Genetically speaking, all brain cells are the same. Yet it has effects on the human body in many different ways; some direct our action, while others deal with such matters as thinking and language. It has now been found that a chemical provides this distribution of tasks in the human brain by turning genes on and off. It is thought that evaluations made on the results will facilitate the understanding of neurological and psychiatric processes.
It is more than genes that determine who people are. Identical twins may look and act differently because they have the same DNA. Although environmental factors support the formation of this phenomenon, the main factor is a factor called epigenetic phenomenon, which regulates the functioning of our genes without changing their structure. In the 1960s, researchers determined that, in addition to cytosine, a methyl group, which is known to be one of the 4 basic building blocks of DNA, can turn off genes. Since then, scientists have also learned that this process, which they call methylation, can activate genes, and they’ve also discovered its link to short-term memory patterns and cancer.
Studies were carried out on the cerebellum, the part of the brain responsible for movement, and the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for memory and language. As a result of the studies, it was concluded that there are different methylation patterns in different parts of the brain and that this differentiates the brain to perform different functions.
The researchers revealed that the evaluation of genes without considering epigenetics is a blind search. They added that by understanding the normal methylation process, one can understand what the problem is in autism, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Source : http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/1207/3 (Elizabeth Quill)
Content of Language as a Code
Y.N. ALTIN (a linguistics –Ankara- 2006)