Ariaal people: Difference between revisions

An article in the New York Times (Nov. 2, 2014) reports on research for which the evolution of the societal patterns of the Ariaal people into two subgroups (nomadic herders vs. settled growers) seems to provide a rather unusual intersection for the study of genetics and behavior. The researcher, Dan T. A. Eisenberg, a University of Washington anthropologist, is reported to be studying genetic variation of a [[Dopamine]] type 4 receptor (DRD4 7R) and finding correlated differences between the genetic variation and the chosen lifestyle of a given Ariaal subgroup. Eisenberg's research builds on a growing number of studies connecting the status of an individual's dopamine receptors and an [[ADHD]] diagnosis, and is presented in this article in the context of the [[Epidemiology of attention deficit hyperactive disorder|proliferation]] of ADHD diagnoses in Western society, as one key new body of research exploring whether ADHD is [[Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorderAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder#Controversies|more functional than is recognized]], a distinctive but functional (i.e., not pathological) phenomenon that has significant evolutionary roots in terms of having predisposed survival at a time when a hunter's instinct was aided by a certain restlessness. The research into the Ariaal subgroup differences seems to have suggestive implications supportive of a nonpathologizing view that what "ADHD" signifies is an individual's suitedness to a different kind of environment (and degree and type of activity) than the one the individual finds him/herself in.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/opinion/sunday/a-natural-fix-for-adhd.html?comments&_r=0#permid=13225329 |title = Opinion &#124; A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 31 October 2014|last1 = Friedman|first1 = Richard A.}}</ref><!-- ==Genetic evidence for origins==