Subscribe now

Do you remember life’s highs and lows? If not, perhaps you can blame your genes. It looks as if a gene that influences how brains respond to neurotransmitters may affect our ability to recall emotional events.

Such incidents trigger the release of noradrenalin, which stimulates memory storage, says Dominique de Quervain at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Since the ability to recall emotional events varies from person to person, he wondered if a variant of ADRA2B, the gene that codes for the noradrenalin receptor, could be involved.

To find out, his team selected photos of various events, some unlikely…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, subscribe today with our introductory offers

Popular articles

Trending New Scientist articles

Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop