Maths and maps make you nervous’ It could be in your genes

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).