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Exploring Nature vs Nurture in Twins

Jan 25, 2025

Twin Study Sheds Light on Nature vs Nurture Debate

Overview

  • Recent study by UNSW and NeuRA explores how genetics and environment influence brain function.
  • Published in Human Brain Mapping by Dr. Haeme Park and A/Prof. Justine Gatt.
  • Used functional MRI (fMRI) scans on twins to investigate emotional and cognitive processing.

Key Findings

  • Emotional and cognitive tasks have complex influences from both genetics and the environment.
  • Some tasks are partly genetic, others are environment-based.
  • Shared genetic and environmental factors can affect different tasks.
    • Example: Same genetic factors may influence processing fear, happiness, and sustaining attention.

Importance of Twin Studies

  • Twin studies help separate genetic influence from environmental factors.
  • Essential to recruit both identical and non-identical twins.
    • Identical twins: 100% shared genetics.
    • Non-identical twins: 50% shared genetics.

Study Details

  • Part of the TWIN-E study.
  • Sample: 270 adult twins out of an original 1600.
  • Utilized fMRI to measure brain activity during tasks.
  • Tasks included:
    • Emotional: Reaction to facial expressions.
    • Cognitive: Sustaining attention and short-term memory.

Twin Modelling Results

  • Genetic and environmental influences analyzed using twin modeling.
  • Findings:
    • Genetics play a small to moderate role in some brain networks.
    • Environmental factors solely influence other networks.
    • Shared genetic factors identified in processing emotions and sustaining attention.
    • Shared environmental contributions in sustaining attention and working memory.

Implications for Mental Wellbeing and Resilience

  • Genetics and life experiences both crucial in brain function.
  • Study ongoing; reassessment after 10 years.
  • Potential for personalized interventions to enhance mental wellbeing.
  • TWIN-E study also examines mental wellbeing and resilience trajectories.
  • Important to identify controllable factors for mood and anxiety disorders.

Reference

  • Park HRP, Chilver MR, Quid Y, et al. Human Brain Mapping. 2024;45(1):e26557. doi: 10.1002/hbm.26557