OEDIPUS, SCHMOEDIPUS

By JAMES COLLINS

Finally, proof of what one has suspected all along: fear, dread, worry, pessimism, anxiety and other neurotic traits are all normal. It's the sanguine, confident people who are the weirdos.

According to an article published last week in Science, researchers have discovered two variations in a gene that affects the way brain cells respond to serotonin (serotonin, of course, is the superstar neurotransmitter targeted by Prozac and other antidepressants). The gene comes in a short and a long version, and the study found that the short promotes fewer of the molecules that facilitate serotonin reabsorption. The long promotes the creation of more such molecules. After giving personality tests to 505 individuals (who responded to such statements as "Frightening thoughts sometimes come into my head") and taking their blood for genetic analysis, the researchers found a significant correlation between the presence of the short gene and what Freud liked to call neurosis. They also found that about 70% of their subjects had the short gene.

Bound by their rigorous methodology, Lesch et al. (poor al.; such lousy billing for nine talented scientists) are careful not to extrapolate their findings to the general population. But what if 70% of Americans have the short gene and only 30% have the long? That's a huge majority of neurotics. If 70% of the voters had favored Clinton, they would have given him an unprecedented landslide; if 70% of the TV audience watched one show, it would be a historic hit; if 70% of football fans rooted for the New York Jets, they would be out of their mind.

True, the implications of the Science article should not be exaggerated. The authors figure the gene accounts for only 3% or 4% of the variation in neurosis among the population. They point out that according to twin studies, genetic factors may account for 40% to 60% of the variation in anxiety-related traits and estimate that 10 to 15 other genes may also be involved. And they do acknowledge, somewhat grudgingly it seems, that "variance in personality traits, including those related to anxiety, is thought to be generated by a complex interaction of environmental and experiential factors with a number of gene products..." You needn't let your parents off the hook entirely.

Nevertheless, based on the genetic analysis and three different personality tests given to their subjects, Lesch et al. assure us that a large majority possessed the short gene and that this gene had a significant association with neuroticism, tension, suspiciousness, worry and pessimism, and fear of uncertainty. Research has not yet been conducted on whether the short gene is also linked to irritability over badly subtitled foreign films.

It is possible that the prevalence of the anxiety-producing version of the gene is a result of natural selection. While hominids were evolving, a certain amount of fear and wariness was a good idea. Rather than being the norm, then, the people who are always cheery and who see the bright side and who say things like "keep your eye upon the doughnut and not upon the hole" are in fact carrying a maladaptive genetic flaw. So why haven't they died out yet?

--By James Collins