From UCI
All those crazy, mad motorists on Southern California's roads freeways may have a new excuse for their god-awful driving: It's in their genes. Sort of. Researchers say they have found that a third or Americans have a gene variant that caused some 30 test subjects to fare 20% worse than others without it on a driving test, which was repeated a few days later with the same results. The gene variant limits the availability of a protein called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor, which keeps brain cells healthy and assists in communications among brain cells, thus supporting memory. Neuroscientists were investigating the factor's role in stroke patients, who, if they have the gene variant, recover less well than do those without it. By the way, there is not a commercially available test for the gene variant.
Gene variant found to affect key brain protein with links to driving performance
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