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Zhang L, Wang Z, Zhu Z, Yang Q, Cheng C, Zhao S, Liu C, Zhao J. A genome-wide association study identified new variants associated with mathematical abilities in Chinese children. GENES, BRAIN, AND BEHAVIOR 2023; 22:e12843. [PMID: 36811322 PMCID: PMC10067424 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2022] [Revised: 01/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
Mathematical ability is moderately heritable, and it is a complex trait which can be evaluated in several different categories. A few genetic studies have been published on general mathematical ability. However, no genetic study focused on specific mathematical ability categories. In this study, we separately performed genome-wide association studies on 11 mathematical ability categories in 1146 students from Chinese elementary schools. We identified seven genome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with strong linkage disequilibrium among each other (all r2 > 0.8) associated with mathematical reasoning ability (top SNP: rs34034296, p = 2.01 × 10-8 , nearest gene: CUB and Sushi multiple domains 3, CSMD3). We replicated one SNP (rs133885) from 585 SNPs previously reported to be associated with general mathematical ability associated with division ability in our data (p = 1.053 × 10-5 ). In the gene- and gene-set enrichment analysis by MAGMA, we found three significant enrichments of associations with three mathematical ability categories for three genes (LINGO2, OAS1 and HECTD1). We also observed four significant enrichments of associations with four mathematical ability categories for three gene sets. Our results suggest new candidate genetic loci for the genetics of mathematical ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liming Zhang
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, and Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, Xi'an, China
| | - Zhengjun Wang
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, and Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, Xi'an, China
| | - Zijian Zhu
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, and Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, Xi'an, China
| | - Qing Yang
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, and Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, Xi'an, China
| | - Chen Cheng
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, and Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, Xi'an, China
| | - Shunan Zhao
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, and Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, Xi'an, China
| | - Chunyu Liu
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, and Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, Xi'an, China.,Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | - Jingjing Zhao
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, and Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, Xi'an, China
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2
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Leve LD, Harold GT, Neiderhiser JM, Natsuaki MN, Shaw DS, Ganiban JM, Reiss D. The Potential of Children's Rearing Environment to Overcome Genetic Propensity for Low Reading Achievement. MIND, BRAIN AND EDUCATION : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL MIND, BRAIN, AND EDUCATION SOCIETY 2022; 16:352-359. [PMID: 36589264 PMCID: PMC9796096 DOI: 10.1111/mbe.12332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Revised: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Genetic studies show that children's reading achievement is in part genetically influenced, and intervention studies show that reading achievement can be increased by environmental interventions. However, correlational and mean-level analytic strategies are rarely integrated into achievement research, potentially leading to misinterpretation of results. The parent-offspring adoption design offers a novel opportunity to examine the independent and joint roles of genetic and rearing environmental contributions. The sample included 344 adopted children in first grade and their biological and adoptive parents. Results indicated that adoptees' reading scores were correlated with their biological parents' scores, but not with their adoptive parents' scores, suggesting genetic influences. In addition, examination of mean scores indicated that adoptees' scores were significantly greater than their biological parents' (p's < .001) for all subtests, suggesting promotive effects of the rearing environment. This pattern was present even when biological parents scored >1 standard deviation below the biological parent mean on achievement.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Jody M. Ganiban
- Department of Psychological and Brain SciencesGeorge Washington University
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3
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Coffey JR, Shafto CL, Geren JC, Snedeker J. The effects of maternal input on language in the absence of genetic confounds: Vocabulary development in internationally adopted children. Child Dev 2021; 93:237-253. [PMID: 34882780 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies have found correlations between parent input and child language outcomes, providing prima facie evidence for a causal relation. However, this could also reflect the effects of shared genes. The present study removed this genetic confound by measuring English vocabulary growth in 29 preschool-aged children (21 girls) aged 31-73 months and 17 infants (all girls) aged 15-32 months adopted from China and Eastern Europe and comparing it to speech produced by their adoptive mothers. Vocabulary growth in both groups was correlated with maternal input features; in infants with mean-length of maternal utterance, and in preschoolers with both mean-length of utterance and lexical diversity. Thus, input effects on language outcomes persist even in the absence of genetic confounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph R Coffey
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Carissa L Shafto
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Joy C Geren
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jesse Snedeker
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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4
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Wadsworth SJ, Corley RP, Munoz E, Trubenstein BP, Knaap E, DeFries JC, Plomin R, Reynolds CA. CATSLife: A Study of Lifespan Behavioral Development and Cognitive Functioning. Twin Res Hum Genet 2019; 22:695-706. [PMID: 31547893 PMCID: PMC7487141 DOI: 10.1017/thg.2019.49] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this update is to provide the most current information about both the Colorado Adoption Project (CAP) and the Longitudinal Twin Study (LTS) and to introduce the Colorado Adoption/Twin Study of Lifespan behavioral development and cognitive aging (CATSLife), a product of their merger and a unique study of lifespan behavioral development and cognitive aging. The primary objective of CATSLife is to assess the unique saliency of early childhood genetic and environmental factors to adult cognitive maintenance and change, as well as proximal influences and innovations that emerge across development. CATSLife is currently assessing up to 1600 individuals on the cusp of middle age, targeting those between 30 and 40 years of age. The ongoing CATSLife data collection is described as well as the longitudinal data available from the earlier CAP and LTS assessments. We illustrate CATSLife via current projects and publications, highlighting the measurement of genetic, biochemical, social, sociodemographic and environmental indices, including geospatial features, and their impact on cognitive maintenance in middle adulthood. CATSLife provides an unparalleled opportunity to assess prospectively the etiologies of cognitive change and test the saliency of early childhood versus proximal influences on the genesis of cognitive decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sally J. Wadsworth
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO USA
| | - Robin P. Corley
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO USA
| | - Elizabeth Munoz
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA USA
| | - B. Paige Trubenstein
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA USA
| | - Elijah Knaap
- Center for Geospatial Sciences, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA USA
| | - John C. DeFries
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO USA
| | - Robert Plomin
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Chandra A. Reynolds
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA USA
- Center for Geospatial Sciences, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA USA
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5
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Daucourt MC, Erbeli F, Little CW, Haughbrook R, Hart SA. A Meta-Analytical Review of the Genetic and Environmental Correlations between Reading and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Reading and Math. SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF READING : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF READING 2019; 24:23-56. [PMID: 32189961 PMCID: PMC7079676 DOI: 10.1080/10888438.2019.1631827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2018] [Revised: 06/03/2019] [Accepted: 06/11/2019] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
According to the Multiple Deficit Model, comorbidity results when the genetic and environmental risk factors that increase the liability for a disorder are domain-general. In order to explore the role of domain-general etiological risk factors in the co-occurrence of learning-related difficulties, the current meta-analysis compiled 38 studies of third through ninth-grade children to estimate the average genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental correlations between reading and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and reading and math, as well as their potential moderators. Results revealed average genetic, shared and nonshared environmental correlations between reading and ADHD symptoms of .42, .64, and .20, and reading and math of .71, .90, and .56, suggesting that reading and math may have more domain-general risk factors than reading and ADHD symptoms. A number of significant sources of heterogeneity were also found and discussed. These results have important implications for both intervention and classification of learning disabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mia C. Daucourt
- Florida State University, Department of Psychology, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | - Florina Erbeli
- Texas A&M University, Department of Educational Psychology, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Callie W. Little
- University of New England, School of Psychology & Behavioural Sciences, Armidale, Australia
| | - Rasheda Haughbrook
- Florida State University, Department of Psychology, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | - Sara A. Hart
- Florida State University, Department of Psychology, Tallahassee, FL, USA
- Florida State University, Florida Center for Reading Research, Tallahassee, FL, USA
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6
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Lazaroo NK, Bates TC, Hansell NK, Wright MJ, Martin NG, Luciano M. Genetic Structure of IQ, Phonemic Decoding Skill, and Academic Achievement. Front Genet 2019; 10:195. [PMID: 30949193 PMCID: PMC6436069 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2018] [Accepted: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine whether phonemic decoding skill (deficits of which characterize dyslexia) shares genetic and/or environmental covariance with scholastic abilities independent of general intelligence. Non-word reading ability, verbal and non-verbal IQ, and standardized academic achievement (Queensland Core Skills Test; QCST) were measured in Australian twins (up to 876 twin pairs and 80 singleton twins). Multivariate genetic analysis showed the presence of a general genetic factor, likely reflecting crystallized ability, which accounted for 45-76% of phenotypic variance in QCST scores, 62% of variance in Verbal IQ, 23% of variance in Performance IQ, and 19% of variance in phonological reading ability. The phonemic decoding genetic factor (explaining 48% of variance in phonemic decoding) was negatively associated with mathematical achievement scores (0.4%). Shared effects of common environment did not explain the relationship between reading ability and academic achievement beyond those also influencing IQ. The unique environmental reading factor (accounting for 26% of variance) influenced academic abilities related to written expression. Future research will need to address whether these reading-specific genetic and unique environment relationships arise from causal effects of reading on scholastic abilities, or whether both share a common influence, such as pleiotropic genes/environmental factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikita K. Lazaroo
- Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Timothy C. Bates
- Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Narelle K. Hansell
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Margaret J. Wright
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Nicholas G. Martin
- Genetic Epidemiology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Michelle Luciano
- Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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Rimfeld K, Malanchini M, Krapohl E, Hannigan LJ, Dale PS, Plomin R. The stability of educational achievement across school years is largely explained by genetic factors. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2018; 3:16. [PMID: 30631477 PMCID: PMC6220264 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-018-0030-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2017] [Revised: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Little is known about the etiology of developmental change and continuity in educational achievement. Here, we study achievement from primary school to the end of compulsory education for 6000 twin pairs in the UK-representative Twins Early Development Study sample. Results showed that educational achievement is highly heritable across school years and across subjects studied at school (twin heritability ~60%; SNP heritability ~30%); achievement is highly stable (phenotypic correlations ~0.70 from ages 7 to 16). Twin analyses, applying simplex and common pathway models, showed that genetic factors accounted for most of this stability (70%), even after controlling for intelligence (60%). Shared environmental factors also contributed to the stability, while change was mostly accounted for by individual-specific environmental factors. Polygenic scores, derived from a genome-wide association analysis of adult years of education, also showed stable effects on school achievement. We conclude that the remarkable stability of achievement is largely driven genetically even after accounting for intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaili Rimfeld
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Margherita Malanchini
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA
| | - Eva Krapohl
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Laurie J. Hannigan
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Philip S. Dale
- Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA
| | - Robert Plomin
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
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8
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Lukowski SL, Rosenberg-Lee M, Thompson LA, Hart SA, Willcutt EG, Olson RK, Petrill SA, Pennington BF. Approximate Number Sense Shares Etiological Overlap with Mathematics and General Cognitive Ability. INTELLIGENCE 2017; 65:67-74. [PMID: 29867283 DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2017.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Approximate number sense (ANS), the ability to rapidly and accurately compare quantities presented non-symbolically, has been proposed as a precursor to mathematics skills. Earlier work reported low heritability of approximate number sense, which was interpreted as evidence that approximate number sense acts as a fitness trait. However, viewing ANS as a fitness trait is discordant with findings suggesting that individual differences in approximate number sense acuity correlate with mathematical performance, a trait with moderate genetic effects. Importantly, the shared etiology of approximate number sense, mathematics, and general cognitive ability has remained unexamined. Thus, the etiology of approximate number sense and its overlap with math and general cognitive ability was assessed in the current study with two independent twin samples (N = 451 pairs). Results suggested that ANS acuity had moderate but significant additive genetic influences. ANS also had overlap with generalist genetic mechanisms accounting for variance and covariance in mathematics and general cognitive ability. Furthermore, ANS may have genetic factors unique to covariance with mathematics beyond overlap with general cognitive ability. Evidence across both samples was consistent with the proposal that the etiology of approximate number sense functions similar to that of mathematics and general cognitive skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah L Lukowski
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA, 43210
| | - Miriam Rosenberg-Lee
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA, 94305.,Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Newark, NY, USA, 07102
| | - Lee A Thompson
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA, 44106
| | - Sara A Hart
- Department of Psychology and the Florida Center for Reading Research, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA, 32310
| | - Erik G Willcutt
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA, 80309
| | - Richard K Olson
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA, 80309
| | - Stephen A Petrill
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA, 43210
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9
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Wadsworth SJ, Fulker DW, DeFries JC. Stability of Genetic and Environmental In‘uences on Reading Performance at 7 and 12 Years of Age in the Colorado Adoption Project. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/016502599383847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Results obtained from longitudinal studies suggest that individual differences in reading performance are relatively stable over time. However, the aetiology of this stability has not been previously explored. In the current study, the aetiology of longitudinal stability of reading performance between 7 and 12 years of age was assessed using data from adoptive (97 unrelated sibling pairs at age 7 and 73 pairs at age 12) and nonadoptive (106 related pairs at age 7 and 75 pairs at age 12) children tested in the Colorado Adoption Project. Results of a bivariate behavioural genetic analysis confirmed earlier findings of moderate genetic influence on individual differences in reading performance at both 7 and 12 years of age ( h2 = .49 and .37, respectively). Moreover, about 70% of the observed stability ( r = .61) between the two ages was due to common genetic influences. Of special interest, no new heritable or shared environmental variation was manifested at age 12, suggesting that the same genetic and shared environmental influences were operating at both ages. In contrast, nonshared environmental influences (e.g. instructional methods, teachers, peers, etc.) were responsible for change between 7 and 12 years of age, indicating the salience of such factors for the development of reading performance between middle childhood and adolescence.
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Abstract
Research has shown that genes play an important role in educational achievement. A key question is the extent to which the same genes affect different academic subjects before and after controlling for general intelligence. The present study investigated genetic and environmental influences on, and links between, the various subjects of the age-16 UK-wide standardized GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) examination results for 12,632 twins. Using the twin method that compares identical and non-identical twins, we found that all GCSE subjects were substantially heritable, and that various academic subjects correlated substantially both phenotypically and genetically, even after controlling for intelligence. Further evidence for pleiotropy in academic achievement was found using a method based directly on DNA from unrelated individuals. We conclude that performance differences for all subjects are highly heritable at the end of compulsory education and that many of the same genes affect different subjects independent of intelligence.
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11
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GRIN2B mediates susceptibility to intelligence quotient and cognitive impairments in developmental dyslexia. Psychiatr Genet 2015; 25:9-20. [DOI: 10.1097/ypg.0000000000000068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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12
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The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:15273-8. [PMID: 25288728 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1408777111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Because educational achievement at the end of compulsory schooling represents a major tipping point in life, understanding its causes and correlates is important for individual children, their families, and society. Here we identify the general ingredients of educational achievement using a multivariate design that goes beyond intelligence to consider a wide range of predictors, such as self-efficacy, personality, and behavior problems, to assess their independent and joint contributions to educational achievement. We use a genetically sensitive design to address the question of why educational achievement is so highly heritable. We focus on the results of a United Kingdom-wide examination, the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), which is administered at the end of compulsory education at age 16. GCSE scores were obtained for 13,306 twins at age 16, whom we also assessed contemporaneously on 83 scales that were condensed to nine broad psychological domains, including intelligence, self-efficacy, personality, well-being, and behavior problems. The mean of GCSE core subjects (English, mathematics, science) is more heritable (62%) than the nine predictor domains (35-58%). Each of the domains correlates significantly with GCSE results, and these correlations are largely mediated genetically. The main finding is that, although intelligence accounts for more of the heritability of GCSE than any other single domain, the other domains collectively account for about as much GCSE heritability as intelligence. Together with intelligence, these domains account for 75% of the heritability of GCSE. We conclude that the high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence.
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13
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Wang Z, Hart SA, Kovas Y, Lukowski S, Soden B, Thompson LA, Plomin R, McLoughlin G, Bartlett CW, Lyons IM, Petrill SA. Who is afraid of math? Two sources of genetic variance for mathematical anxiety. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2014; 55:1056-64. [PMID: 24611799 PMCID: PMC4636726 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/27/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Emerging work suggests that academic achievement may be influenced by the management of affect as well as through efficient information processing of task demands. In particular, mathematical anxiety has attracted recent attention because of its damaging psychological effects and potential associations with mathematical problem solving and achievement. This study investigated the genetic and environmental factors contributing to the observed differences in the anxiety people feel when confronted with mathematical tasks. In addition, the genetic and environmental mechanisms that link mathematical anxiety with math cognition and general anxiety were also explored. METHODS Univariate and multivariate quantitative genetic models were conducted in a sample of 514 12-year-old twin siblings. RESULTS Genetic factors accounted for roughly 40% of the variation in mathematical anxiety, with the remaining being accounted for by child-specific environmental factors. Multivariate genetic analyses suggested that mathematical anxiety was influenced by the genetic and nonfamilial environmental risk factors associated with general anxiety and additional independent genetic influences associated with math-based problem solving. CONCLUSIONS The development of mathematical anxiety may involve not only exposure to negative experiences with mathematics, but also likely involves genetic risks related to both anxiety and math cognition. These results suggest that integrating cognitive and affective domains may be particularly important for mathematics and may extend to other areas of academic achievement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Wang
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University
| | - Sara Ann Hart
- Department of Psychology and the Florida Center for Reading Research, Florida State University
| | - Yulia Kovas
- Laboratory for Cognitive Investigations and Behavioural Genetics, Tomsk State University,Psychology Department, Goldsmiths, University of London,Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry
| | | | - Brooke Soden
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University
| | | | - Robert Plomin
- Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry
| | - Grainne McLoughlin
- Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry
| | - Christopher W. Bartlett
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University,Battelle Center for Mathematical Medicine, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
| | - Ian M. Lyons
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario
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14
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Baron-Cohen S, Murphy L, Chakrabarti B, Craig I, Mallya U, Lakatošová S, Rehnstrom K, Peltonen L, Wheelwright S, Allison C, Fisher SE, Warrier V. A genome wide association study of mathematical ability reveals an association at chromosome 3q29, a locus associated with autism and learning difficulties: a preliminary study. PLoS One 2014; 9:e96374. [PMID: 24801482 PMCID: PMC4011843 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2014] [Accepted: 04/04/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Mathematical ability is heritable, but few studies have directly investigated its molecular genetic basis. Here we aimed to identify specific genetic contributions to variation in mathematical ability. We carried out a genome wide association scan using pooled DNA in two groups of U.K. samples, based on end of secondary/high school national academic exam achievement: high (n = 419) versus low (n = 183) mathematical ability while controlling for their verbal ability. Significant differences in allele frequencies between these groups were searched for in 906,600 SNPs using the Affymetrix GeneChip Human Mapping version 6.0 array. After meeting a threshold of p<1.5×10−5, 12 SNPs from the pooled association analysis were individually genotyped in 542 of the participants and analyzed to validate the initial associations (lowest p-value 1.14 ×10−6). In this analysis, one of the SNPs (rs789859) showed significant association after Bonferroni correction, and four (rs10873824, rs4144887, rs12130910 rs2809115) were nominally significant (lowest p-value 3.278 × 10−4). Three of the SNPs of interest are located within, or near to, known genes (FAM43A, SFT2D1, C14orf64). The SNP that showed the strongest association, rs789859, is located in a region on chromosome 3q29 that has been previously linked to learning difficulties and autism. rs789859 lies 1.3 kbp downstream of LSG1, and 700 bp upstream of FAM43A, mapping within the potential promoter/regulatory region of the latter. To our knowledge, this is only the second study to investigate the association of genetic variants with mathematical ability, and it highlights a number of interesting markers for future study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
- CLASS Clinic, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT), Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (VW); (SBC)
| | - Laura Murphy
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Bhismadev Chakrabarti
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Ian Craig
- MRC Centre for Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom
| | - Uma Mallya
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Silvia Lakatošová
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Karola Rehnstrom
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Leena Peltonen
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Sally Wheelwright
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Carrie Allison
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Simon E. Fisher
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6500 AH Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Varun Warrier
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (VW); (SBC)
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McClelland MM, Acock AC, Piccinin A, Rhea SA, Stallings MC. Relations between Preschool Attention Span-Persistence and Age 25 Educational Outcomes. EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY 2013; 28:314-324. [PMID: 23543916 PMCID: PMC3610761 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2012.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 170] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
This study examined relations between children's attention span-persistence in preschool and later school achievement and college completion. Children were drawn from the Colorado Adoption Project using adopted and non-adopted children (N = 430). Results of structural equation modeling indicated that children's age 4 attention span-persistence significantly predicted math and reading achievement at age 21 after controlling for achievement levels at age 7, adopted status, child vocabulary skills, gender, and maternal education level. Relations between attention span-persistence and later achievement were not fully mediated by age 7 achievement levels. Logistic regressions also revealed that age 4 attention span-persistence skills significantly predicted the odds of completing college by age 25. The majority of this relationship was direct and was not significantly mediated by math or reading skills at age 7 or age 21. Specifically, children who were rated one standard deviation higher on attention span-persistence at age 4 had 48.7% greater odds of completing college by age 25. Discussion focuses on the importance of children's early attention span-persistence for later school achievement and educational attainment.
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Calvin CM, Deary IJ, Webbink D, Smith P, Fernandes C, Lee SH, Luciano M, Visscher PM. Multivariate genetic analyses of cognition and academic achievement from two population samples of 174,000 and 166,000 school children. Behav Genet 2012; 42:699-710. [PMID: 22700061 DOI: 10.1007/s10519-012-9549-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2011] [Accepted: 05/26/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
The genetic influence on the association between contemporaneously measured intelligence and academic achievement in childhood was examined in nationally representative cohorts from England and The Netherlands using a whole population indirect twin design, including singleton data. We identified 1,056 same-sex (SS) and 495 opposite-sex (OS) twin pairs among 174,098 British 11 year-olds with test scores from 2004, and, 785 SS and 327 OS twin pairs among 120,995 Dutch schoolchildren, aged 8, 10 or 12 years, with assessments from 1994 to 2002. The estimate of intelligence heritability was large in both cohorts, consistent with previous studies (h (2) = 0.70 ± 0.14, England; h (2) = 0.43 ± 0.28-0.67 ± 0.31, The Netherlands), as was the heritability of academic achievement variables (h (2) = 0.51 ± 0.16-0.81 ± 0.16, England; h (2) = 0.36 ± 0.27-0.74 ± 0.27, The Netherlands). Additive genetic covariance explained the large majority of the phenotypic correlations between intelligence and academic achievement scores in England, when standardised to a bivariate heritability (Biv h (2) = 0.76 ± 0.15-0.88 ± 0.16), and less consistent but often large proportions of the phenotypic correlations in The Netherlands (Biv h (2) = 0.33 ± 0.52-1.00 ± 0.43). In the British cohort both nonverbal and verbal reasoning showed very high additive genetic covariance with achievement scores (Biv h (2) = 0.94-0.98; Biv h (2) = 0.77-1.00 respectively). In The Netherlands, covariance estimates were consistent across age groups. The heritability of intelligence-academic achievement associations in two population cohorts of elementary schoolchildren, using a twin pair extraction method, is at the high end of estimates reported by studies of largely preselected twin samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine M Calvin
- Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, UK.
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Processing speed and intelligence as predictors of school achievement: Mediation or unique contribution? INTELLIGENCE 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2012.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Lindenberg A, Brinkmeyer J, Dahmen N, Gallinat J, de Millas W, Mobascher A, Wagner M, Schulze-Rauschenbach S, Gründer G, Spreckelmeyer KN, Clepce M, Thürauf N, von der Goltz C, Kiefer F, Steffens M, Holler D, Díaz-Lacava A, Wienker T, Winterer G. The German multi-centre study on smoking-related behavior-description of a population-based case-control study. Addict Biol 2011; 16:638-53. [PMID: 21521423 DOI: 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2011.00322.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for most of the diseases leading in mortality. Nicotine dependence (ND), which sustains regular smoking, is now acknowledged to be under substantial genetic control with some environmental contribution. At present, however, genetic studies on ND are mostly conducted in populations that have been poorly characterized with regard to ND-related phenotypes for the simple reason that the respective populations were not primarily collected to study ND. The German multi-centre study 'Genetics of Nicotine Dependence and Neurobiological Phenotypes', which is funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) as part of the Priority Program (Schwerpunktprogramm) SPP1226: 'Nicotine-Molecular and Physiological Effects in CNS', was intended to overcome some of these inherent problems of current genetic studies of ND. The multi-centre study is a population-based case-control study of smokers and never-smokers (n = 2396). The study was unique worldwide because it was the first large-scale genetic study specifically addressing ND with the collection of a wide range of environmental, psychosocial and neurobiological phenotypes. Study design and major population characteristics with emphasis on risk prediction of smoking status were presented in this paper.
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Hart SA, Petrill SA, Thompson LA, Plomin R. The ABCs of Math: A Genetic Analysis of Mathematics and Its Links With Reading Ability and General Cognitive Ability. JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 2009; 101:388. [PMID: 20157630 DOI: 10.1037/a0015115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 127] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The goal of this first major report from the Western Reserve Reading Project Math component is to explore the etiology of the relationship among tester-administered measures of mathematics ability, reading ability, and general cognitive ability. Data are available on 314 pairs of monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twins analyzed across 5 waves of assessment. Univariate analyses provide a range of estimates of genetic (h(2) = .00 -.63) and shared (c(2) = .15-.52) environmental influences across math calculation, fluency, and problem solving measures. Multivariate analyses indicate genetic overlap between math problem solving with general cognitive ability and reading decoding, whereas math fluency shares significant genetic overlap with reading fluency and general cognitive ability. Further, math fluency has unique genetic influences. In general, math ability has shared environmental overlap with general cognitive ability and decoding. These results indicate that aspects of math that include problem solving have different genetic and environmental influences than math calculation. Moreover, math fluency, a timed measure of calculation, is the only measured math ability with unique genetic influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara A Hart
- Department of Human Development and Family Science, Ohio State University
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Abstract
Although a negative association between hyperactivity and academic achievement is well documented, little is known about the genetic and/or environmental mechanisms responsible for the association. The present study explored links between parent and teacher ratings of hyperactive behavior problems and teacher-assessed achievement in a sample of 1,876 twin pairs (mean age 7.04 years). The results did not differ across rater, nor were there significant differences between males or females or for twins in the same or different classrooms. Hyperactivity was significantly correlated with achievement. Multivariate model-fitting analyses revealed significant genetic and nonshared environmental covariance between the two phenotypes. In addition, bivariate heritabilities were substantial, indicating that the phenotypic correlations between hyperactivity and achievement were largely mediated by genetic influences.
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Kovas Y, Haworth CMA, Harlaar N, Petrill SA, Dale PS, Plomin R. Overlap and specificity of genetic and environmental influences on mathematics and reading disability in 10-year-old twins. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2007; 48:914-22. [PMID: 17714376 PMCID: PMC2694440 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01748..x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND To what extent do genetic and environmental influences on reading disability overlap with those on mathematics disability? Multivariate genetic research on the normal range of variation in unselected samples has led to a Generalist Genes Hypothesis which posits that the same genes largely affect individual differences in these abilities in the normal range. However, little is known about the etiology of co-morbidity for the disability extremes of reading and mathematics. METHOD From 2596 pairs of 10-year-old monozygotic and dizygotic twins assessed on a web-based battery of reading and mathematics tests, we selected the lowest 15% on reading and on mathematics. We conducted bivariate DeFries-Fulker (DF) extremes analyses to assess overlap and specificity of genetic and environmental influences on reading and mathematics disability defined by a 15% cut-off. RESULTS Both reading and mathematics disability are moderately heritable (47% and 43%, respectively) and show only modest shared environmental influence (16% and 20%). There is substantial phenotypic co-morbidity between reading and mathematics disability. Bivariate DF extremes analyses yielded a genetic correlation of .67 between reading disability and mathematics disability, suggesting that they are affected largely by the same genetic factors. The shared environmental correlation is .96 and the non-shared environmental correlation is .08. CONCLUSIONS In line with the Generalist Genes Hypothesis, the same set of generalist genes largely affects mathematical and reading disabilities. The dissociation between the disabilities occurs largely due to independent non-shared environmental influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Kovas
- Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK.
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Kovas Y, Haworth CMA, Harlaar N, Petrill SA, Dale PS, Plomin R. Overlap and specificity of genetic and environmental influences on mathematics and reading disability in 10-year-old twins. JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY, AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES 2007. [PMID: 17714376 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01748.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND To what extent do genetic and environmental influences on reading disability overlap with those on mathematics disability? Multivariate genetic research on the normal range of variation in unselected samples has led to a Generalist Genes Hypothesis which posits that the same genes largely affect individual differences in these abilities in the normal range. However, little is known about the etiology of co-morbidity for the disability extremes of reading and mathematics. METHOD From 2596 pairs of 10-year-old monozygotic and dizygotic twins assessed on a web-based battery of reading and mathematics tests, we selected the lowest 15% on reading and on mathematics. We conducted bivariate DeFries-Fulker (DF) extremes analyses to assess overlap and specificity of genetic and environmental influences on reading and mathematics disability defined by a 15% cut-off. RESULTS Both reading and mathematics disability are moderately heritable (47% and 43%, respectively) and show only modest shared environmental influence (16% and 20%). There is substantial phenotypic co-morbidity between reading and mathematics disability. Bivariate DF extremes analyses yielded a genetic correlation of .67 between reading disability and mathematics disability, suggesting that they are affected largely by the same genetic factors. The shared environmental correlation is .96 and the non-shared environmental correlation is .08. CONCLUSIONS In line with the Generalist Genes Hypothesis, the same set of generalist genes largely affects mathematical and reading disabilities. The dissociation between the disabilities occurs largely due to independent non-shared environmental influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Kovas
- Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK.
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Kovas Y, Harlaar N, Petrill SA, Plomin R. 'Generalist genes' and mathematics in 7-year-old twins. INTELLIGENCE 2005; 33:473-489. [PMID: 19319204 PMCID: PMC2659657 DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2005.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Mathematics performance at 7 years as assessed by teachers using UK national curriculum criteria has been found to be highly heritable. For almost 3000 pairs of 7-year-old same-sex twins, we used multivariate genetic analysis to investigate the extent to which these genetic effects on mathematics performance overlap with genetic effects on reading and general intelligence (g) as predicted by the 'generalist genes' hypothesis. We found substantial genetic overlap between mathematics and reading (genetic correlation=0.74) and between mathematics and g (0.67). These findings support the 'generalist genes' hypothesis that most of the genes that contribute to individual differences in mathematics are the same genes that affect reading and g. Nonetheless, the genetic correlations are less than unity and about a third of the genetic variance on mathematics is independent of reading and g, suggesting that there are also some genes whose effects are specific to mathematics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y. Kovas
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
| | - N. Harlaar
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
| | | | - R. Plomin
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
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Kremen WS, Jacobson KC, Xian H, Eisen SA, Waterman B, Toomey R, Neale MC, Tsuang MT, Lyons MJ. Heritability of Word Recognition in Middle-Aged Men Varies as a Function of Parental Education. Behav Genet 2005; 35:417-33. [PMID: 15971023 DOI: 10.1007/s10519-004-3876-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2003] [Accepted: 10/15/2004] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Although it is of lifelong importance, reading ability is studied primarily in children and adolescents. We examined variation in word recognition in 347 middle-aged male twin pairs. Overall heritability (a2) was 0.45, and shared environmental influences (c2) were 0.28. However, parental education moderated heritability such that a2 was 0.21 at the lowest parental education level and 0.69 at the highest level; c2 was 0.52 and 0.00, respectively. This constitutes a parental education x environment interaction. The higher heritability was due to a decrease in the magnitude of shared environmental factors, rather than an increase in the magnitude of genetic factors. Other cognitive studies have reported gene x environment interactions, but patterns may differ as a function of age or specific cognitive abilities. Our results suggest that shared environmental factors in families with low parental education have long-lasting effects on word recognition ability, well beyond any critical period for developing reading proficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- William S Kremen
- Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Behavioral Genomics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0603, USA.
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Abstract
The authors reviewed recent quantitative genetic research on learning disabilities that led to the conclusion that genetic diagnoses differ from traditional diagnoses in that the effects of relevant genes are largely general rather than specific. This research suggests that most genes associated with common learning disabilities--language impairment, reading disability, and mathematics disability--are generalists in 3 ways. First, genes that affect common learning disabilities are largely the same genes responsible for normal variation in learning abilities. Second, genes that affect any aspect of a learning disability affect other aspects of the disability. Third, genes that affect one learning disability are also likely to affect other learning disabilities. These quantitative genetic findings have far-reaching implications for molecular genetics and neuroscience as well as psychology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Plomin
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
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A Twin Study of Teacher-Reported Mathematics Performance and Low Performance in 7-Year-Olds. JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 2004. [DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.96.3.504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Wadsworth SJ, Corley RP, Hewitt JK, Plomin R, DeFries JC. Parent-offspring resemblance for reading performance at 7, 12 and 16 years of age in the Colorado Adoption Project. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2002; 43:769-74. [PMID: 12236611 DOI: 10.1111/1469-7610.00085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The study aimed to conduct the first analysis of CAP parent-offspring resemblance for reading performance in children aged 7, 12 and 16 years, and to assess the etiology of individual differences in reading performance of children at 16 years of age. METHOD The Reading Recognition subtest of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test was administered to children in the Colorado Adoption Project (CAP) at 7, 12 and 16 years of age, and to their adoptive and nonadoptive parents when the children were 7 years of age. RESULTS Resulting parent-offspring correlations in adoptive families were not significant at any age, but correlations between scores of nonadoptive control parents and their offspring were significant at all three ages. CONCLUSIONS Results obtained from behavioral genetic model-fitting analyses of data from parents and their children tested at age 16 are consistent with results of studies of twins and siblings indicating that individual differences in reading performance are due substantially to genetic influences. In contrast, environmental transmission from parents to offspring was negligible, suggesting that environmental influences on individual differences in the reading performance of children are largely independent of parental reading performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Wadsworth
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, 80309-0447, USA.
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Alarcón M, DeFries JC, Light JG, Pennington BF. A twin study of mathematics disability. JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES 1997; 30:617-623. [PMID: 9364899 DOI: 10.1177/002221949703000605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Although results obtained from recent twin and adoption studies suggest that individual differences in mathematics performance are due in part to heritable influences, no genetic analysis of mathematics disability (MD) has been previously reported. In this article we present data from the first twin sample ascertained for mathematics deficits (40 identical and 23 same-sex fraternal twin pairs in which at least one member had MD). When mathematics performance data from these twin pairs were subjected to a multiple regression analysis, evidence for a significant genetic etiology was obtained. However, tests for the differential etiology of MD as a function of reading performance level were nonsignificant. Results of this first twin study of MD indicate that the condition is significantly heritable, but data from additional twin pairs will be required to test hypotheses of differential etiology more rigorously.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Alarcón
- Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
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Alarcón M, DeFries J. Reading performance and general cognitive ability in twins with reading difficulties and control pairs. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 1997. [DOI: 10.1016/s0191-8869(96)00267-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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