and not
necessarily the act of breast-feeding, at least I am missing
something in your note,
David

On Nov 6, 2007, at 11:49 PM, Paul Dillon wrote:

> A good control study for these findings would be one that evaluated
> babies whose mothers had used a pump to extract the milk but who
> had in fact never breast fed their children but only given them the
> milk in bottles, preferably if the children had been fed with that
> milk by someone other than the mother herself.
>
> Paul
>
> David Preiss wrote:
> Study Reveals Link between Breastfeeding And Child IQ
> The Independent - London - November 06, 2007
>
> Babies who are breastfed stand a better chance of becoming
> intelligent children if they also inherit a version of a gene that is
> involved in the growth of the brain, researchers have found.
>
> Two large studies of breastfed children confirm that mother's milk
> does indeed raise IQ in later life - if combined with a gene involved
> in the metabolism of fatty acids.
>
> Scientists believe the discovery blows a hole in the "nature versus
> nurture" debate, as it shows that there is a hitherto unconfirmed
> interaction between our environment and the genes involved in brain
> development.
>
> Terrie Moffitt and Avshalom Caspi, the husband-and-wife team who
> carried out the work at King's College London, found that the IQ
> advantage for breastfed children was only true if they had inherited
> the "C" version of a gene known as FADS2, which handles fatty acids
> in the diet. Breast milk is known to be rich in fatty acids, and
> these compounds are also thought to be important in certain aspects
> of brain development, such as the growth of nerve endings and the
> production of neurotransmitters - chemical messengers in the brain.
>
> It was already accepted that breastfeeding increases a child's IQ
> significantly, but some critics of earlier research pointed out that
> in the West this may be because higher social classes tend both to
> breastfeed their children and spend more money on their education
> than lower social classes. The latest study, published in the journal
> Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, claims to have
> eliminated these potentially confounding social factors.
>
> "Our findings support the idea that the nutritional content of breast
> milk accounts for the differences seen in human IQ. But it's not a
> simple connection: it depends to some extent on the genetic make-up
> of each infant," Professor Moffitt said. "The argument about
> intelligence has been about nature versus nurture for at least a
> century. We're finding that nature and nurture work together."
>
> About 90 per cent of the population have the "C" version of the FADS2
> gene, so most babies could potentially benefit from breastfeeding in
> terms of a raised IQ.
>
> A study has also shown that breastfed babies have a lower risk of
> developing heart disease. Scientists told the American Heart
> Association that breastfeeding is linked with lower weight and higher
> "good" cholesterol levels in adulthood.
>
> (C) 2007 The Independent - London. via ProQuest Information and
> Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
>
> David Preiss, Ph.D.
> Subdirector de Extensión y Comunicaciones
> Escuela de Psicología
> Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
> Av Vicuña Mackenna 4860
> Macul, Santiago
> Chile
>
> Fono: 3544605
> Fax: 3544844
> e-mail: davidpreiss@uc.cl
> web personal: http://web.mac.com/ddpreiss/
> web institucional: http://www.epuc.cl/profesores/dpreiss
>
>
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David Preiss, Ph.D.
Subdirector de Extensión y Comunicaciones
Escuela de Psicología
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
Av Vicuña Mackenna 4860
Macul, Santiago
Chile

Fono: 3544605
Fax: 3544844
e-mail: davidpreiss@uc.cl
web personal: http://web.mac.com/ddpreiss/
web institucional: http://www.epuc.cl/profesores/dpreiss

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Received on Tue Nov 6 19:45 PST 2007