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Does anyone have any answers to the questions in my previous post? If I am way off please tell me.

Thanks for the great reply, GDG. So is gene regulation actually responsible for everything we feel? Like if you are tired is that because of gene regulation? Now evolutionary psychology makes a lot more sense, it would make perfect sense that if you put rats in a novel environment their certain genes would up regulate or turn on so that they would be able to learn better. Is there any way to predict how something would effect gene regulation? Have you ever heard of people using evolutionary psychology to predict how gene regulation changes would happen with different experiences? Like for example cops are put in a situation where they need to be macho ect perhaps this causes gene regulation changes which turn on "alpha male" type genes, and perhaps this could explain the Stanford Prison Experiment. I would like to know exactly how prevalent gene regulation changes are. Is there any research where, for example, researchers would expose people to different types of situations and then measure the changes in gene expression. Like they expose them to a say gambling game, and then measure gene regulation, or force them to make a public speech and then measure gene regulation? If this was in the gene regulation article on Wikipedia then sorry for asking this, but I would really like to know how gene regulation changes could happen based on experiences or environment. It is easy to understand how it could work on a molecular level where one cell is signaling to the other, but when it comes to something where the cause of the gene regulation is an external stimulus, how would that work? Especially if that stimulus is complicated or subtle how would the brain be able to recognize that stimulus and then choose the right genes to regulate? I would assume that for example exposing a male to be around a attractive female probably causes gene regulation changes. But how?

I started reading about how genetics works at the cell level on the web, but I need someone to answer some questions I have: 1.Genes produce receptor proteins, which then bind to the neurotransmitter or other chemicals. What happens then? How does this then cause the neuron to either fire or not fire? A link to a Wikipedia article would be fine. 2.Genes have often have thousands of base pairs, so how come in genetics research they usually only have 2 variations of a gene? Could you point to some descriptions of how different variations of a gene produce different amounts of receptors at a molecular level? 3.Are genes each responsible for only one thing? If that is true then different alleles for a neuroreceptor gene would basically only control one thing, the quantity of neuroreceptors produced, right? So if, for example, a certain activity had been shown to up-regulate this gene, would that essentially have the same effect as switching this gene to an allele which produced a higher number of those receptors, or somewhere inbetween? 4.For example, lets say a gene exists for which there are two alleles A and B, A produces less receptors for neurotransmitter X, and B produces more, and is associated with a 5 point increase in IQ compared to A. Lets say a person has A. Lets also say that sleep deprivation has been shown to up-regulate production of the neurotransmitter X receptor proteins. Would this basically have the same effect as switching the allele to B? 5.If this is the case then all you need to do to change help certain diseases, and give yourself genetic advantages is to find a gene which has been shown to be associated with that area, and then find an activity or nutritional supplement which can affect the regulation. 6.How many practical things are there which have been shown to change regulation significantly? 7.I know that the BDNF gene can be up regulated very significantly by sleep deprivation, exercise, and antidepressant therapies. 8.How often does gene regulation change? Does it change constantly, and can you attribute most changes in your thinking patterns to a gene regulation change?