Keio Twin Research Center (KoTReC)

Center Director: Jukou Ando (Professor, Faculty of Letters)

Campus: Mita

With the rapid development of life sciences such as genomics, neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology, we have entered an era where these fields are expected to make significant contributions to understanding the developmental processes of human psychology and behavior, which have traditionally been approached mainly from a social science perspective. In light of this trend, our center conducts long-term longitudinal research, primarily based on a large sample of twins, to explore the interactive processes of heredity and environment on human psychological and behavioral development. We integrate theories and methodologies from behavioral genetics, psychopathology, developmental psychology, educational psychology, social psychology, molecular biology, neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology.

Twins, behavior, development, education, heredity, environment, society, culture, neuroscience, psychology, mental health

■ Implementation Details, Research Results, and Degree of Achievement for the Fiscal Year Project Plan

We continued to conduct developmental surveys of twin families during infancy and childhood through questionnaires, home visits, and on-campus visits. We also resumed video recording of natural life situations in the home. For our surveys of adolescents and adults, we established a research collaboration with the Tamagawa University Brain Science Institute for fMRI studies. In addition to our ongoing collaboration with the Kobe University Graduate School of Medical Sciences (Professor Tatsushi Toda), we also formed a new research partnership with the National Institute of Genetics (Project Associate Professor Atsushi Toyoda), with ethics applications for each collaboration being approved. We conducted supplementary questionnaire surveys on altruism, educational motivation, and twin awareness. We also administered a questionnaire survey on executive functions to adolescents. Furthermore, in a joint research project with the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University and the Kochi Prefectural Noichi Zoological Park, we conducted longitudinal observations of the social development of chimpanzee twins.

Based on the data accumulated to date, we analyzed longitudinal changes and stability over a 14-year period, clarifying the genetic influence of executive functions on the general factors of cognitive ability and personality. This has brought us one step closer to becoming a research center capable of implementing both new (behavioral neurogenomics) and old (classical twin study) methodologies.

Through our 14-year long-term longitudinal study, we were able to achieve results that provide a comprehensive overview of the entire developmental process—an outcome only possible through longitudinal research. Furthermore, in advancing our behavioral neurogenomics research, we have made progress in preparing for collaborative projects with the Tamagawa University Brain Science Institute and the National Institute of Genetics.