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Volume 13: Number 3: Article 1
Second Sight and Family History: Pedigree and Segregation Analyses
Shari A. Cohn, School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh,
27 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LD, United Kingdom
Little is known about the inheritance of mental and artistic talents.
However, given the growing body of evidence for genetic factors in cognitive
ability and complex behavior, investigation of this issue seems merited.
This study concerns second sight, a psychic ability that has
for centuries been believed, in Scotland and other traditions, to be
hereditary. The ability manifests itself through the person having spontaneous
vivid imagery through different senses which apparently gives information
about a spatially or temporally distant event. A total of 130 family
histories were constructed and examined using segregation analysis.
Second sight seems to be consistent with an autosomal dominant mode
of inheritance, particularly for small family sizes. People with the
trait were also evenly distributed with respect to their birth order
position, in line with the expectations of a genetic model. It is argued
that if other studies find a similar mode of inheritance in other cultures,
then second sight could be a creative mental ability where the hereditary
aspect lies in the sensitivity of the sensory systems which convey the
experiences.
Keywords: family studies, second sight, mental talent, segregation
analysis, genetics
FULL TEXT:
Second Sight and Family History: Pedigree and Segregation Analyses
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