Spotlight

Happiness Gene

By Anne DeLotto Baier | USF Health

A new study led by USF College of Public Health researcher Henian Chen has found a link between a specific gene and women's likelihood to report happiness.

Unfortunately, it appears to have no effect on happiness in men. And testosterone may be the culprit.

Chen and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health and Columbia University zeroed in on monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) — a gene that helps regulate how "feel good" neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine are broken down in the brain. The greater the presence of the gene, the faster these chemicals are cleared out of the brain. Lower levels mean more of the "feel good" chemicals stay in the brain longer, boosting mood.

The researchers discovered that women with the low-expression type of MAOA scored significantly higher on the happiness scale than others. Men who carried this "happy" version of the gene reported no more happiness than their peers without it.

Chen and his colleagues suspect that testosterone may help explain the gender gap. Perhaps MAOA is suppressed by testosterone in men, but women enjoy the full beneficial effect of the gene because they have much smaller amounts of the hormone than men.

Genetics, or nature, is only part of the happiness puzzle. Chen acknowledges that the nurture side of the equation, including life experiences and other environmental factors, play a role in shaping individual happiness levels. But, he argues that understanding the genetic underpinnings of happiness is at least as important as studying the pathology of how mental disorders arise.

"I think the time is right for more genetic studies that focus on well-being and happiness," he says. "Maybe we’ll identify a specific happiness gene for men."

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