Dopamine receptor D4

Yeah.

You've got this potentially this dopamine DRD4 gene, which has been implicated as this kind of in relation to this high sensation seeking and potentially impulsive or at least exploratory and novel stimulus seeking behavior.

So you've got things like that in the mix.

And what's really interesting that you picked up on that, that you talked about there.

Yeah.

Doug, one of the other things you talk about in your book is that, um, there's this DRD4 variant of the-

Oh, yeah.

[laughs]

If you back to our color discussion, if you can learn the basics of color and pattern and then inch into the modifiers, it's going to help you understand genetics and heredity and how you might pair your birds.

And then, you know, as you keep growing and learning and getting better at it, then you might start to explore in the genetics that you can test for that we talked about, like the LDHA and the Cry1 and the DRD4 and see how you think you might be able to add that to your loft and to your birds and see if you can improve your performance and do your best to control all the variables that you can understand that you're not going to have all the answers, which is frustrating to know in, but then you just got to do the best you can to speculate and,

Exactly.

Use all the data that you have to point you in the direction you need to go.

And I accept some blame for titling my book The Explorer's Gene because it makes it sound like it's like you've either got it or you don't.

There is a gene, I talk about it in the book, it's related to the dopamine receptor, a dopamine receptor called DRD4, that is associated with exploratory behavior.

But that doesn't mean, as you said, it doesn't mean it determines exploratory behavior in the same way that we know that height is partly genetic, but there's thousands of genes that affect height.

And so we all have a mix of genes that can push our behavior in one direction or another.

So One of the

possibilities for this book that I considered was like,

yeah, I'll write about this gene and then eventually I'll go get tested and I'll find out whether I have this DRD4 gene.

And I thought about it and it's like, you know what? I don't even want to know.

Yes, the so-called novelty-seeking or risk gene.

The DRD4 gene codes for a specific dopamine receptor in the brain, right?

It does.

And the seven-repeat variant of this gene effectively blunts the receptor's sensitivity to dopamine.

So this one is on performance genetics.

So we're going to talk about things like LDHA, DRD4, CRY1.

And you're like, what the heck is all those things? I had the same questions.

We're going to find out.

And this is the first time I've ever learned about this as well.

So do yourself a favor, unless you want to come back and re-listen and take notes.

I would take some notes on this because the DRD4, right? when you get the test results back, it's going to be a series of C's and T's.

Well, what does it mean? Dr.