First International School On Mind, Brain And Education
2005 July 16-20
Summer Institute on
Mind, Brain and Education
Directors: Antonio M. Battro and Kurt W. Fischer
Program officer: María Lourdes Majdalani
Faculty of Letters, Keio University, Tokyo. JAPAN
Tokyo Twin Cohort Project (ToTCoP)
Longitudinal study of twins in infancy and childhood
Human behavioral and psychological development is affected by environmental as well as genetic factors. The “twin method” can reveal the relative contribution and interaction of each factor. We construct a population-based twin registry in Tokyo Metropolitan area. About 2000 pairs of new born twins will be recruited and studied longitudinally for five years by mailed questionnaire, individual interview, NIRS (near infrared spectroscopy), and so on.
The purpose of this study is to clarify the developmental effects of genetic and shared/non-shared environmental factors on temperament, motor skills, cognitive-linguistic abilities, and other behavioral traits in an early stage of human development. These results are expected to provide basic information useful for education of children.