Snowy start to our Grant Writing & Science Communication course ☃️ Despite slippery roads, students showed up. After class, campus turned into a winter playground. Grown-ups can still play! Proud of our students. Grateful to teach the next generation of scientists. 🔗 vu.nl/genes #rmGBH #SciComm

(2/2) 🎉 Proud supervisor moment: congratulations @josefina-bernardo.bsky.social on her 1st PhD paper! With @charlottepahnke.bsky.social @ntrbiopsy.bsky.social @geneamsterdam.bsky.social @ibbamsterdam.bsky.social #ERC #BehaviourGenetics #GeneEnvironmentInterplay #DevelopmentalScience #PhDSupervision

🧠 Parents and siblings shape children’s environments— but families also share genes 🧬 Because genes influence behaviour, environments are partly shaped by genetics too To separate genetic from environmental influences, we need genetic data from both parents and siblings 🧪 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s105...

🎙️ #Podcast open.spotify.com/episode/6Sxt... 🧬 genetics shape differences — but are not destiny 🧠 dyslexia & ADHD often co-occur due to shared genes 👨‍👩‍👧 families pass on both genes and environments 🎓 better science → fairer education & mental-health support 🧭 also reflects on non-linear academic paths

🧠 Parents and siblings shape children’s environments— but families also share genes 🧬 Because genes influence behaviour, environments are partly shaped by genetics too To separate genetic from environmental influences, we need genetic data from both parents and siblings 🧪 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s105...

This day 44 years ago I was born. Grateful to do science like a grown-up — and still play like a 14-year-old. 🎂✨

Professionally, this sabbatical year was a gift. Grateful to PROMENTA (@eivindy.bsky.social @unioslo-svfak.bsky.social) and CREATE (@melbylervag.bsky.social @unioslo-uv.bsky.social) at the University of Oslo for hosting me so generously, and to the many dear collaborators across Oslo. (3/5)

In the summer of 2024, we arrived in Oslo as a family for a sabbatical year. This summer, we returned to Amsterdam. I’m only reflecting now, because reflection takes time, and last week working in Oslo brought everything back. If you live somewhere for exactly 1 year, every season counts. (1/5)

Honoured to be featured by the @jacobsfoundation.bsky.social Research Fellowship. Their support enables ambitious, cross-border science on how genetics and environments shape children’s learning & development. 🌍🧬 Work with other Fellows nature.com/articles/s41... nature.com/articles/s41...

I wonder how much quicker papers would be rejected or published on average if journal software would forward out of office responses of contacted reviewers to handling editors — something that requires advanced software available since ... *checks* ... the 90s.

Nominations for the UKRN Dorothy Bishop Prize 2026 have opened! Named after @deevybee.bsky.social, the prize, first awarded in 2022, celebrates the contributions of early career researchers to research improvement. Nominations close 18 January 2026. #AcademicSky #Research

📚 Further reading from my talk • Hart, Little & van Bergen (2021), Nurture might be nature www.nature.com/articles/s41... • @dr-appie.bsky.social @loic-yengo.bsky.social Verweij & Visscher (2023), 15 years of GWAS discovery www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltex...

🧬 3 key ideas from my ABC×iBBA talk: Behavioural genetics helps explain why people differ Genes & environments are intertwined—correlations between e.g. parenting and child outcome aren’t automatically causal Knowing genetics sharpens questions about brain & behaviour 📸 @ltchen.bsky.social

🧬 3 key ideas from my ABC×iBBA talk: Behavioural genetics helps explain why people differ Genes & environments are intertwined—correlations between e.g. parenting and child outcome aren’t automatically causal Knowing genetics sharpens questions about brain & behaviour 📸 @ltchen.bsky.social

In 2,000 children followed from Grades 1–9, we find that #LearningDifficulties co-occur strongly with each other, but only weakly with #ADHD. While ADHD affects reading comprehension over time, it does not drive reading fluency or arithmetic. 🔗 osf.io/rvd9q/ Led by @mpsyridou.bsky.social 1/5

🚀 From history teacher-to-be in CAN to behavioural geneticist in NL: My PhD student Kassandra Pomper shares her journey in this VU interview “I dreaded statistics… but I couldn’t have been more wrong” 🔗 vu.nl/en/stories/k... Proud of Kassandra & #SCANNER team studying sex differences in autism 💙

Origins of language, one of humanity’s most distinctive traits, may be best explained as a unique convergence of multiple capacities each with its own evolutionary history, involving intertwined roles of biology & culture. This framing can expand research horizons. A 🧵 on our @science.org paper.🧪1/n

Bonus insight: the Finnish results mirror our Dutch twin findings. In our twin paper, ADHD–dyslexia–dyscalculia overlap reflected shared genetic risk, not causality. The new Finnish models show the same pattern via random intercepts. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0956... 🔗 osf.io/rvd9q/ 5/5

For anyone who loves a good visual: this UpSet plot shows how combinations of ADHD and learning difficulties co-occur. • Single dots = 1 condition • Connected dots = ≥2 Learning difficulties co-occur ~4.5× more with each other, but only ~1.5× with ADHD. 🔗 osf.io/rvd9q/ 3/5

Does ADHD cause learning difficulties? RI-CLPMs show: • no cross-lagged effects with reading fluency or arithmetic • consistent effects from ADHD to later reading comprehension Shared risk factors explain most overlap—except for comprehension, where ADHD predicts slower growth. 🔗 osf.io/rvd9q/ 2/5

Advances in genomics are giving exciting new perspectives on biology of speech, language & reading. My latest peer-reviewed paper is a tutorial, guiding readers from different backgrounds through the history of the field, current state-of-the-art, & where we’re heading. A taster in this thread.🧪 1/n

In 2,000 children followed from Grades 1–9, we find that #LearningDifficulties co-occur strongly with each other, but only weakly with #ADHD. While ADHD affects reading comprehension over time, it does not drive reading fluency or arithmetic. 🔗 osf.io/rvd9q/ Led by @mpsyridou.bsky.social 1/5

✨ Everything I do is #TeamScience — collaboration across countries, disciplines & perspectives. Grateful to the International #Dyslexia Association for recognising our work with the 2025 Early Career Award in Atlanta. 🧬 Full story by @vuamsterdam.bsky.social: vu.nl/en/news/2025... #DyslexiaCon25

Does anyone have the British Ability Scales (BAS) II manual (Elliott, Smith & McCulloch, 1996/1997) on their shelf? 📚 @magdamatetovici.bsky.social, @carorowland.bsky.social & I are trying to look up the reliability for the Naming Vocabulary subtest (age 5). E.g. Cronbach’s α or test–retest r. 🙏

🚨 Big question, big paper! Why does educational inequality run in families? The parent-child education link (r = .31) is often seen as purely environmental. From 569k kids, we decomposed it: 🧬 68% genetic 🏡 12% parental environment 👴 20% extended-family environment 👉 doi.org/10.31234/osf... 🧵

Amsterdam ❤️

Weet jij allang op wie je gaat stemmen, of ben je nog in dubio? Om het je zo makkelijk mogelijk te maken, hebben we de tien beste redenen om op GroenLinks-PvdA te stemmen verzameld. Lees, deel en stem voor een links, progressief kabinet! stem.groenlinkspvda.nl/s/arEXqCL6

We have an open postdoc position in Social Science Genomics in Berlin! Includes gene-environment interplay within German population cohorts & experimental online survey studies to probe public perceptions of potential DNA biomarker applications 🔗 www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/2196134/2025...

Interdisciplinary paper with @paulhufe.net Astrid Sandsør and Nicolai Borgen now out in PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.... Causal evidence of gene-environment interaction for reading test scores based on: 🧬 Exogenous within-family genetic differences 🏫 Exogenous variation in school value added

Weet jij allang op wie je gaat stemmen, of ben je nog in dubio? Om het je zo makkelijk mogelijk te maken, hebben we de tien beste redenen om op GroenLinks-PvdA te stemmen verzameld. Lees, deel en stem voor een links, progressief kabinet! stem.groenlinkspvda.nl/s/arEXqCL6

✨ Honoured to receive the 2025 Early Career Award at #DyslexiaCon25! I’ll give my award talk on Fri 3:50pm 🎓 Decoding the Gene–Environment Interplay on Dyslexia Grateful to all my collaborators and lab members— #TeamScience is all I do 💙 🔗 About the award files.constantcontact.com/e2798027001/...

✨ Honoured to receive the 2025 Early Career Award at #DyslexiaCon25! I’ll give my award talk on Fri 3:50pm 🎓 Decoding the Gene–Environment Interplay on Dyslexia Grateful to all my collaborators and lab members— #TeamScience is all I do 💙 🔗 About the award files.constantcontact.com/e2798027001/...

🚀From psychology undergraduate to behavioural geneticist: my PhD student @madeliefkuijper.bsky.social shares her inspiring journey “I once feared statistics—now I use R every day, even with pleasure!” vu.nl/nl/verhalen/... @vuamsterdam.bsky.social @academic-chatter.bsky.social #PhDLife #AcademicSky

Brilliant thread summarising this field - perfect for those in other fields 🙏

wow! how amazing. Thanks to you all for taking this on - I am looking forward to reading it 😀

🏠 Language & reading often “run in families” — not just through shared environment, but also through shared genes. Parents pass on both DNA & experiences. Their own traits shape the home & how they interact with children — creating gene–environment correlations. 🖼️ child ↔ parents ↔ broader context

🧬 Language & reading show moderate to high heritability—differences among children are partly inherited. A polygenic score sums thousands of tiny DNA effects to estimate genetic propensity, but it’s not destiny: environment & chance still matter. 🖼️ many small variants → one polygenic score

Fabulous review here! Essential reading for language and literacty bods

📊 Language & reading skills form a continuum—not two groups of “typical” vs “disordered” Conditions like dyslexia or developmental language disorder (DLD) reflect the lower end of normal variation in these skills, not distinct categories 🖼️ continuous distribution of ability, with cut-offs shown

Two birds of a gene - catch Matt Keller's webinar at @uio.no on October 15th. Please share www.sv.uio.no/promenta/eng... @ispg.bsky.social @behaviorgenetic.bsky.social @unioslo-svfak.bsky.social @essgn.bsky.social @ibg.colorado.edu

Happy to announce that I'll give a talk on how we can make rigorous causal inference more mainstream 📈 You can sign up for the Zoom link here: tinyurl.com/CIIG-JuliaRo...

Really nice beginner's guide to academia in the Netherlands knaw.h5mag.com/beginners-gu...

Very interesting set of reflections on developmental language & reading disorders, across layers of analysis, by @drelsje.bsky.social @nickyjdawson.bsky.social @emljames.bsky.social @salonikrishnan.bsky.social (With many good references to @deevybee.bsky.social’s important work) 🧪🧬🧠🗣️

Science as it should be - a photo says more than 1000 words!

🧩Learning to talk & read isn’t just about effort or teaching—it’s shaped by biology, experience & context 🧠Our new review links genetics, neuroscience, psychology & education to show why some children find language or reading easier. 📖 doi.org/10.31234/osf... 🖼️genes→brain→cognition→behaviour 🧵👇

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

Once more: the best evidence shows that Tylenol taken during pregnancy is not harmful. **This question is settled.** The benefit of reducing discomfort and fever is extremely important at a time when the fetus is developing. Pregnant women - Tylenol is safe. sciencebasedmedicine.org/tylenol-and-...

👉Behaviour genetics infographics www.nature.com/articles/s41... 👉ADHD, dyslexia & dyscalculia doi.org/10.1177/0956... 👉ADHD runs in families doi.org/10.1017/S003... 👉Education runs in families osf.io/preprints/ps... Hosted warmly at @citystgeorges.bsky.social by Ansgar Endress & Katrina May Dulay 🙏

✨ A special week in Oxford ✨ invited talk in London collaborations at Psychiatry & Psychology Neurodiversity conference training with Oxford Acrobatics 🤸‍♀️ and catching up with mentors & icons @deevybee.bsky.social & Maggie Snowling 📸 Staying at a College never loses its magic! #OHbrcNDconference

Had the pleasure to talk in London, on my way to Oxford 🎓! 👉 ADHD, dyslexia & dyscalculia co-occur due to genetic risks 👉 ADHD runs in families mostly via genetic transmission: 👉 Educational achievement runs in families because genetics dominate, though parents and relatives still matter 🔗 Links 👇