Your mood may be more closely linked to your DNA than you think.

A new study has found that the same genes that make us prone to depression could also make us prone to positivity.

Psychologists in the UK and US say that the combination of tiny changes in our genes can make people more sensitive to their environment, which can change their mental outlook and affect their emotional wellbeing.

What's more, they believe the findings could lead to more personalised approaches for treating psychological conditions.

Researchers have found that the same genes that make us prone to depression could also make us prone to positivity (stock image)

SENSITIVE GENES Psychologists believe that a combination of a person's genetics makes them more sensitive to their environment, which can make them more emotionally affected by it. In the study, researchers describe how building profiles of genetic risk factors could be used to work out how a person's environment might affect them, based on their baseline genetic risk. A person with a greater number of risk these genetic factors would be more likely to be highly sensitive to the effect of their environment than someone with fewer risk factors. This information could be used to highlight who is more likely to develop a negative cognitive bias, which could lead them to depression. Advertisement

Professors Elaine Fox, from Oxford University, and Chris Beevers from the University of Texas at Austin reviewed a range of research looking at genetic influence and emotional states.

They found that, overall, genetic and environmental factors have a substantial impact on a person's emotional wellbeing.

Previous research has identified a number of genetic markers – often single letter differences in the DNA of a gene – which may be associated with someone being more or less at risk of developing a psychological condition.

But while these studies combine genetics and mental state, they typically only focus on a small number of genes and mental health conditions, explain the researchers.

The psychologists say there is a need to better combine studies in mental health genetics with a person's own mental filters, the default way of interpreting what's going on around them.

'Cognitive biases are when people consistently interpret situations though particular mental 'filters'–when people have a cognitive bias that emphasises negative aspects or thoughts, they are more at risk of mental health disorders,' explained Professor Beevers.

'There is a lot of research about these biases and a lot of research about genes that may make people susceptible to mental ill health.

'However, we suggest that it could make more sense to bring together these two areas of research.'

In their paper, published today in the journal Molecular Psychology, the pair describe how building larger profiles of genetic risk factors could be used to work out how a person's environment might affect them, based on their baseline genetic risk.

The researchers say there is a need to combine studies in mental health genetics with those that look at cognitive biases (stock image)

NATURE OR NURTURE? The debate over whether mental health conditions are more likely to be caused by genetics or environment has thrown up some contradictory findings. While researchers have singled out key genes as ‘happy genes’, it is clear that traumatic events and stressful environments can have an impact on mental health. One school of thought is that the two may be distinct, and that differentiating hardwired depression from that caused by environmental factors could lead to more precise treatments. But increasingly, a more holistic approach looks at the interaction between environmental factors and a person’s genetics, where certain risk factors giving an indication of how well they might be able to cope with stresses. Advertisement

For instance, a person with a greater number of risk these genetic factors would be more likely to be highly sensitive to the effect of their environment than someone with fewer risk factors.

This information could be used to highlight who is more likely to develop a negative cognitive bias, which could lead them to depression.

'If you take a gene that is linked to mental illness, and compare people who have the same genetic variant, it becomes clear that what happens to their mental health is based on their environment,' said Professor Fox.

'We suggest that while no gene 'causes' mental ill health, some genes can make people more sensitive to the effects of their environment - for better and for worse.

'If you have those genes and are in a negative environment, you are likely to develop the negative cognitive biases that lead to mental disorders.

'If you have those genes but are in a supportive environment, you are likely to develop positive cognitive biases that increase your mental resilience.'