I have spent my career investigating the genetic and environmental origins of psychological traits. Since I started TEDS in the early 1990s my focus has been on the role of nature and nurture on the development of cognition and behaviour in childhood and adolescence. I would like to thank all of the TEDS families for all of their hard work – we couldn’t do this revolutionary science without you. I look forward to working with the TEDS families for many years to come.

Why are children in the same family so different?

One key question for me over the past thirty years is why children who grow up in the same family and who share genes are so different from one another. Research such as TEDS has shown that for most traits the environments that matter are those that are personal to you – that is, they are not shared by members of the same family. It has been difficult to identify exactly which environmental experiences matter, but the crucial finding is that most environments work on an individual-by-individual basis rather than on a family-wide basis.

Plomin, R. (2010). Why are children in the same family so different? Nonshared environment two decades later. International Journal of Epidemiology.

You can find out more about my research on the King's College London website.

I am interested in what makes us all different. My research involves investigating the interplay between genes and environments in childhood and adolescence. I am particularly interested in understanding the origins of positive outcomes – success, wellbeing and human flourishing.

Genetic influences on IQ increase with age

Although common sense suggests that environmental influences would become more important with age as experiences accumulate across the life span, we found that the opposite was true for intelligence (IQ). In this paper we show that genetic influences on IQ increase from about 40% in young childhood to around 70% in adulthood. But why would genetic influences become more important with age? We suggest that the answer lies with gene–environment interplay: as children grow up, they increasingly select, modify and even create their own experiences in part based on their genetic propensities.

Haworth, C.M.A., Wright, M.J., Luciano, M., Martin, N.G., de Geus, E.J.C., van Beijsterveldt, C.E.M., Bartels, M., Posthuma, D., Boomsma, D.I., Davis, O.S.P., Kovas, Y., Corley, R.P., DeFries, J.C., Hewitt, J.K., Olson, R.K., Rhea, S.A., Wadsworth, S.J., Iacono, W.G., McGue, M., Thompson , L.A., Hart, S.A., Petrill, S.A., Lubinski, D., & Plomin, R. (2009). The heritability of general cognitive ability increases linearly from childhood to young adulthood. Molecular Psychiatry. Advanced online publication. doi:10.1038/mp.2009.55

You can find out more about my research on the King's College London website.

I am interested in how schools and families influence young people’s abilities, achievements and personalities. In my research I compare the experiences of TEDS’ identical twins with those of their identical brothers or sisters. Differences between genetically identical siblings can only be caused by experience, so using this method I hope to pin down some important environmental influences on human development. I have three children and I am expecting twins this autumn. Having worked on TEDS for ten years, I am very excited about learning more about twins in person!

Experiences at school influence academic performance

In a recent study we asked 60 pairs of identical twins to answer questions about school over the telephone every day for two weeks. The team found out that genetically identical twins, even those in the same classroom, experience school very differently from each other. Some of these differences in experience – particularly how much they enjoy school – can have an impact on how well they do academically.

Asbury, K., Almeida, D., Hibel, J., Harlaar, N. & Plomin, R. (2008). Clones in the classroom: A daily diary study of the nonshared environmental (NSE) relationship between MZ differences in school experience and MZ differences in school achievement. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 11, 586-595. doi:10.1375/twin.11.6.586

The human brain has an astonishing capacity for spotting patterns in visual scenes. If we can turn data into images, then sometimes fascinating scientific stories leap out at us. My research focuses on DNA variation that influences the development of our behaviour, intellect and mental health. However, each genetic difference has only a tiny effect, so I explore statistical and visualisation techniques that can help us to identify subtle patterns in the data.

I am particularly interested in how digital art can both inform the scientific representation of the multi-dimensional information in TEDS, and engage the public with genetic research. Using these new methods, I hope to discover how genes and environments act together to weave the rich tapestry of human behaviour from birth to old age.

The Art of Science

One of the main findings from TEDS has been that many of the different things we are interested in, such as reading, maths, language and problem solving, are influenced by a similar set of genes. We wondered how general the pattern was. To answer that question we needed to compare the genetic effects on all these things at the same time, and that meant putting together a three-dimensional model of how they are related at the genetic level.

After we'd built the model and turned it into an interactive image, we were able to use it to explore in detail the genetic architecture of learning abilities. It has given us a new perspective on how these things are related, and it's guiding our hunt for the DNA variation responsible.

Davis, O.S.P., & Plomin, R. (2010). Visualizing genetic similarity at the symptom level: The example of learning disabilities. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2-3), 155-157. doi:10.1017/S0140525X10000749

You can find out more about my research on the King's College London website.

From the results of studies carried out in twin samples like TEDS, we know that genes influence learning abilities. I work in the lab, searching for the specific genetic factors that effect mathematical ability. I have also become particularly interested in the ways that genes and the environment may have their effect on mathematical ability through epigenetic processes.

The first time anyone has looked for maths genes!

We assessed maths ability in TEDS using a combination of tests and reports from teachers. We compared people who were really good at maths to those who perform less well at 500,000 different points in their DNA. This comparison helped us select 46 regions for further testing. We found that 10 of these 46 regions were also associated with mathematics in a group of TEDS members of all levels of mathematical ability. We are currently analysing different samples to see if they produce similar results, and we are also investigating the mechanism by which these 10 genetic markers might influence mathematical ability.

Docherty, S.J., Davis, O.S.P., Kovas, Y., Meaburn, E.L., Dale, P.S., Petrill, S.A., Schalkwyk, L.C., & Plomin, R. (2010). A genome-wide association study identifies multiple loci associated with mathematics ability and disability. Genes, Brain and Behaviour, 9, 234-237. doi:10.1111/j.1601-183X.2009.00553.x

A full copy of the article is freely available here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2855870/

I have always been fascinated by why people react so differently when faced with a stressful situation. I believe that what we pay attention to, and how we think about and interpret the things that happen to us, have an enormous impact on how they make us feel. I am trying to find out the extent to which nature and nurture influence the development of both how we think and how we feel.

In the face of uncertainty

In the TEDS-ECHO study we looked at links between thoughts and feelings. We asked children to tell us what they thought about some different uncertain situations (such as hearing a noise in the night – is it a burglar or a cat?). Children who rated themselves as feeling sad or worried more often, were more likely to interpret unclear situations as being negative. This link was due to overlap in both the genes and the experiences that influence children’s thoughts and feelings.

Eley, T.C., Gregory, A.M., Lau, J.Y.F., McGuffin, P., Napolitano, M., Rijsdijk, F.V., & Clark, D.M. (2008). In the face of uncertainty: A genetic analysis of ambiguous information, anxiety and depression in children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 55-65. doi:10.1007/s10802-007-9159-7

You can find out more about my research on the King's College London website.

My research investigates how genes (nature) and environments (nurture) act together to influence young people’s abilities, personality and behaviours. In particular I am focusing on inattentive and hyperactive behaviours and what impact these behaviours have on performance in school. I am also interested in young people’s confidence in their abilities (i.e. how good they think they are at something) and why this is important for their academic success.

Academic self-confidence: 50% nurture and 50% nature

Many people think that an individual’s self-confidence is primarily due to nurture – the environment they grow up in. However, in TEDS we have shown that, contrary to previous belief, academic self-confidence has a clear genetic basis. TEDS members completed questionnaires about how good they think they are at school subjects. We found that these measures of academic self-confidence are around 50% due to genes and 50% due to environments. Interestingly, we found that some of genes that influence academic self-confidence also influence school performance.

Greven, C. U., Harlaar, N., Kovas, Y., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Plomin, R. (2009). More than just IQ: School achievement is predicted by self-perceived abilities – but for genetic rather than environmental reasons. Psychological Science, 20, 753-762. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02366.x

A full copy of this paper is available here: http://www.gold.ac.uk/media/premuzic-iq.pdf. You can find out more about my research on the King's College London website.

I am interested in the interplay between nature and nurture and how this might affect school achievement. Why for instance even identical twins can respond quite differently to the same environment, like being in the same classroom or having the same teacher. Why, under certain conditions, some children may not do so well, while others are unaffected. And why even measures of the environment may show genetic influence – the nature of nurture.

The nature (and nurture) of children’s perceptions of family chaos

To measure family ‘chaos’ we asked TEDS twins how noisy and disorganized they thought their home was. We found that identical twins were more similar in their experience of chaos than non-identical twins. This suggests that perception of family chaos is influenced by genetic factors. This shows that the environment is not just something that happens to us, but instead we play a role in selecting and shaping our environment, and our experience of it is influenced by our genes. This means we have to re-think how it is that ‘environments’ like the home environment, affect important outcomes like cognitive ability and school achievement.

Hanscombe, K. B., Haworth, C. M. A., Davis, O. S. P.. Jaffee, S. R. & Plomin, R. (2010). The nature (and nurture) of children’s perceptions of family chaos. Learning and Individual Differences. Advanced online publication. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2010.06.005

You can find out more about my research on the King's College London website.

My research focuses on language and literacy development. I am particularly interested in the genetic and environmental bases of language and reading difficulties. In TEDS we are studying diverse aspects of language and reading abilities from early childhood through adolescence.

Genetic influences on preschool language remain important for later reading ability

Using language and reading data from TEDS, we found that some aspects of young children's language - like vocabulary and grammar - are shaped more by environmental influences, while other parts of language - like speech accuracy - are affected more by genes. All these components of language form an important base for learning to read later on. In particular, the genes that are important for early speech continue to be important for reading skills all the way through primary school.

Hayiou-Thomas, M.E., Harlaar, N., Dale, P.S. & Plomin, R. (2010). Preschool speech, language skills, and reading at 7, 9 and 10 years: Etiology of the relationship. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 53, 311-332. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2009/07-0145)

You can find out more about my research on the University of York website.

The human brain is equipped with some basic machinery that allows us to understand number very early on. Small babies can discriminate between different quantities long before they have had any experience with exact numbers and maths. This intuition about approximate quantity is called "number sense". Despite this universal ability to comprehend numerical information, learning mathematics is different for different people. Why do some people develop a strong interest in this subject, comprehend mathematical concepts with ease, and learn mathematical skills to the highest proficiency level? Why do others dislike mathematics, are afraid of it, or struggle with understanding and applying mathematical concepts? With the help of TEDS twins, we are conducting a series of studies that will identify causes of variation in mathematics leading to new, exciting, and successful ways of learning and teaching maths.

Nature and nurture of learning abilities

In relation to learning, the nature-nurture controversy is over – it is clear that both genes and environments contribute to differences between people. Behavioural genetic research has moved on to ask questions about the mechanisms of genetic and environmental action. Do the same genes affect learning at different ages? Do different genes affect different aspects of learning? Which environments are involved at different ages? This paper describes our latest findings that address these and many other questions.

Kovas, Y., Haworth, C. M. A., Dale, P. S., & Plomin, R. (2007). The genetic and environmental origins of learning abilities and disabilities in the early school years. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 72, 1-144. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5834.2007.00453.x

The monograph is also available here. You can find out more about my research on the King's College London website.

I am interested in understanding how the information encoded in our genome influences behaviour and cognitive abilities. We each have a copy of the genome (a complete sequence of DNA) located in the nucleus of every cell in our body. We now know that although the main features of the human genome are similar across people, there are also important differences. My research seeks to identify and understand how these differences in genome sequence between people accounts for differences in cognitive abilities and behaviors between people.

This year is my 10th anniversary of working with TEDS, and I have enjoyed every second!

Reading (and) the genome

Behavioural genetic research has consistently demonstrated that normal variation in reading abilities is heavily influenced by genes - reading is about 70% heritable - and so the next logical step is to identify these genes. In this study, we scanned the DNA of several thousand TEDS children, which involved looking at nearly 100,000 DNA markers spread throughout the genome, and tested each marker to see whether it was associated with reading ability. The basic idea is this - if we find an association, then we can be confident that a gene that influences reading ability is close by!

Using this approach, we identified 10 specific regions of DNA that reliably explained differences in reading ability in the TEDS sample. What’s more, we found that the genetic influence on reading works across the entire range of abilities, not just in children who are particularly good, or particularly bad at reading. The next (much more difficult) step is to understand what is so special about these regions of DNA and how they work to influence reading ability.

Meaburn, E.L., Harlaar, N., Craig, I.W., Schalkwyk, L.C., & Plomin, R. (2008). Quantitative trait locus association scan of early reading disability and ability using pooled DNA and 100K SNP microarrays in a sample of 5760 children. Molecular Psychiatry, 13(7), 729-40. doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4002063

You can find out more about my research on the King's College London website.

I am interested in finding our more about how our early environments and experiences influence the people we become later in life. In TEDS, the focus for my work is on negative and positive aspects of behaviour throughout childhood and into adolescence, including the impact of communication, parenting, school environments, and friends on our behaviour.

Classroom environments relate to children's behaviour

What children say about their classroom environment and experiences - for example, their relationship with their teacher, the opportunities they have available, how accepted they feel - predict teacher reports of behaviour and adjustment. That is, children who view their classroom more positively show fewer behaviour and adjustment problems than do their genetically identical twin. These predictions are stronger for children living in more chaotic homes.

Oliver, B. R., Pike, A., & Plomin, R. (2008). Nonshared environmental influences on teacher-reported behaviour problems: Monozygotic twin differences in perceptions of the classroom. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 646-653. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01891.x

One in every 100 people has an autism spectrum condition. Research in TEDS has focused on what causes autism. We have found that different features in autism, such as problems with interacting with other people and repetitive behaviours, have different genetic causes.

A new approach to autism

In this paper we aimed to identify genes that influence whether children develop autism. The paper was novel because we tested our hypothesis that problems with social interaction and repetitive behaviours have different genetic causes. We did this using the DNA samples that the TEDS twins have given us. The study is now published in a leading genetics journal and is the first study of this kind to test this hypothesis.

Ronald, A., Butcher, L. M., Docherty, S. L., Davis, O.S.P., Schalkwyk, L.C., Craig, I. W., & Plomin, R. (2010). A genome-wide association study of social and non-social autistic-like traits in the general population using pooled DNA, 500K SNP microarrays and both community and diagnosed autism replication samples. Behavior Genetics, 40, 31-45. doi:10.1007/s10519-009-9308-6

A full copy of this paper is freely available here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2797846/. You can find out more about my research on the King's College London website.

I recently graduated in psychology from Birkbeck College, University of London, and have joined TEDS to study for a PhD. My research will focus on the genetic and environmental influences on feelings of anxiety in adolescence. Anxiety is part of normal behaviour and most people experience these feelings at some point in their lives. I would like to find out what drives these behaviours and how they affect school achievement.

It is clear that some children are caring and empathic from a very young age. Others find it harder to understand what makes their friends and family sad or happy. My research is focused on understanding the nature and nurture of empathy development and why some children develop so-called callous-unemotional traits. I am also interested in how callous-unemotional traits may increase the risk for developing behavioural problems.

Parenting is an environmental risk factor for behavioural problems, but not callous-unemotional traits

It is often assumed that negative parental discipline, such as harsh words or physical discipline, causes behavioural problems. We used the monozygotic twin differences method and information provided by TEDS parents and teachers to look at how parenting influenced development of behavioural problems and callous-unemotional traits over time. Because monozygotic twins are genetically identical, differences between them must be due to differences in their environment.

We found that the twin who received more negative parental discipline at age seven had more behavioural problems at age 12. Negative parental discipline at age seven, did not increase the level of callous-unemotional traits at 12, however. In other words, parenting style was not responsible for the development of these traits.

Viding, E., Fontaine, N.M.G., Oliver, B.R.,& Plomin, R. (2009). Negative parental discipline, conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits: A monozygotic twin differences study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 195, 414-419. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.108.061192.

You can find out more about my research on the King's College London website.