Originally published in Comfort Zone Newsletter: August 2011
Since the last newsletter, not one but two studies have come out that found certain genes significantly associated with high scores on the HSP Scale. One we knew about, but the other was a surprise. Up until now there was no direct evidence–no specific gene linked to scores on the test–that demonstrated that this trait is innate.
A Serotonin Transporter Gene and High Sensitivity
The first study was done in Denmark and so far has only been presented as a poster at a major conference. It found what the authors and ourselves had predicted, an association between sensitivity and the short allele of the serotonin transporter gene, which I will call the s-allele. “Allele” is another word for a gene’s variations, similar to the variation of left and right handedness. (There are actually three variations–you can have short-short, short-long, or long-long, and sometimes studies are of only of the short-short and sometimes of the short-long–this study only reported on the short-short.) The s-allele causes you to have less serotonin available and so it became linked with depression after the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRIs were found to help alleviate depression. But even though the link was found very inconsistently, for years having the s-allele was seen as nothing but a liability or vulnerability.
Recently that has changed, and I’m pretty sure that is because of the idea of high sensitivity and the obvious argument that too many people have this trait, and too many (about the same percentage even) have the s-allele, for these to exist in the gene pool without any advantages. Hence what we were saying, that the s-allele might be about sensitivity to good or bad environments rather than be about depression itself, began to make sense to others.
Studies of s-allele carriers* have pointed to certain clear benefits of this variation through its combining of emotional reactivity and depth of processing. For example, s-allele carriers in gambling-based decision-making tasks outperformed others because they were more “emotionally risk averse” when there was a low probability of winning, but were emotionally eager to take a risk when there was a high probability. (I’ve always said that we feel that we are not very competitive, another sort of risk, because we only compete when we are fairly sure we will win, and then it doesn’t feel like there was any competition.) Plus s-allele carriers took substantially longer to reflect before making difficult choices. They also performed better on a delayed pattern recognition task and a task requiring recognizing letters in mirrored versus normal form.
Rhesus monkeys also have an s-allele for a serotonin transporter gene and carriers of this allele evidence similar “broadly superior performance,” on a variety of decision-making tasks. (If you click through to the article, skip to the Results or Discussion sections.)
Ten Dopamine Genes and High Sensitivity
The second new genetic study used a very different method, one of looking at essentially all the genes with alleles that affect the dopamine system. Dopamine is the other major neurotransmitter, besides serotonin. I’m not sure why they chose to study it, except that these genes are equally related to the “For Better and for Worse” effect of being responsive to the environment–that is, doing better than others in good conditions and worse than others in bad. The authors explain at the outset of the study that instead of using a familiar trait, such as introversion-extraversion or neuroticism (two of the favorites these days), they chose a trait that they think is “deeply rooted in the nervous system (the Highly Sensitive Personality, HSP).”
Hooray for their insight–and that it worked for them. They found a very surprising number of dopamine alleles associated with the trait. In all, a set of 10 genes predicted a medium to high chance of being highly sensitive. Genetic studies of most personality traits have not found anything close to that, suggesting that sensitivity comes much closer to being a trait that is actually inherited, not just the result of genes interacting with something else. At the moment, the role of these particular dopamine genes is not very well understood, and especially not by me! So I have to study it further.
What Does this Mean for You?
Together these studies provide very direct evidence that sensitivity, or something close to it, is inherited. (I’ll explain “something close to it” below.) First, this is the best answer to those who think we can just get over it. We can’t. “It’s innate.” Second, this innate thing is not basically something we should want to get over. “And besides, it has its many advantages.”
There’s your answer to them. “It’s innate and it has advantages.” What people want for us to get over are the disadvantages, but we can’t and don’t need to and shouldn’t want to or be asked to stop being highly sensitive. Now, reread this paragraph until you can say it, when appropriate, to your critics. (You could even print the studies and hand them out! Except most people would not understand them.)
“Something Close to It”
We cannot know for sure that it is exactly “sensitivity” that is being created genetically. Most personality traits and “styles of behaving” are inherited in some way. In fact, many specific acts are “heritable.” Divorce is heritable, and so is wearing skirts. But that does not mean that there is a Skirt Gene or a Divorce Gene–that is, it does not mean that there is a gene that ought to have that label on it. Genes determining gender, not a Skirt Gene, increase the chances that we will wear skirts.
Commonly studied, heritable personality traits such as Positive Emotionality, Negative Emotionality, and Constraint explained some of the rate of divorce.* That finding takes us a step closer to finding the genetic cause of divorce, in that it has something to do with inherited personality traits, but again, the relationship of the most commonly studied personality traits to any known genetic variation has been low. For example, Negative Emotionality or Neuroticism is highly heritable, yet it has been difficult to identify a gene consistently associated with it. The same is true of extraversion and many other well-known traits.
Again, it seems that sensitivity is proving to be better associated with genes governing personality differences than most other personality traits have. (Sensation seeking is an exception, by the way, and it is another trait that HSPs can inherit.)
However, there are hundreds of genes affecting personality, so there won’t be one sensitivity gene, and the different gene combinations are going to make for different “flavors” of sensitivity. To make matters even more complicated, these genes all interact with each other and the environment: In this study of the genes associated with HS, some of the likelihood of scoring high on the HSP Scale seemed to be determined, at least statistically, by stressful life events at the time of taking the test.
Further, as other researchers catch on to the general idea, they may have other names for the trait, emphasizing certain aspects of sensitivity and wanting to name it for that “something else close to it.” They are already picking apart the HSP Scale (the “self-test”), saying it measures two or three different things, and that might be true in some way. That’s part of the scientific process. The point is that it could turn out that what we call sensitivity could be slightly more accurately called something else. But whatever it is precisely termed in the end, it isn’t a vulnerability to any disorder and it cannot be reduced to any of the already well known traits such as introversion. Sometimes I wish I had started out with “highly responsive,” although I’m not sure it would have made matters clearer, and many fewer people would have recognized themselves in the title The Highly Responsive Person!
This is a scientific journey of exploration and we will have to be patient and go with the flow. But it is something more than science for us. It is our identity now. Fortunately, there is so much variation in the trait’s genetics that if a study says most HSPs have this or that gene or behavior but you do not, you don’t have to worry that you are not really an HSP. You score high on the “self-test,” and that self-test is a pretty close fit with known variations in both the dopamine and serotonin systems. That is, your whatever-it-is-but-sensitivity-for-now innate trait, in whatever quirky way it operates, is real.
* Links with asterisks are articles that you’ll either need to purchase to read, or your local library may be able to get it for you.
My family is living proof that being highly sensitive is inherited. My youngest daughter that has a rare syndrome of one in a thousand in world feels someone’s energy before they have even walked around the corner. She dails into thier frequencies the most. I feel that she must have a heavy loading of the HS genes spoken of as a way of making up for other deficents. Reading articles and information on Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria has helpd to give a clear explanation of her to a T. My oldest daughter has always been highly sensitive. She currently works in a dementia unit and is amazing at what she does. She can feel and understand their energy so clearly. My sister growing up could feel past energy, present energy and would almost take on physically energy around her to the point it could make her ill. Similarly myself, my four children and my six granchildren are extremely sensitive.
I am actually writing this laying here with Shingles. I’ve had a very stressful last 4 to 6 weeks. I am gaining understanding and realizing just how sensitive I too am. Looking back, I’ve always been able to smell things that most people did not. Walking in the store today, my granddaughter was able to smell a candle two shelves down that smelled like coffee as we were wisking past. I have another grandchild that can feel almost every kind of textile piece of clothing and has such a high sensitivity to things touching her skin. This list could go on and on. I understand myself more and more through my grandchildren.
The more I read and the more I learn, the more I realize, that we really do not use a large portion of our brains. Why is this so hard to understand that there are a percentage of people from the beginning of time who have been feared and even killed for what they seemed to understand, feel and or knew. Maybe the depression is because the world keeps telling us something is wrong when really everything is right.
My father grew up in Al Capone’s Neighborhood. His mother was in and out of a mental health institutions his whole life. He truly was my best friend. He had an extremely hard childhood but prior to his suicide in his early 50s, he had become a doctor and had four degrees. My grandson is so much like his great-grandfather. Visiting my grandson when the last two candidates were on the ballot, he was so upset that our country came down to these last two morally inept individuals to the point he was losing sleep. He was only eight years old at the time. He understands the three judicial branches and what their role is. He knows the birth order of all the presidents , what their political party was and what they died of. He currently is engrossed in anatomy and physiology. He has one of the most sensitive softests spirits I’ve ever met even though he is bullied at school.
Take a look at your family, take a look and don’t be ashamed. Talk to each other about it ALL! I’m sure your family like mine has challenging Mental Health pieces but embrace ALL of it and never be your own stigma while living in the middle of it.
As for my family, I would not trade the high portion of us with dyslexia and or learning disibilities nor the anxieties nor the sixth senses so many of us have. We will forever embrace the mid-night snow angles because this could be the last snow of the season. My greatest joy is watching my daughters parent with that same magical lense to life. There is God’s silver lining in every circumstance.
In conclusion, I often wonder if genetic testing were done on our family how much we could help ourselves and many others as well. More research across the board truly does need to be done and through gaining deeper insight and really opening our minds to eachother, we could help our country/ world as a whole. The harsh skeptical stigma is needing to come to an end! As for my family that is living proof that HSP genes are inherited viva la mid-night snow angels and we will not be turning down the frequencies we are dialed into nor be just getting over it.
Thanks this is so true. My family is sebsitive too.
Thank you for sharing your story, I enjoyed reading it just as much as the main article, maybe even more 🙂
It’s so wonderful that you are surrounded by family who all share these amazing traits, gifts as we know they are and that you are there to recognise and guide them with your knowledge, wisdom and experience. What a truly amazing family, I would have loved to have been raised in such an environment.
Thank you so much, Lucia. Your words and wisdom have brought me to tears. I am 33 years old, now trained as a therapist, and continually trying to better understand and heal my own childhood wounding. I did not have parents or grandparents to help me understand and appreciate my sensitivity like you do with your children and grandchildren. This is truly a gift, that I now feel I got to receive some of too. Thank you <3
THANK YOU VERY MUCH to Doctor Elain Aron and to all the people working to improve the knowledge about this trait that I recently got to know. I feel very identified with the trait and discovering it has really changed the way I perceive the world and myself. I have a question related to the dopamine genes.
I’ve read on other websites and know it first hand, that it’s not uncommon for some HSP to suffer twitching. However, after doing some research, I’ve found contradictory information. This is why: apparently, low levels of dopamine could cause a late response in the decision-making process, and be related to quiet people with high creativity, what is common in HSP. Conversely, high levels of dopamine could cause disorders or syndromes such as Tourette, related to… low levels of creativity? Isn’t it contradictory? Please note that I am not a psychologist neither a doctor and that my research has no medical purposes at all. However, I am very interested on understanding it for several reasons, and I find three possible reasons for my concern: (i) as this website mentions, the relationship between dopamine and HSP is not fully clear yet; (ii) it is clear but I don’t understand a word; (iii) it’s been misunderstood by many blogs and websites causing great confusion.
Whichever the answer is, I would appreciate very much a reliable, honest response. Thank you very much in advance for your support.
Thank you for bringing this up, as I wonder the same thing. Being someone who grew up highly sensitive, and also having Tourette’s, I have to wonder what connection there is, if any. I consider myself to be a very creative person, and would say the same of other people I’ve known with the same HS/TS combo, but I would love to know more about how Dopamine connects to it all.
I seem to be an HSP, though I only scored 14 on the self-test. I am hyper-sensitive to caffeine, though I never was as a child. Stress does very bad things to me in terms of sleep deprivation and physical symptoms such as weight loss and possibly even a posterior vitreous detachment. If I speak about something even slightly emotional I tend to choke up. I have trouble speaking in front of groups. I feel the pain of others in an overwhelming and personal way. I cry in Disney movies. The animated ones. And pretty much every episode of “This is Us.” Good music can easily take me to heights of exhilaration. The sensitivity seems to be getting more extreme with age. I am now 60. I walked away from a high paying job when I was 55 and haven’t really looked back. My concern now is that I have a number of issues with physical pain that seem like they might be related: back pain, neck pain, and leg cramps. I had frozen shoulder a few years ago and now have tennis elbow. I don’t have anything wrong with my skeletal system except a little scoliosis – no slipped disks or anything like that. All of the painful things have to do with muscle spasms or strained tendons. Any time I get a massage I’m told I am ridiculously “tight” even when I think I’m relaxing. It’s a tough way to live. So the main thing I’m wondering is if there’s been any link between being highly sensitive and muscle spasm issues, but I’m also open to any input or advice anyone may have.
Hi Scott,
I’m responding as a non-professional but with an academic background in psychology and I also strongly identify as an HSP. By my understanding this trait would lead us to have more psychosomatic issues, so I’m wondering if you have any repressed trauma or other emotion that is not able to come to the surface for whatever reason.
I don’t know how you see “body work” but something like yoga would be an excellent way to release that tension and be present with whatever you’re feeling. The effects of regular yoga last for hours and days and can be life-changing. Also, I would think since males in our society are expected to show an unmoved exterior that emotional responses might be repressed and become tension.
As an HSP, I also find myself tensed up in situations when there’s no reason for it, perhaps we feel a need to have a guard up against energies circulating in the environments we’re in? Sadly, as an older person also, I’ve learned people aren’t as good as we would assume there are and being on guard is actually needed.
Take care and I hope you find a way to relaxation and less pain.
Also as comments above me suggested Yoga, that may work for you, in my case I have hyperflexibility and yoga would make the symptoms I share with you worse.
The only thing that alleviates them is increased strength.
I’m HSP and am highly flexible. Do you also have EDS? Maybe a commobility
It is probably more a symptom of deteriorated muscles from a low protein diet and low myonuclei count than it is HSP.
I would think it prudent to increase protein and aim to improve strength weekly with Overheadpress, Deadlift, Squat, Bench press while seeing a musculoskeletal specialist than it would to overanalyse HSP symptoms hoping for a connection.
Goodluck, I might be HSP as well about 23 of the questions with varying strength of answer.
For what it is worth as a HSP I tend to live in my head /emotions but over the years I have increased attempts to find answers (since no one in my family is the same). To address the physical side – meditation does not work for me so I turn to normal science of diet and nutrition to help. I found that magnesium (a relaxant per se) and calcium (needed to restore the milen sheath of the nervous system) are required together in ratio to assist relaxation when tension and anxiety arise.
Also for emotions I explore the difference of emotion vs feelings and look for causes and patterns of behaviour in myself. I have needed sometimes external/professional help, so I seek it out but I make sure they understand HSP concepts and are a good fit for me because not all mental/cognitive tools work for everyone and it is useless giving people money when it is clear your needs are not going to be understood, let alone not going to be met.
Each journey is unique.
Keep searching.
I believe, there must be some genetic intersection between traits related to sensitivity and how they may combine with other traits, along with environmental conditions to influence behavior. Does anyone know of any research, or can think how sensitivity traits are displayed in behavior within families?
It could be that members of families that may display HSP traits or behaviors. Theses traits may be combined with other types of identifiable personality traits which could account for different behaviors among siblings raised together. Would anyone like to share any thoughts?