1
|
Smith DM, Loughnan R, Friedman NP, Parekh P, Frei O, Thompson WK, Andreassen OA, Neale M, Jernigan TL, Dale AM. Heritability Estimation of Cognitive Phenotypes in the ABCD Study ® Using Mixed Models. Behav Genet 2023; 53:169-188. [PMID: 37024669 PMCID: PMC10154273 DOI: 10.1007/s10519-023-10141-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
Abstract
Twin and family studies have historically aimed to partition phenotypic variance into components corresponding to additive genetic effects (A), common environment (C), and unique environment (E). Here we present the ACE Model and several extensions in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development℠ Study (ABCD Study®), employed using the new Fast Efficient Mixed Effects Analysis (FEMA) package. In the twin sub-sample (n = 924; 462 twin pairs), heritability estimates were similar to those reported by prior studies for height (twin heritability = 0.86) and cognition (twin heritability between 0.00 and 0.61), respectively. Incorporating SNP-derived genetic relatedness and using the full ABCD Study® sample (n = 9,742) led to narrower confidence intervals for all parameter estimates. By leveraging the sparse clustering method used by FEMA to handle genetic relatedness only for participants within families, we were able to take advantage of the diverse distribution of genetic relatedness within the ABCD Study® sample.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Diana M Smith
- Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Center for Human Development, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Center for Multimodal Imaging and Genetics, San Diego School of Medicine, University of California, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Robert Loughnan
- Population Neuroscience and Genetics Lab, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Naomi P Friedman
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Pravesh Parekh
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Oleksandr Frei
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Centre for Bioinformatics, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Wesley K Thompson
- Center for Population Neuroscience and Genetics, Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Ole A Andreassen
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Michael Neale
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Terry L Jernigan
- Center for Human Development, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Anders M Dale
- Center for Multimodal Imaging and Genetics, San Diego School of Medicine, University of California, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Thomas MSC, Coecke S. Associations between Socioeconomic Status, Cognition, and Brain Structure: Evaluating Potential Causal Pathways Through Mechanistic Models of Development. Cogn Sci 2023; 47:e13217. [PMID: 36607218 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Differences in socioeconomic status (SES) correlate both with differences in cognitive development and in brain structure. Associations between SES and brain measures such as cortical surface area and cortical thickness mediate differences in cognitive skills such as executive function and language. However, causal accounts that link SES, brain, and behavior are challenging because SES is a multidimensional construct: correlated environmental factors, such as family income and parental education, are only distal markers for proximal causal pathways. Moreover, the causal accounts themselves must span multiple levels of description, employ a developmental perspective, and integrate genetic effects on individual differences. Nevertheless, causal accounts have the potential to inform policy and guide interventions to reduce gaps in developmental outcomes. In this article, we review the range of empirical data to be integrated in causal accounts of developmental effects on the brain and cognition associated with variation in SES. We take the specific example of language development and evaluate the potential of a multiscale computational model of development, based on an artificial neural network, to support the construction of causal accounts. We show how, with bridging assumptions that link properties of network structure to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of brain structure, different sets of empirical data on SES effects can be connected. We use the model to contrast two possible causal pathways for environmental influences that are associated with SES: differences in prenatal brain development and differences in postnatal cognitive stimulation. We then use the model to explore the implications of each pathway for the potential to intervene to reduce gaps in developmental outcomes. The model points to the cumulative effects of social disadvantage on multiple pathways as the source of the poorest response to interventions. Overall, we highlight the importance of implemented models to test competing accounts of environmental influences on individual differences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael S C Thomas
- Developmental Neurocognition Laboratory, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, 3 Quantinuum, UK.,Centre for Educational Neuroscience, Birkbeck, University of London
| | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
O'Connor PJ, Chen X, Coheley LM, Yu M, Laing EM, Oshri A, Marand A, Lance J, Kealey K, Lewis RD. The effects of 9 months of formulated whole-egg or milk powder food products as meal or snack replacements on executive function in preadolescents: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr 2022; 116:1663-1671. [PMID: 36173384 DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Elevated brain choline is associated with better executive functions in preadolescents. Manipulating dietary choline prospectively in preadolescents using egg supplementation could improve executive functions via effects on brain cellular and neurotransmitter functions. OBJECTIVES We tested the 9-month impacts of egg supplementation on executive functions. It was hypothesized that preadolescents who consumed meal or snack replacement products containing powder made from whole eggs would have the largest improvements in executive functions after 9 months compared to those consuming similar products with either added milk powder or gelatin as a placebo. METHODS A randomized, parallel-group, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial design was used. The executive functions of 122 preadolescents (58 females) aged 9-13 were analyzed before and after the 9-month intervention. The primary outcomes were 3 NIH Toolbox-Cognitive Battery measures of executive function: mental flexibility, working memory, and selective attention and inhibitory control. Participants were randomized to consume food products with either: 1) whole egg powder; 2) milk powder; or 3) gelatin as a placebo, all matched on macronutrient content and used as replacements for commonly consumed foods (i.e., waffles, pancakes, macaroni and cheese, ice cream, and brownies). Hypothesis testing used mixed-effects models that included physical activity and sleep scores as covariates. RESULTS A statistically significant group × time interaction for selective attention and inhibitory control was found (P = 0.049) for the milk group. This interaction resulted from no change for the placebo group and an improvement in selective attention and inhibitory control performance for the milk group by a T-score of 5.8; the effect size (d) was 0.44 SD units. Other comparisons were statistically insignificant. CONCLUSIONS Consumption of foods with added milk powder as a replacement for snacks or meals for 9 months improves selective attention and inhibitory control in preadolescents. Replacement of foods with added whole egg powder does not impact 9-month changes in preadolescent executive functions. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03739424.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Xianyan Chen
- Department of Statistics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Lauren M Coheley
- Department of Nutrition, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Mengyun Yu
- Department of Statistics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Emma M Laing
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Assaf Oshri
- Department of Human Development & Family Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Alicia Marand
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Julia Lance
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Kirk Kealey
- Food Product Innovation & Commercialization Center, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA, USA
| | - Richard D Lewis
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Austerberry C, Mateen M, Fearon P, Ronald A. Heritability of Psychological Traits and Developmental Milestones in Infancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open 2022; 5:e2227887. [PMID: 35994288 PMCID: PMC9396365 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.27887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Although infancy is the most rapid period of postnatal growth and development, factors associated with variation in infant traits are not well understood. OBJECTIVE To synthesize the large twin study literature partitioning phenotypic variance in psychological traits and developmental milestones in infancy into estimates of heritability and shared and nonshared environment. DATA SOURCES PubMed, PsycINFO, and references of included publications were searched up to February 11, 2021. STUDY SELECTION Peer-reviewed publications using the classical twin design to study psychological traits and developmental milestones from birth to 2 years old were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Data were extracted in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and categorized using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: Children and Youth Version. Data were pooled in 3-level random effects models, incorporating within-cohort variance in outcome measurement and between-cohort variance. Data were analyzed from March 2021 through September 2021. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcomes were monozygotic and dizygotic twin correlations. These were used to calculate genetic and shared and nonshared environment estimates. RESULTS Among 139 publications that were systematically retrieved, data were available on 79 044 twin pairs (31 053 monozygotic and 47 991 dizygotic pairs), 52 independent samples, and 21 countries. Meta-analyses were conducted on psychological traits and developmental milestones from 106 publications organized into 10 categories of functioning, disability, and health. Moderate to high genetic estimates for 8 categories were found, the highest of which was psychomotor functions (pooled h2, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.25-0.79; P < .001). Several categories of traits had substantial shared environment estimates, the highest being mental functions of language (pooled c2, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.24-0.86; P = .001). All examined categories of traits had moderate or high nonshared environment estimates, the highest of which were emotional functions (pooled e2, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.33-0.50; P < .001) and family relationships (pooled e2, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.30-0.55; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE These findings may be an important source of information to guide future gene discovery research, public perspectives on nature and nurture, and clinical insights into the degree to which family history and environments may estimate major domains of infant functioning, disability, and health in psychological traits and developmental milestones.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chloe Austerberry
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Maria Mateen
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Pasco Fearon
- Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Angelica Ronald
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Starr A, Riemann R. Common genetic and environmental effects on cognitive ability, conscientiousness, self-perceived abilities, and school performance. INTELLIGENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2022.101664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
|
6
|
Austerberry C, Fearon P, Ronald A, Leve LD, Ganiban JM, Natsuaki MN, Shaw DS, Neiderhiser JM, Reiss D. Early manifestations of intellectual performance: Evidence that genetic effects on later academic test performance are mediated through verbal performance in early childhood. Child Dev 2022; 93:e188-e206. [PMID: 34783370 PMCID: PMC10861934 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Intellectual performance is highly heritable and robustly predicts lifelong health and success but the earliest manifestations of genetic effects on this asset are not well understood. This study examined whether early executive function (EF) or verbal performance mediate genetic influences on subsequent intellectual performance, in 561 U.S.-based adoptees (57% male) and their birth and adoptive parents (70% and 92% White, 13% and 4% African American, 7% and 2% Latinx, respectively), administered measures in 2003-2017. Genetic influences on children's academic performance at 7 years were mediated by verbal performance at 4.5 years (β = .22, 95% CI [0.08, 0.35], p = .002) and not via EF, indicating that verbal performance is an early manifestation of genetic propensity for intellectual performance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chloe Austerberry
- Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, UCL, London, UK
| | - Pasco Fearon
- Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, UCL, London, UK
| | - Angelica Ronald
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Leslie D. Leve
- Prevention Science Institute, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA
| | - Jody M. Ganiban
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Misaki N. Natsuaki
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Daniel S. Shaw
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Jenae M. Neiderhiser
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - David Reiss
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Womack SR, Beam CR, Winders Davis D, Finkel D, Turkheimer E. Genetic and environmental correlates of the nonlinear recovery of cognitive ability in Twins. Dev Psychol 2022; 58:535-550. [PMID: 34881967 PMCID: PMC9637322 DOI: 10.1037/dev0001305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Twins regularly score nearly a standard deviation below the population mean on standardized measures of cognitive development in infancy but recover to the population mean by early childhood, making rapid gains through the toddler years. To date, only polynomial growth models have been fit to model cognitive recovery across childhood, limiting the applicability of the growth parameters to later developmental periods. We fit a nonlinear asymptotic Gompertz growth model to prospective cognitive scores from 1,153 individual twins from 578 families (47.9% male, 91.5% White, 61.6% monozygotic) measured at 16 time points between 3 months and 15 years. Twins displayed a lower asymptote of 86.47 (.90 SD below the population mean) and gained on average 17.01 points, achieving an upper asymptote of 103.48. Growth was observed to be most rapid at 3.26 years, highlighting the importance of the toddler years in cognitive development. Biometric analyses revealed that shared environmental factors accounted for the majority of the variance in initial cognitive ability as well as asymptotic growth in cognitive ability. Gestational age and family socioeconomic status (SES) were robust predictors of cognitive growth. Results from the present study provide insight into the growth processes underlying the recovery of cognitive ability to the population mean for children evincing slight delays in their initial cognitive ability. In particular, findings highlight prenatal factors and family economic resources as important aspects of the environment in the recovery of cognitive ability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sean R. Womack
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia
- Correspondence may be sent to Sean R. Womack at the Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Millmont Building 316, 1023 Millmont Street Charlottesville, VA 22904. Phone: (248) 821-8647
| | | | | | - Deborah Finkel
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University Southeast & Institute for Gerontology, Jönköping University
| | | |
Collapse
|
8
|
Nine Levels of Explanation : A Proposed Expansion of Tinbergen's Four-Level Framework for Understanding the Causes of Behavior. HUMAN NATURE-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE 2021; 32:748-793. [PMID: 34739657 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-021-09414-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Tinbergen's classic "On Aims and Methods of Ethology" (Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 20, 1963) proposed four levels of explanation of behavior, which he thought would soon apply to humans. This paper discusses the need for multilevel explanation; Huxley and Mayr's prior models, and others that followed; Tinbergen's differences with Lorenz on "the innate"; and Mayr's ultimate/proximate distinction. It synthesizes these approaches with nine levels of explanation in three categories: phylogeny, natural selection, and genomics (ultimate causes); maturation, sensitive period effects, and routine environmental effects (intermediate causes); and hormonal/metabolic processes, neural circuitry, and eliciting stimuli (proximate causes), as a respectful extension of Tinbergen's levels. The proposed classification supports and builds on Tinbergen's multilevel model and Mayr's ultimate/proximate continuum, adding intermediate causes in accord with Tinbergen's emphasis on ontogeny. It requires no modification of Standard Evolutionary Theory or The Modern Synthesis, but shows that much that critics claim was missing was in fact part of Neo-Darwinian theory (so named by J. Mark Baldwin in The American Naturalist in 1896) all along, notably reciprocal causation in ontogeny, niche construction, cultural evolution, and multilevel selection. Updates of classical examples in ethology are offered at each of the nine levels, including the neuroethological and genomic findings Tinbergen foresaw. Finally, human examples are supplied at each level, fulfilling his hope of human applications as part of the biology of behavior. This broad ethological framework empowers us to explain human behavior-eventually completely-and vindicates the idea of human nature, and of humans as a part of nature.
Collapse
|
9
|
The Differential Heritability of Social Adjustment by Sex. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18020621. [PMID: 33450905 PMCID: PMC7828361 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18020621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Revised: 01/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Sex differences in social adjustment are frequently observed; however, there has been very little research on adaptability in the individual and social domains. The aim of this study was to investigate the sex difference in social abilities, such as high self-appeal, sociability, school adaptation, and home adaptation between school-age males and females. The sample for this study included both same-sex and opposite-sex twin pairs: a total of 467 twin pairs. We classified them into three groups: a group of those in lower classes of elementary school, a group of those in higher classes of elementary school, and a group of those in junior high school. The heritability of school adaptation was estimated to be 95% in males and 54% in females in the junior high school group. The full sex-limitation model showed a better fit in this group, and this means that a qualitative genetic difference exists. For school adaptation, there was no sex difference in lower elementary school classes; however, a quantitative difference appeared in higher classes of elementary school. Moreover, a qualitative difference appeared in junior high school. From this research, it became clear that sex differences in heritability exist for school adaptation, and there was a marked increase from the elementary school children to the junior high school children.
Collapse
|
10
|
Sun R, Wang Z, Claus Henn B, Su L, Lu Q, Lin X, Wright RO, Bellinger DC, Kile M, Mazumdar M, Tellez-Rojo MM, Schnaas L, Christiani DC. Identification of novel loci associated with infant cognitive ability. Mol Psychiatry 2020; 25:3010-3019. [PMID: 30120420 PMCID: PMC6378130 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-018-0205-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2017] [Revised: 06/21/2018] [Accepted: 06/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
It is believed that genetic factors play a large role in the development of many cognitive and neurological processes; however, epidemiological evidence for the genetic basis of childhood neurodevelopment is very limited. Identification of the genetic polymorphisms associated with early-stage neurodevelopment will help elucidate biological mechanisms involved in neuro-behavior and provide a better understanding of the developing brain. To search for such variants, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for infant mental and motor ability at two years of age with mothers and children recruited from cohorts in Bangladesh and Mexico. Infant ability was assessed using mental and motor composite scores calculated with country-specific versions of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. A missense variant (rs1055153) located in the gene WWTR1 reached genome-wide significance in association with mental composite score (meta-analysis effect size of minor allele βmeta = -6.04; 95% CI: -8.13 to -3.94; P = 1.56×10-8). Infants carrying the minor allele reported substantially lower cognitive scores in both cohorts, and this variant is predicted to be in the top 0.3% of most deleterious substitutions in the human genome. Fine mapping and region-based association testing provided additional suggestive evidence that both WWTR1 and a second gene, LRP1B, were associated with infant cognitive ability. Comparisons with recently conducted GWAS in intelligence and educational attainment indicate that our phenotypes do not possess a high genetic correlation with either adolescent or adult cognitive traits, suggesting that infant neurological assessments should be treated as an independent outcome of interest. Additional functional studies and replication efforts in other cohorts may help uncover new biological pathways and genetic architectures that are crucial to the developing brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Sun
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
| | - Zhaoxi Wang
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Birgit Claus Henn
- Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
| | - Li Su
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Quan Lu
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Xihong Lin
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Robert O Wright
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - David C Bellinger
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Molly Kile
- College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA
| | - Maitreyi Mazumdar
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Martha Maria Tellez-Rojo
- Center of Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62100, Mexico
| | - Lourdes Schnaas
- Center of Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62100, Mexico
| | - David C Christiani
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Halpern-Manners A, Marahrens H, Neiderhiser JM, Natsuaki MN, Shaw DS, Reiss D, Leve LD. The Intergenerational Transmission of Early Educational Advantages: New Results Based on an Adoption Design. RESEARCH IN SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND MOBILITY 2020; 67:100486. [PMID: 32724268 PMCID: PMC7386403 DOI: 10.1016/j.rssm.2020.100486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Sociological research has traditionally emphasized the importance of post-birth factors (i.e., social, economic, and cultural capital) in the intergenerational transmission of educational advantages, to the neglect of potentially consequential pre-birth endowments (e.g., heritable traits) that are passed from parent to child. In this study, we leverage an experiment of nurture-children who were adopted at birth into nonrelative families-in an effort to simultaneously model the effects associated with both pathways. To do so, we fit a series of simple linear regression models that relate the academic achievement of adopted children to the educational attainments of their adoptive and biological parents, using U.S. data from a recent nationwide sample of birth and adoptive families (the Early Growth and Development Study). Because our dataset includes both "genetic" and "environmental" relatives, but not "genetic-and-environmental" relatives, the separate contributions of each pathway can be identified, as well as possible interactions between the two. Our results show that children's early achievements are influenced not only by the attainments of their adoptive parents, but also the attainments of their birth parents-suggesting the presence of environmental and genetically mediated effects. Supplementary analyses provide little evidence of effect moderation, using both distal and proximate measures of the childhood environment to model gene-by-environment interactions. These findings are robust to a variety of parameterizations, withstand a series of auxiliary checks, and remain intact even after controlling for intrauterine exposures and other measurable variables that could compromise our design. The implications of our results for theory and research in the stratification literature, and for those interested in educational mobility, are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - David Reiss
- Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University
| | - Leslie D. Leve
- Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services, University of Oregon
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Finet C, Vermeer HJ, Juffer F, Bijttebier P, Bosmans G. Remarkable cognitive catch-up in Chinese Adoptees nine years after adoption. JOURNAL OF APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.appdev.2019.101071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
|
13
|
Grotzinger AD, Cheung AK, Patterson MW, Harden KP, Tucker-Drob EM. Genetic and Environmental Links between : General Factors of Psychopathology and Cognitive Ability in Early Childhood. Clin Psychol Sci 2019; 7:430-444. [PMID: 31440427 PMCID: PMC6706081 DOI: 10.1177/2167702618820018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
In adults, psychiatric disorders are highly comorbid, and are negatively associated with cognitive abilities. Individual cognitive measures have been linked with domains of child psychopathology, but the specificity of these associations and the extent to which they reflect shared genetic influences are unknown. This study examines the relation between general factors of cognitive ability (g) and psychopathology (p) in early development using two genetically-informative samples: the Texas "Tiny" Twin project (TXtT; N = 626 individuals, age range = 0.16 - 6.31 years) and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B; N ≈ 1,300 individual twins, age range = 3.7 - 7.1 years). The total p-g correlation (-.21 in ECLS-B; -.34 in TXtT) was primarily attributable to genetic and shared environmental factors. The early age range of participants indicates that the p-g association is a reflection of overlapping genetic and shared environmental factors that operate in the first years of life.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew D. Grotzinger
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E Dean Keeton, Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712-0187
| | - Amanda K. Cheung
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E Dean Keeton, Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712-0187
| | - Megan W. Patterson
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E Dean Keeton, Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712-0187
| | - K. Paige Harden
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E Dean Keeton, Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712-0187
- Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
| | - Elliot M. Tucker-Drob
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E Dean Keeton, Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712-0187
- Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Tosto MG, Garon-Carrier G, Gross S, Petrill SA, Malykh S, Malki K, Hart SA, Thompson L, Karadaghi RL, Yakovlev N, Tikhomirova T, Opfer JE, Mazzocco MMM, Dionne G, Brendgen M, Vitaro F, Tremblay RE, Boivin M, Kovas Y. The nature of the association between number line and mathematical performance: An international twin study. BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 2018; 89:787-803. [PMID: 30548254 DOI: 10.1111/bjep.12259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2018] [Revised: 10/29/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The number line task assesses the ability to estimate numerical magnitudes. People vary greatly in this ability, and this variability has been previously associated with mathematical skills. However, the sources of individual differences in number line estimation and its association with mathematics are not fully understood. AIMS This large-scale genetically sensitive study uses a twin design to estimate the magnitude of the effects of genes and environments on: (1) individual variation in number line estimation and (2) the covariation of number line estimation with mathematics. SAMPLES We used over 3,000 8- to 16-year-old twins from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Russia, and a sample of 1,456 8- to 18-year-old singleton Russian students. METHODS Twins were assessed on: (1) estimation of numerical magnitudes using a number line task and (2) two mathematics components: fluency and problem-solving. RESULTS Results suggest that environments largely drive individual differences in number line estimation. Both genes and environments contribute to different extents to the number line estimation and mathematics correlation, depending on the sample and mathematics component. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, the results suggest that in more heterogeneous school settings, environments may be more important in driving variation in number line estimation and its association with mathematics, whereas in more homogeneous school settings, genetic effects drive the covariation between number line estimation and mathematics. These results are discussed in the light of development and educational settings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Grazia Tosto
- Laboratory for Cognitive Investigations and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychology, Institute of Genetic, Neurobiological, and Social Foundations of Child Development, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Oblast, Russia
| | | | - Susan Gross
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Stephen A Petrill
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Sergey Malykh
- Laboratory for Cognitive Investigations and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychology, Institute of Genetic, Neurobiological, and Social Foundations of Child Development, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Oblast, Russia.,Psychological Institute, Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, Russia
| | - Karim Malki
- MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology& Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
| | - Sara A Hart
- Department of Psychology, Florida Center for Reading Research, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Lee Thompson
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Rezhaw L Karadaghi
- MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology& Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
| | - Nikita Yakovlev
- Laboratory for Cognitive Investigations and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychology, Institute of Genetic, Neurobiological, and Social Foundations of Child Development, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Oblast, Russia
| | | | - John E Opfer
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Michèle M M Mazzocco
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Ginette Dionne
- School of Psychology, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada
| | - Mara Brendgen
- Department of Psychology, School of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Frank Vitaro
- Department of Psychoeducation, Department of Pediatrics and Psychology, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Richard E Tremblay
- Laboratory for Cognitive Investigations and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychology, Institute of Genetic, Neurobiological, and Social Foundations of Child Development, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Oblast, Russia.,Department of Psychoeducation, Department of Pediatrics and Psychology, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada.,School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Michel Boivin
- Laboratory for Cognitive Investigations and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychology, Institute of Genetic, Neurobiological, and Social Foundations of Child Development, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Oblast, Russia.,School of Psychology, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada
| | - Yulia Kovas
- Laboratory for Cognitive Investigations and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychology, Institute of Genetic, Neurobiological, and Social Foundations of Child Development, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Oblast, Russia.,MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology& Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.,Department of Psychology, University of London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Seidler AL, Ritchie SJ. The Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Cognitive Development in Children Is Partly Mediated by a Chaotic Home Atmosphere. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2018.1515077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Lene Seidler
- The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, The University of Sydney, Australia
| | | |
Collapse
|
16
|
Ikram MA, Zonneveld HI, Roshchupkin G, Smith AV, Franco OH, Sigurdsson S, van Duijn C, Uitterlinden AG, Launer LJ, Vernooij MW, Gudnason V, Adams HH. Heritability and genome-wide associations studies of cerebral blood flow in the general population. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2018; 38. [PMID: 28627999 PMCID: PMC6120124 DOI: 10.1177/0271678x17715861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Cerebral blood flow is an important process for brain functioning and its dysregulation is implicated in multiple neurological disorders. While environmental risk factors have been identified, it remains unclear to what extent the flow is regulated by genetics. Here we performed heritability and genome-wide association analyses of cerebral blood flow in a population-based cohort study. We included 4472 persons free of cortical infarcts who underwent genotyping and phase-contrast magnetic resonance flow imaging (mean age 64.8 ± 10.8 years). The flow rate, cross-sectional area of the vessel, and flow velocity through the vessel were measured in the basilar artery and bilateral carotids. We found that the flow rate of the basilar artery is most heritable (h2 (SE) = 24.1 (9.8), p-value = 0.0056), and this increased over age. The association studies revealed two significant loci for the right carotid artery area (rs12546630, p-value = 2.0 × 10-8) and velocity (rs2971609, p-value = 1.4 × 10-8), with the latter showing a concordant effect in an independent sample (N = 1350, p-value = 0.057, meta-analyzed p-value = 2.5 × 10-9). These loci were also associated with other cerebral blood flow parameters below genome-wide significance, and rs2971609 lies in a known migraine locus. These findings establish that cerebral blood flow is under genetic control with potential relevance for neurological diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M Arfan Ikram
- 1 Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,2 Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,3 Department of Neurology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Hazel I Zonneveld
- 1 Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,2 Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Gennady Roshchupkin
- 2 Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,4 Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Albert V Smith
- 5 Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, Iceland.,6 Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Oscar H Franco
- 1 Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | | | | | | | - Meike W Vernooij
- 1 Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,2 Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Vilmundur Gudnason
- 5 Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, Iceland.,6 Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Hieab Hh Adams
- 1 Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,2 Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Ge T, Chen CY, Neale BM, Sabuncu MR, Smoller JW. Phenome-wide heritability analysis of the UK Biobank. PLoS Genet 2017; 13:e1006711. [PMID: 28388634 PMCID: PMC5400281 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Revised: 04/21/2017] [Accepted: 03/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Heritability estimation provides important information about the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to phenotypic variation, and provides an upper bound for the utility of genetic risk prediction models. Recent technological and statistical advances have enabled the estimation of additive heritability attributable to common genetic variants (SNP heritability) across a broad phenotypic spectrum. Here, we present a computationally and memory efficient heritability estimation method that can handle large sample sizes, and report the SNP heritability for 551 complex traits derived from the interim data release (152,736 subjects) of the large-scale, population-based UK Biobank, comprising both quantitative phenotypes and disease codes. We demonstrate that common genetic variation contributes to a broad array of quantitative traits and human diseases in the UK population, and identify phenotypes whose heritability is moderated by age (e.g., a majority of physical measures including height and body mass index), sex (e.g., blood pressure related traits) and socioeconomic status (education). Our study represents the first comprehensive phenome-wide heritability analysis in the UK Biobank, and underscores the importance of considering population characteristics in interpreting heritability. Heritability of a trait refers to the proportion of phenotypic variation that is due to genetic variation among individuals. It provides important information about the genetic basis of complex traits and indicates whether a phenotype is an appropriate target for more specific statistical and molecular genetic analyses. Recent studies have leveraged the increasingly ubiquitous genome-wide data and documented the heritability attributable to common genetic variation captured by genotyping microarrays for a wide range of human traits. However, heritability is not a fixed property of a phenotype and can vary with population-specific differences in the genetic background and environmental variation. Here, using a computationally and memory efficient heritability estimation method, we report the heritability for a large number of traits derived from the large-scale, population-based UK Biobank, and, for the first time, demonstrate the moderating effect of three major demographic variables (age, sex and socioeconomic status) on heritability estimates derived from genome-wide common genetic variation. Our study represents the first comprehensive heritability analysis across the phenotypic spectrum in the UK Biobank.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tian Ge
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States of America
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
- * E-mail: (TG); (JWS)
| | - Chia-Yen Chen
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
- Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Benjamin M. Neale
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
- Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Mert R. Sabuncu
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States of America
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States of America
| | - Jordan W. Smoller
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
- * E-mail: (TG); (JWS)
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Grob
- Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Klaassen P, Duijff S, Swanenburg de Veye H, Beemer F, Sinnema G, Breetvelt E, Schappin R, Vorstman J. Explaining the variable penetrance of CNVs: Parental intelligence modulates expression of intellectual impairment caused by the 22q11.2 deletion. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 2016; 171:790-6. [PMID: 26953189 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2015] [Accepted: 02/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The role of rare genetic variants, in particular copy number variants (CNVs), in the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders is becoming increasingly clear. While the list of these disorder-related CNVs continues to lengthen, it has also become clear that in nearly all genetic variants the proportion of carriers who express the associated phenotype is far from 100%. To understand this variable penetrance of CNVs it is important to realize that even the largest CNVs represent only a tiny fraction of the entire genome. Therefore, part of the mechanism underlying the variable penetrance of CNVs is likely the modulatory impact of the rest of the genome. In the present study we used the 22q11DS as a model to examine whether the observed penetrance of intellectual impairment-one of the main phenotypes associated with 22q11DS-is modulated by the intellectual level of their parents, for which we used the parents' highest level of education as a proxy. Our results, based on data observed in 171 children with 22q11DS in the age range of 5-15 years, showed a significant association between estimated parental cognitive level and intelligence in offspring (full scale, verbal and performance IQ), with the largest effect size for verbal IQ. These results suggest that possible mechanisms involved in the variable penetrance observed in CNVs include the impact of genetic background and/or environmental influences. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Petra Klaassen
- Department of Medical Psychology, Tergooi, Hilversum, The Netherlands
| | - Sasja Duijff
- Department of Peadiatric Psychology, University Medical Center Utrecht/Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Henriëtte Swanenburg de Veye
- Department of Peadiatric Psychology, University Medical Center Utrecht/Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Frits Beemer
- Department of Medical Genetics, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Gerben Sinnema
- Department of Peadiatric Psychology, University Medical Center Utrecht/Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Elemi Breetvelt
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Renske Schappin
- Department of Peadiatric Psychology, University Medical Center Utrecht/Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Jacob Vorstman
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Bandoli G, Coles CD, Kable JA, Wertelecki W, Granovska IV, Pashtepa AO, Chambers CD. Assessing the Independent and Joint Effects of Unmedicated Prenatal Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Consumption in Pregnancy and Infant Neurodevelopmental Outcomes. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2016; 40:1304-11. [PMID: 27129610 DOI: 10.1111/acer.13081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2016] [Accepted: 03/28/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is an established risk factor for neurodevelopmental deficits in the offspring. Prenatal depression has been associated with neurodevelopmental deficits in the offspring, although investigations into unmedicated prenatal depression have been inconsistent. We hypothesized that unmedicated prenatal depressive symptoms would independently and jointly with PAE predict neurodevelopmental outcomes in infant offspring. METHODS We studied 344 participants from a randomized clinical trial of multivitamin supplements in pregnant women in Ukraine. Women were recruited based upon periconceptional alcohol use and followed up to 12 months postpartum. Prenatal depressive symptoms were assessed at approximately 32 weeks of gestation using the Beck Depression Inventory score. Neurodevelopment was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II Mental Development Index (MDI) and Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) at 6 and 12 months postpartum. Generalized linear regression models were constructed to assess the independent and joint effects of prenatal depressive symptoms and PAE in models adjusted for sociodemographic and pregnancy characteristics. RESULTS PAE was independently associated with deficits in neurodevelopmental outcomes at 6 and 12 months, however, level of prenatal depressive symptoms was not. We found marginal evidence of synergism of depressive symptoms and PAE, with larger deficits in those with both exposures observed for the PDI-6 months (p = 0.05) and MDI-12 months (p = 0.09). Additionally, there was a suggestion of sexual dimorphism; females had stronger deficits from joint exposures than males (depressive symptom [MDI-6 months] female: -8.28, 95% CI -13.06, -3.49; male: 0.68, 95% CI -4.58, 5.94; p for interaction 0.04). While not statistically significant for the MDI or PDI at 12 months, the trend persisted. CONCLUSIONS Infants exposed to PAE and prenatal depression may be at an increased risk of neurodevelopmental deficits. Healthcare providers should be aware of this possible synergism in their efforts to mitigate the neurodevelopmental effects of these co-occurring exposures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gretchen Bandoli
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California
| | - Claire D Coles
- Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Julie A Kable
- Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Wladimir Wertelecki
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California.,OMNI-Net for Children International Charitable Fund, Rivne Regional Medical Diagnostic Center, Rivne, Ukraine.,OMNI-Net for Children International Charitable Fund, Khmelnytsky Perinatal Center, Khmelnytsky, Ukraine.,Department of Medical Genetics, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama
| | - Irina V Granovska
- OMNI-Net for Children International Charitable Fund, Rivne Regional Medical Diagnostic Center, Rivne, Ukraine
| | - Alla O Pashtepa
- OMNI-Net for Children International Charitable Fund, Khmelnytsky Perinatal Center, Khmelnytsky, Ukraine
| | - Christina D Chambers
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California
| | | |
Collapse
|
21
|
Den Hartigh RJR, Van Dijk MWG, Steenbeek HW, Van Geert PLC. A Dynamic Network Model to Explain the Development of Excellent Human Performance. Front Psychol 2016; 7:532. [PMID: 27148140 PMCID: PMC4837162 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2015] [Accepted: 03/30/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Across different domains, from sports to science, some individuals accomplish excellent levels of performance. For over 150 years, researchers have debated the roles of specific nature and nurture components to develop excellence. In this article, we argue that the key to excellence does not reside in specific underlying components, but rather in the ongoing interactions among the components. We propose that excellence emerges out of dynamic networks consisting of idiosyncratic mixtures of interacting components such as genetic endowment, motivation, practice, and coaching. Using computer simulations we demonstrate that the dynamic network model accurately predicts typical properties of excellence reported in the literature, such as the idiosyncratic developmental trajectories leading to excellence and the highly skewed distributions of productivity present in virtually any achievement domain. Based on this novel theoretical perspective on excellent human performance, this article concludes by suggesting policy implications and directions for future research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ruud J. R. Den Hartigh
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of GroningenGroningen, Netherlands
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
22
|
Freese J, Jao YH. Shared Environment Estimates for Educational Attainment: A Puzzle and Possible Solutions. J Pers 2015; 85:79-89. [PMID: 26340642 DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Classical behavioral genetics models for twin and other family designs decompose traits into heritability, shared environment, and nonshared environment components. Estimates of heritability of adult traits are pervasively observed to be far higher than those of shared environment, which has been used to make broad claims about the impotence of upbringing. However, the most commonly studied nondemographic variable in many areas of social science, educational attainment, exhibits robustly high estimates both for heritability and for shared environment. When previously noticed, the usual explanation has emphasized family resources, but evidence suggests this is unlikely to explain the anomalous high estimates for shared environment of educational attainment. We articulate eight potential complementary explanations and discuss evidence of their prospective contributions to resolving the puzzle. In so doing, we hope to further consideration of how behavioral genetics findings may advance studies of social stratification beyond the effort to articulate specific genetic influences.
Collapse
|
23
|
Cheung AK, Harden KP, Tucker-Drob EM. From specialist to generalist: Developmental transformations in the genetic structure of early child abilities. Dev Psychobiol 2015; 57:566-83. [PMID: 25975938 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2014] [Accepted: 03/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The heritability of abilities increases substantially over development, and much of heritable variation in abilities is shared with other abilities. No study, however, has formally tested the extent to which developmental increases in heritability occur on shared versus unique variation in child abilities. A transactional perspective predicts that the relative proportion of shared to total genetic variance will increase with age, whereas an endogenous perspective predicts that such proportion will be invariant with age. We tested these competing predictions using data from a sample of 292 twins providing a total of 578 cross-sectional and longitudinal observations between ages 0 and 6 years on measures of Communication, Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Problem-Solving, and Personal-Social abilities. Consistent with predictions of the transactional perspective, developmental increases in heritability were localized to variance shared across abilities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amanda K Cheung
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 108 E. Dean Keeton Street A8000, Austin, TX, 78712-0187
| | - K Paige Harden
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 108 E. Dean Keeton Street A8000, Austin, TX, 78712-0187.,Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
| | - Elliot M Tucker-Drob
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 108 E. Dean Keeton Street A8000, Austin, TX, 78712-0187.,Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
What twin studies tell us about the heritability of brain development, morphology, and function: a review. Neuropsychol Rev 2015; 25:27-46. [PMID: 25672928 PMCID: PMC4412550 DOI: 10.1007/s11065-015-9278-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2014] [Accepted: 01/06/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The development of brain structure and function shows large inter-individual variation. The extent to which this variation is due to genetic or environmental influences has been investigated in twin studies using structural and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The current review presents an overview of twin studies using MRI in children, adults and elderly, and focuses on cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. The majority of the investigated brain measures are heritable to a large extent (60–80 %), although spatial differences in heritability are observed as well. Cross-sectional studies suggest that heritability estimates slightly increase from childhood to adulthood. Long-term longitudinal studies are better suited to study developmental changes in heritability, but these studies are limited. Results so far suggest that the heritability of change over time is relatively low or absent, but more studies are needed to confirm these findings. Compared to brain structure, twin studies of brain function are scarce, and show much lower heritability estimates (~40 %). The insights from heritability studies aid our understanding of individual differences in brain structure and function. With the recent start of large genetic MRI consortia, the chance of finding genes that explain the heritability of brain morphology increases. Gene identification may provide insight in biological mechanisms involved in brain processes, which in turn will learn us more about healthy and disturbed brain functioning.
Collapse
|
25
|
Plomin R, Deary IJ. Genetics and intelligence differences: five special findings. Mol Psychiatry 2015; 20:98-108. [PMID: 25224258 PMCID: PMC4270739 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2014.105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 342] [Impact Index Per Article: 38.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2014] [Revised: 07/18/2014] [Accepted: 07/22/2014] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Intelligence is a core construct in differential psychology and behavioural genetics, and should be so in cognitive neuroscience. It is one of the best predictors of important life outcomes such as education, occupation, mental and physical health and illness, and mortality. Intelligence is one of the most heritable behavioural traits. Here, we highlight five genetic findings that are special to intelligence differences and that have important implications for its genetic architecture and for gene-hunting expeditions. (i) The heritability of intelligence increases from about 20% in infancy to perhaps 80% in later adulthood. (ii) Intelligence captures genetic effects on diverse cognitive and learning abilities, which correlate phenotypically about 0.30 on average but correlate genetically about 0.60 or higher. (iii) Assortative mating is greater for intelligence (spouse correlations ~0.40) than for other behavioural traits such as personality and psychopathology (~0.10) or physical traits such as height and weight (~0.20). Assortative mating pumps additive genetic variance into the population every generation, contributing to the high narrow heritability (additive genetic variance) of intelligence. (iv) Unlike psychiatric disorders, intelligence is normally distributed with a positive end of exceptional performance that is a model for 'positive genetics'. (v) Intelligence is associated with education and social class and broadens the causal perspectives on how these three inter-correlated variables contribute to social mobility, and health, illness and mortality differences. These five findings arose primarily from twin studies. They are being confirmed by the first new quantitative genetic technique in a century-Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA)-which estimates genetic influence using genome-wide genotypes in large samples of unrelated individuals. Comparing GCTA results to the results of twin studies reveals important insights into the genetic architecture of intelligence that are relevant to attempts to narrow the 'missing heritability' gap.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R Plomin
- King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, DeCrespigny Park, London, UK
| | - I J Deary
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Olszewski AK, Radoeva PD, Fremont W, Kates WR, Antshel KM. Is child intelligence associated with parent and sibling intelligence in individuals with developmental disorders? An investigation in youth with 22q11.2 deletion (velo-cardio-facial) syndrome. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2014; 35:3582-3590. [PMID: 25244692 PMCID: PMC4253715 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2014.08.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2014] [Accepted: 08/28/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS), a copy-number variation (CNV) genetic disorder, demonstrate a great deal of variability in IQ scores and are at particular risk for cognitive difficulties, with up to 45% experiencing intellectual disability. This study explored the IQ relationship between individuals with 22q11DS, their parents and their siblings. Participants included individuals with 22q11DS, unaffected siblings and community controls, who participated in a longitudinal study of 22q11DS. Significant associations between proband and relative (parent, sibling) IQ scores were found. Results suggest that the cognitive functioning of first-degree relatives could be a useful marker of general genetic background and/or environmental effects, and can explain some of the large phenotypic variability in 22q11DS. These findings underscore the importance of including siblings and parents in studies of 22q11DS whenever possible.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amy K Olszewski
- Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, 430 Huntington Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY - Upstate Medical University, 750 E. Adams St., Syracuse, NY 13210, United States.
| | - Petya D Radoeva
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY - Upstate Medical University, 750 E. Adams St., Syracuse, NY 13210, United States
| | - Wanda Fremont
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY - Upstate Medical University, 750 E. Adams St., Syracuse, NY 13210, United States
| | - Wendy R Kates
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY - Upstate Medical University, 750 E. Adams St., Syracuse, NY 13210, United States
| | - Kevin M Antshel
- Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, 430 Huntington Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY - Upstate Medical University, 750 E. Adams St., Syracuse, NY 13210, United States
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Del Giudice M. Middle Childhood: An Evolutionary-Developmental Synthesis. CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
|
28
|
Tucker-Drob EM, Briley DA. Continuity of genetic and environmental influences on cognition across the life span: a meta-analysis of longitudinal twin and adoption studies. Psychol Bull 2014; 140:949-79. [PMID: 24611582 PMCID: PMC4069230 DOI: 10.1037/a0035893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The longitudinal rank-order stability of cognitive ability increases dramatically over the life span. Theoretical perspectives differ in their emphasis on genetic mechanisms in explaining the longitudinal stability of cognition and how stability changes with development. However, the patterns of stability of genetic and environmental influences on cognition over the life span remain poorly understood. We searched for longitudinal studies of cognition that reported raw genetically informative longitudinal correlations or parameter estimates from longitudinal behavior genetic models. We identified 150 combinations of time points and measures from 15 independent longitudinal samples. In total, longitudinal data came from 4,548 monozygotic twin pairs raised together, 7,777 dizygotic twin pairs raised together, 34 monozygotic twin pairs raised apart, 78 dizygotic twin pairs raised apart, 141 adoptive sibling pairs, and 143 nonadoptive sibling pairs, ranging in age from infancy through late adulthood. At all ages, cross-time genetic correlations and shared environmental correlations were substantially larger than cross-time nonshared environmental correlations. Cross-time correlations for genetic and shared environmental components were, respectively, low and moderate during early childhood, increased sharply over child development, and remained high from adolescence through late adulthood. Cross-time correlations for nonshared environmental components were low across childhood and gradually increased to moderate magnitudes in adulthood. Increasing phenotypic stability over child development was almost entirely mediated by genetic factors. Time-based decay of genetic and shared environmental stability was more pronounced earlier in child development. Results are interpreted in reference to theories of gene-environment correlation and interaction.
Collapse
|
29
|
Tosto M, Petrill S, Halberda J, Trzaskowski M, Tikhomirova T, Bogdanova O, Ly R, Wilmer J, Naiman D, Germine L, Plomin R, Kovas Y. Why do we differ in number sense? Evidence from a genetically sensitive investigation. INTELLIGENCE 2014; 43:35-46. [PMID: 24696527 PMCID: PMC3969293 DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2013.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2013] [Revised: 12/10/2013] [Accepted: 12/21/2013] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Basic intellectual abilities of quantity and numerosity estimation have been detected across animal species. Such abilities are referred to as 'number sense'. For human species, individual differences in number sense are detectable early in life, persist in later development, and relate to general intelligence. The origins of these individual differences are unknown. To address this question, we conducted the first large-scale genetically sensitive investigation of number sense, assessing numerosity discrimination abilities in 837 pairs of monozygotic and 1422 pairs of dizygotic 16-year-old twin pairs. Univariate genetic analysis of the twin data revealed that number sense is modestly heritable (32%), with individual differences being largely explained by non-shared environmental influences (68%) and no contribution from shared environmental factors. Sex-Limitation model fitting revealed no differences between males and females in the etiology of individual differences in number sense abilities. We also carried out Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA) that estimates the population variance explained by additive effects of DNA differences among unrelated individuals. For 1118 unrelated individuals in our sample with genotyping information on 1.7 million DNA markers, GCTA estimated zero heritability for number sense, unlike other cognitive abilities in the same twin study where the GCTA heritability estimates were about 25%. The low heritability of number sense, observed in this study, is consistent with the directional selection explanation whereby additive genetic variance for evolutionary important traits is reduced.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M.G. Tosto
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenin Prospekt, 634050, Tomsk, Russia
| | - S.A. Petrill
- The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States
| | - J. Halberda
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218-268, United States
| | - M. Trzaskowski
- King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
| | - T.N. Tikhomirova
- Department of Psychology, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenin Prospekt, 634050, Tomsk, Russia
| | - O.Y. Bogdanova
- Department of Psychology, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenin Prospekt, 634050, Tomsk, Russia
| | - R. Ly
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218-268, United States
| | - J.B. Wilmer
- Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481, United States
| | - D.Q. Naiman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218-268, United States
| | - L. Germine
- Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, United States
| | - R. Plomin
- King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
| | - Y. Kovas
- Department of Psychology, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenin Prospekt, 634050, Tomsk, Russia
- King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
- Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Abstract
Twin and family studies have shown that most traits are at least moderately heritable. But what are the implications of finding genetic influence for the design of intervention and prevention programs? For complex traits, heritability does not mean immutability, and research has shown that genetic influences can change with age, context, and in response to behavioral and drug interventions. The most significant implications for intervention will come when we move from observational genetics to investigating dynamic genetics, including genetically sensitive interventions. Future interventions should be designed to overcome genetic risk and draw upon genetic strengths by changing the environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Oliver S. P. Davis
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, UCL Genetics Institute, University College LondonLondon, UK
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Genetic origin of the relationship between parental negativity and behavior problems from early childhood to adolescence: a longitudinal genetically sensitive study. Dev Psychopathol 2013; 25:487-500. [PMID: 23627958 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579412001198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Little is known about how genetic and environmental factors contribute to the association between parental negativity and behavior problems from early childhood to adolescence. The current study fitted a cross-lagged model in a sample consisting of 4,075 twin pairs to explore (a) the role of genetic and environmental factors in the relationship between parental negativity and behavior problems from age 4 to age 12, (b) whether parent-driven and child-driven processes independently explain the association, and (c) whether there are sex differences in this relationship. Both phenotypes showed substantial genetic influence at both ages. The concurrent overlap between them was mainly accounted for by genetic factors. Causal pathways representing stability of the phenotypes and parent-driven and child-driven effects significantly and independently account for the association. Significant but slight differences were found between males and females for parent-driven effects. These results were highly similar when general cognitive ability was added as a covariate. In summary, the longitudinal association between parental negativity and behavior problems seems to be bidirectional and mainly accounted for by genetic factors. Furthermore, child-driven effects were mainly genetically mediated, and parent-driven effects were a function of both genetic and shared-environmental factors.
Collapse
|
32
|
Tucker-Drob EM, Briley DA, Harden KP. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Cognition Across Development and Context. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2013; 22:349-355. [PMID: 24799770 DOI: 10.1177/0963721413485087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 156] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Genes account for between approximately 50% and 70% of the variation in cognition at the population level. However, population-level estimates of heritability potentially mask marked subgroup differences. We review the body of empirical evidence indicating that (a) genetic influences on cognition increase from infancy to adulthood, and (b) genetic influences on cognition are maximized in more advantaged socioeconomic contexts (i.e., a Gene × Socioeconomic Status interaction). We discuss potential mechanisms underlying these effects, particularly transactional models of cognitive development. Transactional models predict that people in high-opportunity contexts actively evoke and select positive learning experiences on the basis of their genetic predispositions; these learning experiences, in turn, reciprocally influence cognition. The net result of this transactional process is increasing genetic influence with increasing age and increasing environmental opportunity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elliot M Tucker-Drob
- Department of Psychology and Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Daniel A Briley
- Department of Psychology and Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin
| | - K Paige Harden
- Department of Psychology and Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Abstract
Ronald Wilson presented the first clear and compelling evidence that the heritability of IQ increases with age. We propose to call the phenomenon ‘The Wilson Effect’ and we document the effect diagrammatically with key twin and adoption studies, including twins reared apart, that have been carried out at various ages and in a large number of different settings. The results show that the heritability of IQ reaches an asymptote at about 0.80 at 18–20 years of age and continuing at that level well into adulthood. In the aggregate, the studies also confirm that shared environmental influence decreases across age, approximating about 0.10 at 18–20 years of age and continuing at that level into adulthood. These conclusions apply to the Westernized industrial democracies in which most of the studies have been carried out.
Collapse
|
34
|
Abstract
Gene-environment correlation (rGE) exists both within and between families. Between families, accumulating rGE has been used to explain dramatic changes in phenotypic means over time. The Dickens and Flynn model of increases in cognitive ability over generational time, for example, suggests that small changes in phenotype can lead to subsequent reallocation of environmental resources. This process sets up a reciprocal feedback loop between phenotype and environment, producing accumulating rGE that can cause large changes in the mean of ability, even though ability remains highly heritable in cross-sectional data. We report simulations suggesting that similar processes may operate within twin and sibling pairs. Especially in dizygotic twins and siblings, small differences in phenotype can become associated with reallocations of environmental resources within families. We show that phenotype-environment effects can account for age-related increases in rGE, rapid differentiation of siblings raised together, and widely reported increases in the heritability of behavior during childhood and adolescence.
Collapse
|
35
|
Briley DA, Tucker-Drob EM. Explaining the increasing heritability of cognitive ability across development: a meta-analysis of longitudinal twin and adoption studies. Psychol Sci 2013; 24:1704-13. [PMID: 23818655 DOI: 10.1177/0956797613478618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Genes account for increasing proportions of variation in cognitive ability across development, but the mechanisms underlying these increases remain unclear. We conducted a meta-analysis of longitudinal behavioral genetic studies spanning infancy to adolescence. We identified relevant data from 16 articles with 11 unique samples containing a total of 11,500 twin and sibling pairs who were all reared together and measured at least twice between the ages of 6 months and 18 years. Longitudinal behavioral genetic models were used to estimate the extent to which early genetic influences on cognition were amplified over time and the extent to which innovative genetic influences arose with time. Results indicated that in early childhood, innovative genetic influences predominate but that innovation quickly diminishes, and amplified influences account for increasing heritability following age 8 years.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Briley
- Department of Psychology and Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin
| | | |
Collapse
|
36
|
Plomin R, Haworth CMA, Meaburn EL, Price TS, Davis OSP. Common DNA markers can account for more than half of the genetic influence on cognitive abilities. Psychol Sci 2013; 24:562-8. [PMID: 23501967 PMCID: PMC3652710 DOI: 10.1177/0956797612457952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
For nearly a century, twin and adoption studies have yielded substantial estimates of heritability for cognitive abilities, although it has proved difficult for genomewide-association studies to identify the genetic variants that account for this heritability (i.e., the missing-heritability problem). However, a new approach, genomewide complex-trait analysis (GCTA), forgoes the identification of individual variants to estimate the total heritability captured by common DNA markers on genotyping arrays. In the same sample of 3,154 pairs of 12-year-old twins, we directly compared twin-study heritability estimates for cognitive abilities (language, verbal, nonverbal, and general) with GCTA estimates captured by 1.7 million DNA markers. We found that DNA markers tagged by the array accounted for .66 of the estimated heritability, reaffirming that cognitive abilities are heritable. Larger sample sizes alone will be sufficient to identify many of the genetic variants that influence cognitive abilities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Robert Plomin
- MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
37
|
Haworth CMA, Davis OSP, Plomin R. Twins Early Development Study (TEDS): a genetically sensitive investigation of cognitive and behavioral development from childhood to young adulthood. Twin Res Hum Genet 2013; 16:117-25. [PMID: 23110994 PMCID: PMC3817931 DOI: 10.1017/thg.2012.91] [Citation(s) in RCA: 213] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
The Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) is a large longitudinal sample of twins born in England and Wales between 1994 and 1996. The focus of TEDS has been on cognitive and behavioral development, including difficulties in the context of normal development. TEDS began when multiple births were identified from birth records and the families were invited to take part in the study; 16,810 pairs of twins were originally enrolled in TEDS. More than 10,000 of these twin pairs remain enrolled in the study to date. DNA has been collected for more than 7,000 pairs, and genome-wide genotyping data for two million DNA markers are available for 3,500 individuals. The TEDS families have taken part in studies when the twins were aged 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, and 16 years of age. Data collection is currently underway to assess the adult destinations of the twins as they move from school to university and the workplace. Between January 2012 and December 2014, all of the TEDS twins will turn 18, and the study will transition to an adult sample. TEDS represents an outstanding resource for investigating the developmental effects of genes and environments on complex quantitative traits from childhood to young adulthood and beyond.
Collapse
|
38
|
de Oliveira Thais MER, Cavallazzi G, Formolo DA, de Castro LD, Schmoeller R, Guarnieri R, Schwarzbold ML, Diaz AP, Hohl A, Prediger RDS, Mader MJ, Linhares MN, Staniloiu A, Markowitsch HJ, Walz R. Limited predictive power of hospitalization variables for long-term cognitive prognosis in adult patients with severe traumatic brain injury. J Neuropsychol 2012; 8:125-39. [DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2011] [Revised: 09/16/2012] [Accepted: 09/16/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Gisele Cavallazzi
- Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp); Hospital Universitário (HU); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC); Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
| | - Douglas Afonso Formolo
- Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp); Hospital Universitário (HU); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC); Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
| | - Lucas D'Ávila de Castro
- Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp); Hospital Universitário (HU); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC); Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
| | - Roseli Schmoeller
- Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp); Hospital Universitário (HU); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC); Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
| | - Ricardo Guarnieri
- Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp); Hospital Universitário (HU); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC); Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
- Centro de Epilepsia do Estado de Santa Catarina (CEPESC); Hospital Governador Celso Ramos; Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
| | - Marcelo Liborio Schwarzbold
- Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp); Hospital Universitário (HU); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC); Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
| | - Alexandre Paim Diaz
- Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp); Hospital Universitário (HU); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC); Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
- Centro de Epilepsia do Estado de Santa Catarina (CEPESC); Hospital Governador Celso Ramos; Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
| | - Alexandre Hohl
- Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp); Hospital Universitário (HU); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC); Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
| | - Rui D. S. Prediger
- Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp); Hospital Universitário (HU); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC); Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
- Departamento de Farmacologia; Centro de Ciências Biológicas; Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, UFSC; Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
| | - Maria Joana Mader
- Hospital de Clínicas; Universidade Federal do Paraná; Curitiba Paraná Brazil
| | - Marcelo Neves Linhares
- Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp); Hospital Universitário (HU); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC); Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
- Centro de Epilepsia do Estado de Santa Catarina (CEPESC); Hospital Governador Celso Ramos; Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
- Unidade de Neurocirurgia; Serviço de Cirurgia; HU, UFSC; Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
| | | | | | - Roger Walz
- Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp); Hospital Universitário (HU); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC); Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
- Centro de Epilepsia do Estado de Santa Catarina (CEPESC); Hospital Governador Celso Ramos; Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
- Departamento de Clínica Médica; HU, UFSC; Florianópolis Santa Catarina Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Assessment of Intelligence in the Preschool Period. Neuropsychol Rev 2012; 22:334-44. [DOI: 10.1007/s11065-012-9215-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2012] [Accepted: 09/24/2012] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
|
40
|
Dubois L, Ohm Kyvik K, Girard M, Tatone-Tokuda F, Pérusse D, Hjelmborg J, Skytthe A, Rasmussen F, Wright MJ, Lichtenstein P, Martin NG. Genetic and environmental contributions to weight, height, and BMI from birth to 19 years of age: an international study of over 12,000 twin pairs. PLoS One 2012; 7:e30153. [PMID: 22347368 PMCID: PMC3275599 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 170] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2011] [Accepted: 12/11/2011] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine the genetic and environmental influences on variances in weight, height, and BMI, from birth through 19 years of age, in boys and girls from three continents. DESIGN AND SETTINGS Cross-sectional twin study. Data obtained from a total of 23 twin birth-cohorts from four countries: Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and Australia. Participants were Monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) (same- and opposite-sex) twin pairs with data available for both height and weight at a given age, from birth through 19 years of age. Approximately 24,036 children were included in the analyses. RESULTS Heritability for body weight, height, and BMI was low at birth (between 6.4 and 8.7% for boys, and between 4.8 and 7.9% for girls) but increased over time, accounting for close to half or more of the variance in body weight and BMI after 5 months of age in both sexes. Common environmental influences on all body measures were high at birth (between 74.1-85.9% in all measures for boys, and between 74.2 and 87.3% in all measures for girls) and markedly reduced over time. For body height, the effect of the common environment remained significant for a longer period during early childhood (up through 12 years of age). Sex-limitation of genetic and shared environmental effects was observed. CONCLUSION Genetics appear to play an increasingly important role in explaining the variation in weight, height, and BMI from early childhood to late adolescence, particularly in boys. Common environmental factors exert their strongest and most independent influence specifically in pre-adolescent years and more significantly in girls. These findings emphasize the need to target family and social environmental interventions in early childhood years, especially for females. As gene-environment correlation and interaction is likely, it is also necessary to identify the genetic variants that may predispose individuals to obesity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lise Dubois
- Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
41
|
Hanscombe KB, Trzaskowski M, Haworth CMA, Davis OSP, Dale PS, Plomin R. Socioeconomic status (SES) and children's intelligence (IQ): in a UK-representative sample SES moderates the environmental, not genetic, effect on IQ. PLoS One 2012; 7:e30320. [PMID: 22312423 PMCID: PMC3270016 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 153] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2011] [Accepted: 12/16/2011] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The environment can moderate the effect of genes - a phenomenon called gene-environment (GxE) interaction. Several studies have found that socioeconomic status (SES) modifies the heritability of children's intelligence. Among low-SES families, genetic factors have been reported to explain less of the variance in intelligence; the reverse is found for high-SES families. The evidence however is inconsistent. Other studies have reported an effect in the opposite direction (higher heritability in lower SES), or no moderation of the genetic effect on intelligence. Methods Using 8716 twin pairs from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS), we attempted to replicate the reported moderating effect of SES on children's intelligence at ages 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12 and 14: i.e., lower heritability in lower-SES families. We used a twin model that allowed for a main effect of SES on intelligence, as well as a moderating effect of SES on the genetic and environmental components of intelligence. Results We found greater variance in intelligence in low-SES families, but minimal evidence of GxE interaction across the eight ages. A power calculation indicated that a sample size of about 5000 twin pairs is required to detect moderation of the genetic component of intelligence as small as 0.25, with about 80% power - a difference of 11% to 53% in heritability, in low- (−2 standard deviations, SD) and high-SES (+2 SD) families. With samples at each age of about this size, the present study found no moderation of the genetic effect on intelligence. However, we found the greater variance in low-SES families is due to moderation of the environmental effect – an environment-environment interaction. Conclusions In a UK-representative sample, the genetic effect on intelligence is similar in low- and high-SES families. Children's shared experiences appear to explain the greater variation in intelligence in lower SES.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ken B Hanscombe
- Medical Research Council Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
42
|
Tucker-Drob EM, Harden KP. Intellectual interest mediates gene × socioeconomic status interaction on adolescent academic achievement. Child Dev 2012; 83:743-57. [PMID: 22288554 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01721.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies have demonstrated that genetic influences on cognitive ability and academic achievement are larger for children raised in higher socioeconomic status (SES) homes. However, little work has been done to document the psychosocial processes that underlie this Gene × Environment interaction. One process may involve the conversion of intellectual interest into academic achievement. Analyses of data from 777 pairs of 17-year-old twins indicated that Gene × SES effects on achievement scores can be accounted for by stronger influences of genes for intellectual interest on achievement at higher levels of SES. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that higher SES affords greater opportunity for children to seek out and benefit from learning experiences that are congruent with their genetically influenced intellectual interests.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elliot M Tucker-Drob
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A8000, Austin, TX 78712-0187, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
43
|
Tucker-Drob EM, Harden KP. Early childhood cognitive development and parental cognitive stimulation: evidence for reciprocal gene-environment transactions. Dev Sci 2011; 15:250-9. [PMID: 22356180 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2011.01121.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Parenting is traditionally conceptualized as an exogenous environment that affects child development. However, children can also influence the quality of parenting that they receive. Using longitudinal data from 650 identical and fraternal twin pairs, we found that, controlling for cognitive ability at age 2 years, cognitive stimulation by parents (coded from video recorded behaviors during a dyadic task) at 2 years predicted subsequent reading ability at age 4 years. Moreover, controlling for cognitive stimulation at 2 years, children's cognitive ability at 2 years predicted the quality of stimulation received from their parents at 4 years. Genetic and environmental factors differentially contributed to these effects. Parenting influenced subsequent cognitive development through a family-level environmental pathway, whereas children's cognitive ability influenced subsequent parenting through a genetic pathway. These results suggest that genetic influences on cognitive development occur through a transactional process, in which genetic predispositions lead children to evoke cognitively stimulating experiences from their environments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elliot M Tucker-Drob
- Department of Psychology & Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
44
|
Ronald A. Is the child ‘father of the Man’? Evaluating the stability of genetic influences across development. Dev Sci 2011; 14:1471-8. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2011.01114.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
|
45
|
Abstract
Individual differences in human intelligence are of interest to a wide range of psychologists and to many people outside the discipline. This overview of contributions to intelligence research covers the first decade of the twenty-first century. There is a survey of some of the major books that appeared since 2000, at different levels of expertise and from different points of view. Contributions to the phenotype of intelligence differences are discussed, as well as some contributions to causes and consequences of intelligence differences. The major causal issues covered concern the environment and genetics, and how intelligence differences are being mapped to brain differences. The major outcomes discussed are health, education, and socioeconomic status. Aging and intelligence are discussed, as are sex differences in intelligence and whether twins and singletons differ in intelligence. More generally, the degree to which intelligence has become a part of broader research in neuroscience, health, and social science is discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ian J Deary
- Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Measures of anxiety, amygdala volumes, and hippocampal scopolamine phMRI response in elderly female rhesus macaques. Neuropharmacology 2011; 62:385-90. [PMID: 21867720 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2011.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2011] [Revised: 08/10/2011] [Accepted: 08/10/2011] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
In nonhuman primates, anxiety levels are typically assessed by observing social hierarchies or behavior in an intruder task. As measures of anxiety might influence performance on a particular cognitive task, it is important to analyze these measures in the same room as used for the cognitive task. As we use a playroom for the spatial maze test, we classified elderly female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) monkeys, as bold or reserved monkeys based on the time spent in specific areas of this room. Based on their exploratory behavior in the playroom, bold monkeys were defined as animals that spent 20% more time in the unprotected areas of the room than in the protected areas, whereas reserved monkeys spent a comparable amount of time in both areas. MRI analyses showed that reserved monkeys had a smaller amygdala compared to bold monkeys but there were no group differences in hippocampal volumes. In addition, the amount of time spent in the corners of the room was negatively correlated with the right amygdala as well as the total amygdala size. Finally, reserved monkeys showed a lower phMRI response to the muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine compared to the bold monkeys. Thus, in elderly female nonhuman primates measures of anxiety are associated with structural amygdala differences and hippocampal muscarinic receptor function. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Anxiety and Depression'.
Collapse
|
47
|
van Soelen ILC, Brouwer RM, van Leeuwen M, Kahn RS, Hulshoff Pol HE, Boomsma DI. Heritability of verbal and performance intelligence in a pediatric longitudinal sample. Twin Res Hum Genet 2011; 14:119-28. [PMID: 21425893 DOI: 10.1375/twin.14.2.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The longitudinal stability of IQ is well-documented as is its increasing heritability with age. In a longitudinal twin study, we addressed the question to what extent heritability and stability differ for full scale (FSIQ), verbal (VIQ), and performance IQ (PIQ) in childhood (age 9-11 years), and early adolescence (age 12-14 years). Genetic and environmental influences and correlations over time were evaluated in an extended twin design, including Dutch twins and their siblings. Intelligence was measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children - Third version (WISC III). Heritability in childhood was 34% for FSIQ, 37% for VIQ, and 64% for PIQ, and increased up to 65%, 51%, and 72% in early adolescence. The influence of common environment decreased between childhood and early adolescence from explaining 43% of the phenotypic variance for FSIQ to 18% and from 42% for VIQ to 26%. For PIQ common environmental influences did not play a role, either in childhood or in early adolescence. The stability in FSIQ and VIQ across the 3-year interval (r(p)) was .72 for both measures and was explained by genetic and common environmental correlations across time (FSIQ, r(g) = .96, r(c) = 1.0; VIQ, r(g) =.78, r(c) = 1.0). Stability of PIQ (r(p) =.56) was lower and was explained by genetic influences (r(g) = .90). These results confirm the robust findings of increased heritability of general cognitive abilities during the transition from childhood to adolescence. Interestingly, results for PIQ differ from those for FSIQ and VIQ, in that no significant contribution of environment shared by siblings from the same family was detected.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Inge L C van Soelen
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
48
|
Lenroot RK, Giedd JN. Annual Research Review: Developmental considerations of gene by environment interactions. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2011; 52:429-41. [PMID: 21391998 PMCID: PMC3268527 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02381.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Biological development is driven by a complex dance between nurture and nature, determined not only by the specific features of the interacting genetic and environmental influences but also by the timing of their rendezvous. The initiation of large-scale longitudinal studies, ever-expanding knowledge of genetics, and increasing availability of neuroimaging data to provide endophenotypic bridges between molecules and behavior are beginning to provide some insight into interactions of developmental stage, genes, and the environment, although daunting challenges remain. Prominent amongst these challenges are difficulties in identifying and quantifying relevant environmental factors, discerning the relative contributions to multiply determined outcomes, and the likelihood that brain development is a non-linear dynamic process in which small initial differences may yield large later effects. Age-sensitive mechanisms include developmental changes in gene expression, epigenetic modifications, synaptic arborization/pruning, and maturational improvements in our capacity to seek out environments of our choosing. Greater understanding of how genetic and environmental factors interact differently across ages is an important step toward elucidating the mechanisms by which phenotypes are created - and how they may differ in health and disease. This knowledge may also provide clues to guide the type and timing of interventions to maximize outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rhoshel K. Lenroot
- University of New South Wales and Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, Australia
| | - Jay N. Giedd
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Tucker-Drob EM, Rhemtulla M, Harden KP, Turkheimer E, Fask D. Emergence of a Gene x socioeconomic status interaction on infant mental ability between 10 months and 2 years. Psychol Sci 2010; 22:125-33. [PMID: 21169524 DOI: 10.1177/0956797610392926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research in behavioral genetics has found evidence for a Gene × Environment interaction on cognitive ability: Individual differences in cognitive ability among children raised in socioeconomically advantaged homes are primarily due to genes, whereas environmental factors are more influential for children from disadvantaged homes. We investigated the developmental origins of this interaction in a sample of 750 pairs of twins measured on the Bayley Short Form test of infant mental ability, once at age 10 months and again at age 2 years. A Gene × Environment interaction was evident on the longitudinal change in mental ability over the study period. At age 10 months, genes accounted for negligible variation in mental ability across all levels of socioeconomic status (SES). However, genetic influences emerged over the course of development, with larger genetic influences emerging for infants raised in higher-SES homes. At age 2 years, genes accounted for nearly 50% of the variation in mental ability of children raised in high-SES homes, but genes continued to account for negligible variation in mental ability of children raised in low-SES homes.
Collapse
|
50
|
Abstract
We systematically mistreat psychological phenomena, both logically and clinically. This article explores three contentions: that the dominant discourse in modern cognitive, affective, and clinical neuroscience assumes that we know how psychology/biology causation works when we do not; that there are serious intellectual, clinical, and policy costs to pretending we do know; and that crucial scientific and clinical progress will be stymied as long as we frame psychology, biology, and their relationship in currently dominant ways. The arguments are developed with emphasis on misguided attempts to localize psychological function via neuroimaging, misunderstandings about the role of genetics in psychopathology, and untoward constraints on health-care policy and clinical service delivery. A particular challenge, articulated but not resolved in this article, is determining what constitutes adequate explanation in the relationship between psychology and biology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gregory A Miller
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, and Zukunfstkolleg, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| |
Collapse
|