Maths and maps make you nervous? It could be in your genes
1,083 views · Published 21 February 2017 · 2:26 · Indexed 10 November 2026
Channel: King's College London · 2017 · Education
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. Dr Margherita Malanchini, a postdoctoral researcher with the Twins Early Development Study explains the implications of the findings. 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.
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