In two major papers, Dunedin Study data on antisocial behaviour going back to members’ teenage years was used to show differences in average brain structure between people who’d displayed antisocial behaviour throughout their lives, and those who either only did so as teens or never at all.
More recently, findings published in 2020 indicated nearly a third of Kiwis now in their early 40s have tried meth at least once, highlighting potentials link between the drug and violence in society.
Poulton said receiving the Rutherford Medal, annually awarded by Royal Society Te Apārangi, and presented tonight at Dunedin’s Glenroy Auditorium, meant a “great deal”.
Alongside Poulton, professors Murray Thomson and Terrie Moffitt, and senior investigator Ashalom Caspi were also cited in the honour.
“The Dunedin Study represents the one point of continuity in my professional life, and to be part of the team that won the award is a thrill,” said Poulton, who’s now helmed the programme for 22 years.
“Equally, if not more importantly, this is superb recognition of the high national and international profile of the study.
“All those participating in the study from now on can happily do so against the background of having won this prestigious award.”
Asked what had contributed to the study’s success, Poulton said “bloody hard work” - but also maintaining and respecting its cohort, and looking beyond the immediate horizon for the next place to go.
“Periodic reinvention best describes what has happened, with our most recent focus on geroscience, the study of the process of ageing.”
But he said it was the study’s participants who should take the most credit.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can’t tell you what an honour it has been for me to work with the 1,037 study members, and families and friends,” he said.
“They are the real heroes of the study, not us.”
Thomson agreed.
“They have been so generous - to have been allowed into their lives for so long is a wonderful gift, not only to us as researchers but also to society and our understanding of the life course,” he said.
“To be part of this team and a part of these people’s lives has been a wonderful opportunity and an immense privilege for me.”
Other researchers who received honours from the society tonight included Professor David Hutchinson (Thomson Medal), Professor Stephen Robertson (Hercus Medal), Dr Kenneth Dodds (Jones Medal), Dr Lena Collienne (Hatherton Award), with Early Career Research Excellence Awards going to Dr Anna High and Dr Christina Ergler.
DUNEDIN STUDY INSIGHTS
• Earlier findings revealed how a simple test at the age of 3 could predict if children will grow up to be a burden on society. Members who scored poorly in neurological evaluations and tests of verbal comprehension, language development, motor skills and social behaviour tests at this age most often ended up taking the lion’s share of social services as adults.
• Young occasional smokers are almost four times more likely to become daily smokers by their late 30s than their non-smoking peers, a 2015 study showed.
• A 2016 study suggested a childhood exposure to microbial organisms through thumb-sucking and nail-biting reduces the risk of developing allergies.
* A 2022 study exploring vaccine hesitancy found many people became distrustful of adults early in their lives, and came to believe that those in authority were trying to take advantage of them.
