Sophie Bell
@sophiebell.bsky.social
Clinical psych PhD candidate @ University of Virginia | Alzheimer's disease & cognitive aging | behavioral genetics & epigenetics
Another intriguing Atlantic read from Eric Turkheimer @ent3c.bsky.social and Paige Harden @kph3k.bsky.social!
"We can add three and two to make five, but we cannot add scientific breakthroughs to bigotry and arrive at a tidy, incontrovertible sum. One deed sits stubbornly beside the other."
"We can add three and two to make five, but we cannot add scientific breakthroughs to bigotry and arrive at a tidy, incontrovertible sum. One deed sits stubbornly beside the other."
With Paige Harden @kph3k.bsky.social we consider the greatness and bigotry of James Watson. Watson was not just a great scientist who turned out to be a bigot in his personal life. His bigotry was rooted in misunderstanding of the very science he created. Free link when I get one.
The Paradox of James Watson
The discovery of DNA was evidence of how deeply interconnected humans are, but the late scientist saw only difference.
www.theatlantic.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Another intriguing Atlantic read from Eric Turkheimer @ent3c.bsky.social and Paige Harden @kph3k.bsky.social!
"We can add three and two to make five, but we cannot add scientific breakthroughs to bigotry and arrive at a tidy, incontrovertible sum. One deed sits stubbornly beside the other."
"We can add three and two to make five, but we cannot add scientific breakthroughs to bigotry and arrive at a tidy, incontrovertible sum. One deed sits stubbornly beside the other."
Reposted by Sophie Bell
In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.
Your Genes Are Simply Not Enough to Explain How Smart You Are
Seven years ago, I took a bet with Charles Murray about whether we’d basically understand the genetics of intelligence by now.
www.theatlantic.com
October 13, 2025 at 1:33 PM
In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.
Grateful to UVA Today for featuring our recent study! And big thanks to the creative mind behind this mildly creepy yet amazing graphic - who knew DNA methylation aging and twins could come together so seamlessly?
news.virginia.edu/content/uva-...
news.virginia.edu/content/uva-...
UVA study of identical twins links faster aging to memory decline
Researcher Sophie Bell and professor Eric Turkheimer identified how genetics, environment and biology combine to affect cognitive health.
news.virginia.edu
September 10, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Grateful to UVA Today for featuring our recent study! And big thanks to the creative mind behind this mildly creepy yet amazing graphic - who knew DNA methylation aging and twins could come together so seamlessly?
news.virginia.edu/content/uva-...
news.virginia.edu/content/uva-...
Nice writeup on our paper that was recently published in Aging where we found second generation epigenetic clocks predicted cognitive decline in midlife in the Louisville Twins @ent3c.bsky.social @aging-us.bsky.social
www.psypost.org/biological-a...
www.psypost.org/biological-a...
Biological aging predicts midlife cognitive decline, especially in those raised in poverty
A new study using twin data indicates that accelerated biological aging predicts cognitive decline from childhood to midlife—especially for those raised in lower-income households. The research sheds ...
www.psypost.org
September 8, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Nice writeup on our paper that was recently published in Aging where we found second generation epigenetic clocks predicted cognitive decline in midlife in the Louisville Twins @ent3c.bsky.social @aging-us.bsky.social
www.psypost.org/biological-a...
www.psypost.org/biological-a...
Reposted by Sophie Bell
📈 #TrendingWithImpact:
A new #researchpaper was #published on July 23, titled “Second generation DNA methylation age predicts cognitive change in midlife: the moderating role of childhood socioeconomic status.”
🔗 doi.org/10.18632/agi...
#aging #quote #openaccess #publishing #twins #DNAMethylation
A new #researchpaper was #published on July 23, titled “Second generation DNA methylation age predicts cognitive change in midlife: the moderating role of childhood socioeconomic status.”
🔗 doi.org/10.18632/agi...
#aging #quote #openaccess #publishing #twins #DNAMethylation
July 30, 2025 at 10:39 AM
📈 #TrendingWithImpact:
A new #researchpaper was #published on July 23, titled “Second generation DNA methylation age predicts cognitive change in midlife: the moderating role of childhood socioeconomic status.”
🔗 doi.org/10.18632/agi...
#aging #quote #openaccess #publishing #twins #DNAMethylation
A new #researchpaper was #published on July 23, titled “Second generation DNA methylation age predicts cognitive change in midlife: the moderating role of childhood socioeconomic status.”
🔗 doi.org/10.18632/agi...
#aging #quote #openaccess #publishing #twins #DNAMethylation
Reposted by Sophie Bell
New paper with first author @sophiebell.bsky.social. We show that epigenetic clocks predict decline in IQ between adolescence and midlife, between and within twin pairs, and that the effect is stronger among people from low SES backgrounds. A Scarr-Rowe-adjacent effect. www.aging-us.com/advance
July 23, 2025 at 2:48 PM
New paper with first author @sophiebell.bsky.social. We show that epigenetic clocks predict decline in IQ between adolescence and midlife, between and within twin pairs, and that the effect is stronger among people from low SES backgrounds. A Scarr-Rowe-adjacent effect. www.aging-us.com/advance
Another great BGA meeting in Atlanta.. glad to keep the lab tradition going @ent3c.bsky.social!
In other news from the BGA meeting @sophiebell.bsky.social won the award for best student oral presentation. I think my lab is firmly in the lead for student awards, BGA-wide. Gifted students have always been my secret sauce.
July 6, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Another great BGA meeting in Atlanta.. glad to keep the lab tradition going @ent3c.bsky.social!
Major congrats to our colleagues at USC!! The 5ADCSI test for Alzheimer's disease blood biomarkers is now validated and published in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. The 5ADCSI is a low-cost, sensitive assay capturing plasma amyloid-β, pTau, NfL, and GFAP:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
High precision and cost-effective multiplex quantification of amyloid-β40, amyloid-β42, p181Tau, p217Tau, neurofilament light chain, and glial fibrillary acidic protein from plasma and serum - Farshad...
Background Current methods to quantify blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) are expensive and are not widely available. Objective To develop a lo...
journals.sagepub.com
May 30, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Major congrats to our colleagues at USC!! The 5ADCSI test for Alzheimer's disease blood biomarkers is now validated and published in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. The 5ADCSI is a low-cost, sensitive assay capturing plasma amyloid-β, pTau, NfL, and GFAP:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...