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Environment shapes emotional cognitive abilities more than genes

Environmental factors may have a more significant impact on certain cognitive abilities than genetics.

Findings indicated that twins with parents who had higher education and income levels displayed similar metacognitive abilities, pointing to the influence of shared family environments over genetics. Credit: Neuroscience News“Past research has suggested that general intelligence—often referred to as intelligence quotient or IQ—has a heritability ranging from 50% to 80%,” says senior and corresponding author Xiaohong Wan of Beijing Normal University in China. They plan to continue their research in this area, including using population studies to further investigate what kind of specific parental nurturing factors and sociocultural values affect individuals’ metacognitive and mentalizing abilities.

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