Emergenesis

In genetics , emergenesis describes the fact that the inheritance of some properties is not based on the sum of individual genes , but on their interaction (see emergence ). Emergenetic traits are not passed on as the required combination of genes is highly unlikely to occur again due to recombination in the germline .

Emergenesis can explain why, for some traits in twin studies, the concordance rate for dizygotic twins is below 50%, while it is close to 100% for identical twins.

Examples of emergenic properties are:

• Extraversion
• EEG alpha frequencies
• electrodermal habituation
• professional and intellectual interests and talents
• creativity

literature

• DT Lykken, M. McGue, A. Tellegen, TJ Bouchard: Emergenesis . In: American Psychologist 47, 1992, ISSN  0003-066X , pp. 1565-1577.
• Niels Birbaumer, Robert F. Schmidt: Biological Psychology . 6th completely revised and expanded edition. Springer, Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 3-540-25460-9 , chap. 23.4.2: Emergenesis, pp. 589-590.