Elvis music helps U. of U. researchers make genetic breakthrough

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With a little help from Elvis, a University of Utah researcher is finding a link between genetics and the body's regulation of emotional hormones.

The study, led by U. of U. professor Julie Korenberg, is the first to find new genes that control emotional response, according to an article posted on Public News Service. The breakthrough might lead to better treatments of several disorders.

"Social issues and behavior anxiety, autism, depression - these are among the most important things that we as a society need to understand and help," Korenberg said in a statement.

In the study, music by Elvis Presley and other musicians was played to gauge emotional hormone levels in people with Williams syndrome (a genetic disorder) and people without it.

The study is published in the online scientific journal PLoS ONE.