High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In genetics, anticipation is a phenomenon whereby the symptoms of a genetic disorder become apparent at an earlier age as it is passed on to the next generation. In most cases, an increase of severity of symptoms is also noted. Anticipation is common in trinucleotide repeat disorders such as Huntington's disease and myotonic dystrophy where a dynamic mutation in DNA occurs. All of these diseases have neurological symptoms. Prior to the understanding of the genetic mechanism for anticipation, it was debated whether anticipation was a true biological phenomenon or whether the earlier age of diagnosis was related to heightened awareness of disease symptoms within a family. Trinucleotide repeats are apparent in a number of loci in the human genome. They have been found in introns, exons and 5' or 3' UTR's. They consist of a pattern of three nucleotides which is repeated a number of times.