@laurawesseldijk.bsky.social
Kicking off BGA 2026 in an unexpectedly warm Amsterdam! Looking forward to three days of amazing science with fantastic people in our lovely city ❌❌❌
Behavior Genetics Association@behaviorgenetic.bsky.social · last mo.The local hosts are doing some last prep before welcoming all of you at the opening reception, see you soon🎉
Is there a link between listening to music and mental health? @laurawesseldijk.bsky.social, Fredrik Ullén, and Miriam A. Mosing found that the connection is not as clear-cut. Read the full paper in Journal of Affective Disorders Reports: doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2026.101066
Thank you @rafaelahlskog.bsky.social and @aysuo.bsky.social for having me and for the opportunity to discuss our work! Check out the podcast in the quoted tweet below, and check out the paper we discussed here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Socio-economic status is a social construct with heritable components and genetic consequences
Nature Human Behaviour - Abdellaoui et al. synthesize genomic evidence on the link between socio-economic status and heredity. They show how social stratification may create selection pressures,...
nature.com
ESSGN@essgn.bsky.social · 3mo agoBig news! @dr-appie.bsky.social returns to Born and Raised this week, and besides talking about how social inequality and genetic structure affect each other, he also has a cool surprise for us! Can you guess what it is?
Big news! @dr-appie.bsky.social returns to Born and Raised this week, and besides talking about how social inequality and genetic structure affect each other, he also has a cool surprise for us! Can you guess what it is?
How Society Shapes the Genome - Abdel Abdellaoui returns | Born and Raised
Can society shape the human genome? What happens when people move to opportunity? Why do genes associated with educational attainment cluster geographically? And what happens to the gene pool when edu...
essgn.podbean.com
The question I get most after talks about music and mental health: "But what about people who just listen to music?" Most of us never pick up an instrument, we engage with music through listening... So we studied it. New paper on music listening, mental health & genetics 🎵 doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...
Does listening to music relate to mental health in the general population: a genetically informed approach
While some people actively play instruments, most primarily engage with music through listening. Although intervention studies consistently report pos…
sciencedirect.com
In this week's episode, we talk to @laurawesseldijk.bsky.social about genetics, musicality, metal, mental health. But more importantly, we finally uncover @dr-appie.bsky.social's secret music career and learn about Laura's childhood playing trombone on a horse while doing a headstand??
@laurawesseldijk.bsky.social · 3mo agoThere was a lot of laughter during this conversation and a few secret confessions... But we also had some great discussions about musicality, genetics, Beethoven and public outreach, mental health, and music genres... Thank you @rafaelahlskog.bsky.social and @aysuo.bsky.social for having me! 🎶
There was a lot of laughter during this conversation and a few secret confessions... But we also had some great discussions about musicality, genetics, Beethoven and public outreach, mental health, and music genres... Thank you @rafaelahlskog.bsky.social and @aysuo.bsky.social for having me! 🎶
ESSGN@essgn.bsky.social · 3mo agoWhat's the deal with musicality and genetics? This week, Born and Raised went to talk to Laura Wesseldijk. There's something here for both metalheads, horse riding enthusiasts and trombonists!
There appears to be an unusually large overlap between social science genetics and metal fandom. Had so much fun having this conversation with @aysuo.bsky.social and Laura Wesseldijk!
ESSGN@essgn.bsky.social · 3mo agoWhat's the deal with musicality and genetics? This week, Born and Raised went to talk to Laura Wesseldijk. There's something here for both metalheads, horse riding enthusiasts and trombonists!
⚠️ This BGA has turned out to be exceptionally popular with unprecedented numbers of submissions and people wanting to attend. We are now holding a waiting list for non-speakers (this includes symposia Chairs and Discussants) who have not yet registered.
✏️ Registration for BGA 2026 has officially opened! You can register using the following link: 174286.aanmelder.nl/registration If you submitted an abstract, you should have received an e-mail on this last week. If this is not the case, please let us know.
https://174286.aanmelder.nl/registration
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174286.aanmelder.nl
Looking forward to this year's Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) conference, in my hometown of Amsterdam! Deadline for abstracts is next week, February 16th: bga.org/content.aspx...
Abstract submission for the #BGA2026 in Amsterdam (NL), is now open! Oral and Poster Abstract submission: app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/80641.... Symposia abstract submission (symposium chairs only): app.oxfordabstracts.com/events/76614....
Oxford Abstracts
app.oxfordabstracts.com
We did dance and mental health research 💃🕺 Professional, but not recreational dancers, have higher risk for mental health problems (anxiety, depression, emotional exhaustion). Dance achievement was more heritable in females (60%) than males (29%) 🧬 doi.org/10.1016/j.ss... @ae.mpg.de
For more context, see also the @nature.com News & Views article about this work, where I unpack what it means when genetic risk for psychiatric disorders overlaps with normal-range traits, including some positive associations with education-related outcomes: rdcu.be/eT4U7
Andrew Grotzinger@andrewgrotzinger.bsky.social · 8mo ago1/4 Thrilled to be sharing new work published today in Nature describing the third wave of results from the PGC Cross-Disorder Group. This reflects a massive group effort to examine shared and unique genetic signal across >1 million cases for 14 psychiatric disorders. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
First time on Bsky and first big announcement! I am excited to announce that our new study explaining the missing heritability of many phenotypes using WGS data from ~347,000 UK Biobank participants has just been published in @Nature. Our manuscript is here: www.nature.com/articles/s41....
Estimation and mapping of the missing heritability of human phenotypes - Nature
WGS data were used from 347,630 individuals with European ancestry in the UK Biobank to obtain high-precision estimates of coding and non-coding rare variant heritability for 34 co...
nature.com
With sequencing of Hitler's DNA making headlines, time for a reminder: analysing a polygenic score from a dead historically-significant figure won't give new insights into that person's behaviour. In a brief paper last year, we used Beethoven's genome to directly illustrate the fallacies involved.🧪👇
Notes from Beethoven’s genome
Wesseldijk et al. compare the genomic information collected from Ludwig van Beethoven with population-based datasets used to quantify musical achievement.
cell.com
Loved hosting @essgn.bsky.social in Oxford including @dr-appie.bsky.social & family (& the rest of the ESSGN family as well) - read the post and links below to hear about this great event
Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, Oxford University@oxforddemsci.bsky.social · 11mo agoRead the great reflection on the workshop by @dr-appie.bsky.social here: communities.springernature.com/posts/a-love...
The largest study on late life virginity, based on >400k individuals, out now in @pnas.org Open access link: pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Shoutout to shared first author @laurawesseldijk.bsky.social ❤️ Thread below 👇🏽
Some people call it a minefield. Others call it dangerous, even irresponsible. I call it the most promising field in life sciences. My love letter to social science genetics: communities.springernature.com/posts/a-love...
A Love Letter to Social Science Genetics
Some people call social science genetics a minefield. Others call it dangerous, even irresponsible. I call it the most promising field in life sciences.
communities.springernature.com
All cats are scientists, I will not be taking questions at this time.
Link to walk-up songs picked by attendees from the Musicality Genomics Consortium in 2023. I won't release who's who. Only unlinked suspects @profsimonfisher.bsky.social @musiccognition.bsky.social @mehr.nz @dr-appie.bsky.social @laurawesseldijk.bsky.social ... open.spotify.com/playlist/7rU...
MusicGens 2023
Playlist · Giacomo Bignardi · 20 items · 4 saves
open.spotify.com
Extremely excited to share the first effort of the Revived Genomics of Personality Consortium: A highly-powered, comprehensive GWAS of the Big Five personality traits in 1.14 million participants from 46 cohorts. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Ik sprak lang met @dr-appie.bsky.social, over genen, over maatschappelijke ongelijkheid en zelfs over Dzjengis Khan... voor @nrcwetenschap.bsky.social www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
‘Natuurlijk ben je niet je genen! Maar wie ben je dan wel?’
Abdel Abdellaoui | geneticus: Tussen genen en samenleving is een voortdurende wisselwerking gaande. „Wij mensen hebben een veel te simpel idee over hoe we in elkaar zitten.”
nrc.nl
🎵 Why do some people enjoy #music more than others? New findings published in @naturecomms.bsky.social show that our capacity to enjoy music is partly inherited, with 54% of music enjoyment variability linked to #DNA differences: doi.org/10.1038/s414... @mpi-nl.bsky.social @ki.se #BehaviorGenetics
Does your music style preference say something about your well-being? Most likely not! We tested 19 music genres, of which only 4 were related to well-being, with genetic analyses showing no causality. Great work by master student Anastasiia Bratchenko! 🎶 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Debunking “nature versus nurture”, a thread. Different people in a population carry variations in their DNA; the science of genetics makes it possible to assess if/how that correlates with individual differences in any observable trait, from medical conditions to aspects of cognition/behaviour.🧪1/9
Music science offers multiple examples of nature/nurture interplay. Here’s just one, from @laurawesseldijk.bsky.social. An enriched childhood environment is associated with higher music achievement in adulthood. But such effects are amplified in people who have a genetic predisposition. 8/9 [More 👇]
Music and Genetics
The first part of this review provides a brief historical background of behavior genetic research and how twin and genotype data can be utilized to st…
sciencedirect.com
Did you get a chance to read the thread on our new @naturehumbehav.bsky.social paper on SES yet? If not, don't worry, I have something better for you! Check out this comic by the amazing @lizahaart.bsky.social Complete comic: communities.springernature.com/posts/are-we... Or in this thread 👇🏾
Abdel Abdellaoui@dr-appie.bsky.social · last yr.In every civilization, people end up sorted into levels of socio-economic status (SES). We explore the history, present, and future of scientific research on the complicated relationship between SES and DNA in @naturehumbehav.bsky.social💰🧬🎓 Link: rdcu.be/efacK Thread below 👇🏽
In every civilization, people end up sorted into levels of socio-economic status (SES). We explore the history, present, and future of scientific research on the complicated relationship between SES and DNA in @naturehumbehav.bsky.social💰🧬🎓 Link: rdcu.be/efacK Thread below 👇🏽