Nature vs Nurture: Learning From Twin Studies (Dr. Nancy Segal)

Get Real Health with Dr. Chana Davis

Learn about the roles of nature and nurture in shaping our lives, with Dr. Nancy Segal, a leading expert in twin studies. Nancy Segal, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fullerton and Director of the Twin Studies Center. She has authored over 250 scientific articles and six books on twins and twin development. She is also a twin herself. Dr. Segal chats with host Dr. Chana Davis (a geneticist, and mother of twins) about how twins are studied, and what we have learned about the roles of genes and environment on height, intelligence, personality and more. They also share personal reflections on how we can apply this knowledge to the way we live, parent, and think about ourselves. Dr. Segal also shares a preview of her latest book, entitled Deliberately Divided: Inside the Controversial Study of Twins and Triplets Adopted Apart. Resources

• Dr. Segal's website and books: https://www.drnancysegaltwins.org
• Dr. Segal's faculty profile at Cal State Fullerton
• International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki

Studies

• Meta-analysis of the heritability of human traits based on fifty years of twin studies (Polderman et al, 2015)
• Identical twins carry a persistent epigenetic signature of early genome programming (van Dongen et al, 2021)