Psychology Research Seminar at St Mary’s

On Wednesday 23^rd October the School of Management and Social Sciences at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham is hosting a psychology research seminar as part of an ongoing series this semester. Entitled ‘Genetic influences on brain development and behaviour’ the seminar, led by Dr Kate Lawrence Lecturer in Psychology at St Mary's, intends to explore the development of various social processing abilities in individuals with Turner syndrome, and also the consequences that the lack of an X chromosome may have on brain development and how these in turn could lead to particular behavioural problems. The research hopes to demonstrate the importance of genes on the X chromosome for the development of optimal social processing skills in females and the ways in which our knowledge about the role of the X chromosome can inform our understanding of gender differences in disorders of social processing, such as autism. Dr Lawrence commented, “Although the topic of this seminar might sound quite technical, I'm a firm believer that good science doesn’t need to be complicated! I will avoid technical jargon as much as possible and give some basic background to genetics that will hopefully make the talk accessible to all.” The event is taking place from 3-4pm in room F6 and is free and open to the public. For more information contact Dr Victoria Armstrong at victoria.armstrong@stmarys.ac.uk.