WAS YOUR LITTLE DAREDEVIL BORN TO BE WILD?

Is your toddler a daredevil in the making? Does your preschooler love meeting people and exploring unfamiliar places? In an intriguing new chapter in the nature-versus-nurture debate, a recent study suggests that the craving for adventure is an inborn trait.

Two teams of researchers working together, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheva, Israel, found that people who seek out novel experiences tend to have a special variant of a gene that affects how the brain responds to dopamine - a neurotransmitter that plays a role in impulsive, risk-taking behavior. Scientists have always known that there's a strong genetic component to human character, but this is the first time a personality trait has been linked to a specific gene.Does this mean that children born with a special thrill-seeking gene are destined for a life of bungee jumping and race-car driving?

Not necessarily, says Dean Hamer, a geneticist and coauthor of the NIH study. "A child's upbringing and environment affect how his or her temperament will express itself," he explains. "A novelty seeker could grow up to be anything from an astronaut to a bank robber, depending on whether his parents encourage his behavior, punish it, or try to control it in some other way."

But whether or not parents treat their children any differently as a result of this new study, says Hamer, it could have a significant effect on their attitudes about why their kids behave the way they do.

"Some people think of impulsiveness as a moral failing or a character flaw. With this recent discovery, parents should realize that such a quality is neither good nor bad on its own."