Shyness Gene Teased Out

March 3, 2008 -- Scientists have spotted a gene linked to shyness in children and introversion in adults.

Variations in that gene may also make social anxiety disorder and other anxiety disorders more likely, but more work is needed to confirm that possibility.

The gene is called RGS2. Certain variations in that gene stood out in a new study of kids' shyness and adult introversion.

The researchers conducted three experiments.

The study doesn't mean that the RGS2 gene makes people shy or introverted. And the study wasn't about diagnosing anxiety disorders. Shyness and introversion aren't anxiety disorders.

But shyness and introversion are risk factors for anxiety disorders, especially social anxiety disorder, note the researchers, who included Jordan Smoller, MD, ScD, of Massachusetts General Hospital's psychiatry department.