Maths and Maps Make You Nervous? It Could Be in Your Genes

Summary: A new study reports our genes play a role in the anxiety some feel when faced with math or navigational problems.

Source: King’s College London.

Our genes play a significant role in how anxious we feel when faced with spatial and mathematical tasks, such as reading a map or solving a geometry problem, according to a new study by researchers from King’s College London.

Spatial skills are important in everyday life, from navigation to assembling flat-pack furniture, and have also been linked to success in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) professions. However, people differ considerably in these skills and researchers think it could be partly down to anxiety. Similarly, anxiety about maths is thought to impair achievement in the subject at school and deter people from using these skills in daily life.

Looking at the genetic and environmental factors underlying anxiety is a necessary first step in identifying specific genes which make some people more anxious than others. If genes and environments contributing to one form of anxiety, such as spatial anxiety, are different from those contributing to another form of anxiety, such as mathematics anxiety, this suggests they should be managed differently in order for interventions to be successful.

In the study, published today in Scientific Reports, researchers measured anxiety in a sample of more than 1,400 twin pairs aged 19 to 21 from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS).

The researchers identified several different forms of anxiety: general; mathematics; and for spatial anxiety: navigation and rotation/visualisation.

All forms of anxiety showed a substantial genetic component, with DNA explaining over a third of the differences between people. Non-shared environments were found to explain the rest of the differences between people in spatial anxiety, which are environments that twins raised in the same family do not share, such as different extra-curricular activities, teachers and friends. For instance, non-shared environments such as driving, cycling or playing computer games may be particularly relevant to spatial anxiety.

The study also showed that people who are anxious about navigation are not necessarily anxious about rotation/visualisation tasks, such as completing a complex jigsaw puzzle. The same was found for mathematics and general anxiety, showing that those who experience spatial anxiety do not necessarily tend to be generally anxious or experience anxiety towards other STEM-related activities such as mathematics.

Image shows a map.
The researchers identified several different forms of anxiety: general; mathematics; and for spatial anxiety: navigation and rotation/visualisation. NeuroscienceNews.com image is for illustrative purposes only.

The researchers also found a small but significant gender difference in their sample, with women showing higher levels of anxiety than men across all areas. The study authors say this could be due to women being more willing to disclose their feelings of anxiety, or anxiety caused by the stereotype that STEM subjects are ‘for men.’

Margherita Malanchini from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, said: ‘Our results have important implications for finding specific genes which contribute to differences in anxiety between people, as they suggest that some of the same genes contribute to anxiety in several areas, but that most of them are specific to each domain of anxiety.

‘Pinpointing specific genes for anxiety could help in identifying children who are most at risk from very early in their lives, and subsequently to intervene and prevent the development of anxiety in these different contexts. For example, for children at a greater genetic risk of mathematics anxiety, interventions aimed at enhancing motivation and providing positive feedback may help with reducing anxiety and increasing performance in this area.’

About this neuroscience research article

Source: Jack Stonebridge – King’s College London
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Full open access research for “The genetic and environmental aetiology of spatial, mathematics and general anxiety” by Margherita Malanchini, Kaili Rimfeld, Nicholas G. Shakeshaft, Maja Rodic, Kerry Schofield, Saskia Selzam, Philip S. Dale, Stephen A. Petrill & Yulia Kovas in Scientific Reports. Published online February 21 2017 doi:10.1038/srep42218

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]King’s College London “Maths and Maps Make You Nervous? It Could Be in Your Genes.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 21 February 2017.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/genetics-math-maps-6138/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]King’s College London (2017, February 21). Maths and Maps Make You Nervous? It Could Be in Your Genes. NeuroscienceNew. Retrieved February 21, 2017 from https://neurosciencenews.com/genetics-math-maps-6138/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]King’s College London “Maths and Maps Make You Nervous? It Could Be in Your Genes.” https://neurosciencenews.com/genetics-math-maps-6138/ (accessed February 21, 2017).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

The genetic and environmental aetiology of spatial, mathematics and general anxiety

Individuals differ in their level of general anxiety as well as in their level of anxiety towards specific activities, such as mathematics and spatial tasks. Both specific anxieties correlate moderately with general anxiety, but the aetiology of their association remains unexplored. Moreover, the factor structure of spatial anxiety is to date unknown. The present study investigated the factor structure of spatial anxiety, its aetiology, and the origins of its association with general and mathematics anxiety in a sample of 1,464 19-21-year-old twin pairs from the UK representative Twins Early Development Study. Participants reported their general, mathematics and spatial anxiety as part of an online battery of tests. We found that spatial anxiety is a multifactorial construct, including two components: navigation anxiety and rotation/visualization anxiety. All anxiety measures were moderately heritable (30% to 41%), and non-shared environmental factors explained the remaining variance. Multivariate genetic analysis showed that, although some genetic and environmental factors contributed to all anxiety measures, a substantial portion of genetic and non-shared environmental influences were specific to each anxiety construct. This suggests that anxiety is a multifactorial construct phenotypically and aetiologically, highlighting the importance of studying anxiety within specific contexts.

“The genetic and environmental aetiology of spatial, mathematics and general anxiety” by Margherita Malanchini, Kaili Rimfeld, Nicholas G. Shakeshaft, Maja Rodic, Kerry Schofield, Saskia Selzam, Philip S. Dale, Stephen A. Petrill & Yulia Kovas in Scientific Reports. Published online February 21 2017 doi:10.1038/srep42218

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