Department of Human Genetics

Leonardo Background and Purpose

Purpose

In addition to the scientific goals outlined below, this partnership will create lasting benefits for the local Salt Lake community and beyond. In addition to furthering their scientific research, the principal investigators will be able to engage and excite the public about science and about their research in particular. By providing an authentic scientific experience to its visitors, The Leonardo and its partners from the scientific community will be able involve and invest visitors in the sciences.  Together The Leonardo and its partner researchers will contribute to creating an environment that embraces science and values public engagement.

The study will investigate the cognitive consequences of normal variation in neurotransmitter genes.  A reverse genetic approach will be used, to delineate neural phenotypes associated with a given genotype of interest. The researchers will test the hypothesis that common variants in nicotinic acetylcholine receptor genes and in enzymes that degrade the neurotransmitter dopamine may be good candidates for association with visual attention and multi-tasking phenotypes. 

Through this study, not only will the research subjects be able to explore their own personal abilities underlying cognitive tasks that play a role in daily life, but also it will help scientists determine how genetic variants may influence these activities. In short, this study will attempt to make connections between skills that the visitors themselves may see or even use themselves every day – such as the ability (or inability) to text and drive—and a group of genes which may be influence those skills.