Hi, I'm a university professor and neuroscientist, also creating documentaries, e-books, and other digital content on neuroscience, evolution, biological psychology, and psychiatry.
... The third emotion task evaluated the child's ability to distinguish between apparent and... more ... The third emotion task evaluated the child's ability to distinguish between apparent and real emotion. This last task was adapted from Friend and Davis (1993), and from Harris, Donnelly, Guz, and Pitt-Watson (1986). ... Harris, PL, Donnelly, K., Guz, GR, & Pitt-Watson, R. (1986). ...
ABSTRACT. Objectives. Physical aggression in chil-dren is a major public health problem. Not only... more ABSTRACT. Objectives. Physical aggression in chil-dren is a major public health problem. Not only is child-hood physical aggression a precursor of the physical and mental health problems that will be visited on victims, but also aggressive children themselves are at higher risk of alcohol and drug abuse, accidents, violent crimes, de-pression, suicide attempts, spouse abuse, and neglectful and abusive parenting. Furthermore, violence commonly results in serious injuries to the perpetrators themselves. Although it is unusual for young children to harm seri-ously the targets of their physical aggression, studies of physical aggression during infancy indicate that by 17 months of age, the large majority of children are physi-cally aggressive toward siblings, peers, and adults. This study aimed, first, to identify the trajectories of physical
The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is located on th... more The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is located on the World Wide Web at:
Résumé Succès social et succès reproductif dans les sociétés modernes : une analyse sociobiologiq... more Résumé Succès social et succès reproductif dans les sociétés modernes : une analyse sociobiologique Dans cet article, nous présentons…
In most social species, position in the male social hierarchy and reproductive success are positi... more In most social species, position in the male social hierarchy and reproductive success are positively correlated; in humans, however, this relationship is less clear, with studies of traditional societies yielding mixed results. In the most economically advanced human populations, the adaptiveness of status vanishes altogether; social status and fertility are uncorrelated. These findings have been interpreted to suggest that evolutionary principles may not be appropriate for the explanation of human behavior, especially in modern environments. The present study tests the adaptiveness of social status with actual mating and reproductive data in a representative sample of males from an industrial society. Reproductive success, even when assessed by a more reliable measure of actual male fertility than the one commonly used, fails to correlate with social status. In striking contrast, however, status is found to be highly correlated with potential fertility, as estimated from copulatio...
Résumé RÉSUMÉ/ ABSTRACT Anthropologie et Sociobiologie : Les fondements d'une possible intégr... more Résumé RÉSUMÉ/ ABSTRACT Anthropologie et Sociobiologie : Les fondements d'une possible intégration Dans cet article, nous comparons les épistémologies respectives de la sociobiologie et de l'anthropologie afin de situer leurs points d'articulation et d'établir les fondements de leur éventuelle intégration. Ces deux perspectives nous paraissent se rejoindre en ce…
Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 2005
The Longitudinal Study of Child Development in Quebec (LSCDQ) is a community study of children th... more The Longitudinal Study of Child Development in Quebec (LSCDQ) is a community study of children that examines the risk factors, such as parental depression, linked to childhood psychopathology and maladaptive functioning. Our goal was to test the construct validity of an instrument to assess major depression in the parents. Parents of a representative sample of 2120 infants born in the province of Quebec in 1998 were selected. The major depression instrument was administered to the parents when the infants were aged 29 months. We tested the construct validity of the instrument by examining 1) sex differences in symptoms and prevalence, 2) the rank order of the prevalence of symptoms, 3) the clustering of symptoms, and 4) the association of depression with functional impairment and treatment-seeking behaviour. Depression was twice as common in mothers as in fathers. Most mothers and fathers who reported ever being depressed for 2 or more weeks had also experienced at least 4 additiona...
We used magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained in same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins (n =... more We used magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained in same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins (n = 119, 8 years of age) to study possible effects of prenatal androgens on craniofacial features. Using a principal component analysis of 19 craniofacial landmarks placed on the MR images, we identified a principal component capturing craniofacial features that distinguished females with a presumed differential exposure to prenatal androgens by virtue of having a male (vs. a female) co-twin (Cohen's d = 0.76). Subsequently, we tested the possibility that this craniofacial "signature" of prenatal exposure to androgens predicts brain size, a known sexually dimorphic trait. In an independent sample of female adolescents (singletons; n = 462), we found that the facial signature predicts up to 8 % of variance in brain size. These findings are consistent with the organizational effects of androgens on brain development and suggest that the facial signature derived in this study could complement other indirect measures of prenatal exposure to androgens.
Genetic and environmental contributions to body size from birth to 5 years in a population-based ... more Genetic and environmental contributions to body size from birth to 5 years in a population-based twin cohort were studied. Sex differences in gene–environment etiology were also explored. Analyses used data from the Quebec Newborn Twin Study (QNTS), a population-based birth cohort of 672 twin pairs. The final sample consisted of 177 complete twin pairs. Heritability of weight was moderate at birth while common environmental factors accounted for almost half of the variance. Influence of family environment disappeared by 5 months and genetic effects were high (approximately 90%) for both sexes at 5 months and 5 years. Adjustment of weight for height yielded similar results as for weight alone. Slight but significant sex-limitation of genetic effects was observed at 5 months. Overall, genetic factors accounted for 40% of birthweight variance, with intrauterine environment influences explaining almost half. However, genetic factors accounted for most of the variance in weight. These re...
The Quebec Newborn Twin Study (QNTS) is an ongoing prospective longitudinal follow-up of a birth ... more The Quebec Newborn Twin Study (QNTS) is an ongoing prospective longitudinal follow-up of a birth cohort of twins born between 1995 and 1998 in the greater Montreal area, Québec, Canada. The goal of QNTS is to document individual differences in the cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional aspects of developmental health across childhood, their early bio-social determinants, as well as their putative role in later social-emotional adjustment, school and health outcomes. A total of 662 families of twins were initially assessed when the twins were aged 6 months. These twins and their family were then followed regularly. QNTS has 14 waves of data collected or planned, including 5 in preschool. Over the past 15 years, a broad range of physiological, cognitive, behavioral, school, and health phenotypes were documented longitudinally through multi-informant and multi-method measurements. QNTS also entails extended and detailed multi-level assessments of proximal (e.g., parenting behavior...
... The third emotion task evaluated the child's ability to distinguish between apparent and... more ... The third emotion task evaluated the child's ability to distinguish between apparent and real emotion. This last task was adapted from Friend and Davis (1993), and from Harris, Donnelly, Guz, and Pitt-Watson (1986). ... Harris, PL, Donnelly, K., Guz, GR, & Pitt-Watson, R. (1986). ...
ABSTRACT. Objectives. Physical aggression in chil-dren is a major public health problem. Not only... more ABSTRACT. Objectives. Physical aggression in chil-dren is a major public health problem. Not only is child-hood physical aggression a precursor of the physical and mental health problems that will be visited on victims, but also aggressive children themselves are at higher risk of alcohol and drug abuse, accidents, violent crimes, de-pression, suicide attempts, spouse abuse, and neglectful and abusive parenting. Furthermore, violence commonly results in serious injuries to the perpetrators themselves. Although it is unusual for young children to harm seri-ously the targets of their physical aggression, studies of physical aggression during infancy indicate that by 17 months of age, the large majority of children are physi-cally aggressive toward siblings, peers, and adults. This study aimed, first, to identify the trajectories of physical
The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is located on th... more The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is located on the World Wide Web at:
Résumé Succès social et succès reproductif dans les sociétés modernes : une analyse sociobiologiq... more Résumé Succès social et succès reproductif dans les sociétés modernes : une analyse sociobiologique Dans cet article, nous présentons…
In most social species, position in the male social hierarchy and reproductive success are positi... more In most social species, position in the male social hierarchy and reproductive success are positively correlated; in humans, however, this relationship is less clear, with studies of traditional societies yielding mixed results. In the most economically advanced human populations, the adaptiveness of status vanishes altogether; social status and fertility are uncorrelated. These findings have been interpreted to suggest that evolutionary principles may not be appropriate for the explanation of human behavior, especially in modern environments. The present study tests the adaptiveness of social status with actual mating and reproductive data in a representative sample of males from an industrial society. Reproductive success, even when assessed by a more reliable measure of actual male fertility than the one commonly used, fails to correlate with social status. In striking contrast, however, status is found to be highly correlated with potential fertility, as estimated from copulatio...
Résumé RÉSUMÉ/ ABSTRACT Anthropologie et Sociobiologie : Les fondements d'une possible intégr... more Résumé RÉSUMÉ/ ABSTRACT Anthropologie et Sociobiologie : Les fondements d'une possible intégration Dans cet article, nous comparons les épistémologies respectives de la sociobiologie et de l'anthropologie afin de situer leurs points d'articulation et d'établir les fondements de leur éventuelle intégration. Ces deux perspectives nous paraissent se rejoindre en ce…
Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 2005
The Longitudinal Study of Child Development in Quebec (LSCDQ) is a community study of children th... more The Longitudinal Study of Child Development in Quebec (LSCDQ) is a community study of children that examines the risk factors, such as parental depression, linked to childhood psychopathology and maladaptive functioning. Our goal was to test the construct validity of an instrument to assess major depression in the parents. Parents of a representative sample of 2120 infants born in the province of Quebec in 1998 were selected. The major depression instrument was administered to the parents when the infants were aged 29 months. We tested the construct validity of the instrument by examining 1) sex differences in symptoms and prevalence, 2) the rank order of the prevalence of symptoms, 3) the clustering of symptoms, and 4) the association of depression with functional impairment and treatment-seeking behaviour. Depression was twice as common in mothers as in fathers. Most mothers and fathers who reported ever being depressed for 2 or more weeks had also experienced at least 4 additiona...
We used magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained in same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins (n =... more We used magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained in same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins (n = 119, 8 years of age) to study possible effects of prenatal androgens on craniofacial features. Using a principal component analysis of 19 craniofacial landmarks placed on the MR images, we identified a principal component capturing craniofacial features that distinguished females with a presumed differential exposure to prenatal androgens by virtue of having a male (vs. a female) co-twin (Cohen's d = 0.76). Subsequently, we tested the possibility that this craniofacial "signature" of prenatal exposure to androgens predicts brain size, a known sexually dimorphic trait. In an independent sample of female adolescents (singletons; n = 462), we found that the facial signature predicts up to 8 % of variance in brain size. These findings are consistent with the organizational effects of androgens on brain development and suggest that the facial signature derived in this study could complement other indirect measures of prenatal exposure to androgens.
Genetic and environmental contributions to body size from birth to 5 years in a population-based ... more Genetic and environmental contributions to body size from birth to 5 years in a population-based twin cohort were studied. Sex differences in gene–environment etiology were also explored. Analyses used data from the Quebec Newborn Twin Study (QNTS), a population-based birth cohort of 672 twin pairs. The final sample consisted of 177 complete twin pairs. Heritability of weight was moderate at birth while common environmental factors accounted for almost half of the variance. Influence of family environment disappeared by 5 months and genetic effects were high (approximately 90%) for both sexes at 5 months and 5 years. Adjustment of weight for height yielded similar results as for weight alone. Slight but significant sex-limitation of genetic effects was observed at 5 months. Overall, genetic factors accounted for 40% of birthweight variance, with intrauterine environment influences explaining almost half. However, genetic factors accounted for most of the variance in weight. These re...
The Quebec Newborn Twin Study (QNTS) is an ongoing prospective longitudinal follow-up of a birth ... more The Quebec Newborn Twin Study (QNTS) is an ongoing prospective longitudinal follow-up of a birth cohort of twins born between 1995 and 1998 in the greater Montreal area, Québec, Canada. The goal of QNTS is to document individual differences in the cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional aspects of developmental health across childhood, their early bio-social determinants, as well as their putative role in later social-emotional adjustment, school and health outcomes. A total of 662 families of twins were initially assessed when the twins were aged 6 months. These twins and their family were then followed regularly. QNTS has 14 waves of data collected or planned, including 5 in preschool. Over the past 15 years, a broad range of physiological, cognitive, behavioral, school, and health phenotypes were documented longitudinally through multi-informant and multi-method measurements. QNTS also entails extended and detailed multi-level assessments of proximal (e.g., parenting behavior...
Uploads
Papers by Daniel Pérusse