Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research: Tracking Psychological Development for 35 Years
Photo by Adam Dunne CLA student
In 1987, Dr. Matt McGue, professor of the UMN Department of Psychology, along with his colleagues, set out to explore the possibility that there might be a genetic component in the development of substance dependence. Does it come from being exposed to substances from people they know or from places and situations in which they find themselves?
After McGue and his colleagues, David Lykken and William Iacono, secured a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) for their study, the next question became: How does one study this ever-trending, widely debated topic of “nature vs. nurture” in science?
Twins.
The grant laid the groundwork for what is now the Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research (MCTFR). Starting with 666 (which is “an odd number,” McGue recognizes) pairs of male twins for this initial drug abuse study, the center has since grown to include over 10,000 twins and their parents over the last 35 years.