1
|
Wesseldijk LW, Henechowicz TL, Baker DJ, Bignardi G, Karlsson R, Gordon RL, Mosing MA, Ullén F, Fisher SE. Notes from Beethoven's genome. Curr Biol 2024; 34:R233-R234. [PMID: 38531312 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
Rapid advances over the last decade in DNA sequencing and statistical genetics enable us to investigate the genomic makeup of individuals throughout history. In a recent notable study, Begg et al.1 used Ludwig van Beethoven's hair strands for genome sequencing and explored genetic predispositions for some of his documented medical issues. Given that it was arguably Beethoven's skills as a musician and composer that made him an iconic figure in Western culture, we here extend the approach and apply it to musicality. We use this as an example to illustrate the broader challenges of individual-level genetic predictions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura W Wesseldijk
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Tara L Henechowicz
- Music and Health Sciences Research Collaboratory, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada
| | - David J Baker
- Institute for Logic, Language, and Computation, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Giacomo Bignardi
- Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Max Planck School of Cognition, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Robert Karlsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Reyna L Gordon
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA; Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, CS Melbourne, Australia
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Simon E Fisher
- Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Gaston E, Ullén F, Wesseldijk LW, Mosing MA. Can flow proneness be protective against mental and cardiovascular health problems? A genetically informed prospective cohort study. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:144. [PMID: 38480692 PMCID: PMC10937942 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02855-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Revised: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Flow is a phenomenon where one experiences optimal challenge, marked by an intense, effortless, and rewarding concentration on a task. Past research shows that flow proneness is associated with good mental and cardiovascular health. However, this research has been primarily cross-sectional, based on self-report data, and has not controlled for potential confounding effects of neuroticism. In a large, longitudinal twin sample (N = 9361), we used nationwide patient registry data to test whether flow proneness predicted registry-based diagnoses of depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, stress-related disorders, or cardiovascular diseases. We used survival analyses taking time to diagnosis into account to test if (a) there is a relationship between flow proneness and health diagnoses over time, (b) neuroticism confounds this relationship, and (c) the relationship remains present within discordant monozygotic twin pairs (N = 952), thereby controlling for genetic and shared environmental confounding. Individuals with higher flow proneness had a decreased risk of receiving diagnoses for depression (16%; CI [14%, 18%]), anxiety (16%; CI [13%, 18%]), schizophrenia (15%; CI [4%, 25%]), bipolar (12%; CI [6%, 18%]), stress-related (9%; CI [9%, 12%]), and cardiovascular disorders (4%; CI [1%, 8%]). When controlling for neuroticism, higher flow proneness still decreased the risk of depression (6%; CI [3%, 9%]) and anxiety diagnoses (5%; CI [1%, 8%]). Monozygotic twins who experienced more flow than their co-twin had a lower risk for depression (16%; CI [5%, 26%]) and anxiety (13%; CI [1%, 24%]), though only the association with depression remained significant when also controlling for neuroticism (13%; CI [1%, 24%]). Findings are in line with a causal protective role of flow experiences on depression and potentially anxiety and highlight that neuroticism and familial factors are notable confounding factors in observed associations between flow proneness and health outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emma Gaston
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Laura W Wesseldijk
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Miriam A Mosing
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany.
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Simonsson O, Mosing MA, Osika W, Ullén F, Larsson H, Lu Y, Wesseldijk LW. Adolescent Psychedelic Use and Psychotic or Manic Symptoms. JAMA Psychiatry 2024:2816354. [PMID: 38477889 PMCID: PMC10938246 DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.0047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024]
Abstract
Importance While psychedelic-assisted therapy has shown promise in the treatment of certain psychiatric disorders, little is known about the potential risk of psychotic or manic symptoms following naturalistic psychedelic use, especially among adolescents. Objective To investigate associations between naturalistic psychedelic use and self-reported psychotic or manic symptoms in adolescents using a genetically informative design. Design, Setting, and Participants This study included a large sample of adolescent twins (assessed at age 15, 18, and 24 years) born between July 1992 and December 2005 from the Swedish Twin Registry and cross-sectionally evaluated the associations between past psychedelic use and psychotic or manic symptoms at age 15 years. Individuals were included if they answered questions related to past use of psychedelics. Data were analyzed from October 2022 to November 2023. Main Outcomes and Measures Primary outcome measures were self-reported psychotic and manic symptoms at age 15 years. Lifetime use of psychedelics and other drugs was also assessed at the same time point. Results Among the 16 255 participants included in the analyses, 8889 were female and 7366 were male. Among them, 541 participants reported past use of psychedelics, most of whom (535 of 541 [99%]) also reported past use of other drugs (ie, cannabis, stimulants, sedatives, opioids, inhalants, or performance enhancers). When adjusting for substance-specific and substance-aggregated drug use, psychedelic use was associated with reduced psychotic symptoms in both linear regression analyses (β, -0.79; 95% CI, -1.18 to -0.41 and β, -0.39; 95% CI, -0.50 to -0.27, respectively) and co-twin control analyses (β, -0.89; 95% CI, -1.61 to -0.16 and β, -0.24; 95% CI, -0.48 to -0.01, respectively). In relation to manic symptoms, likewise adjusting for substance-specific and substance-aggregated drug use, statistically significant interactions were found between psychedelic use and genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia (β, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.32 and β, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.32, respectively) or bipolar I disorder (β, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.04 to 0.36 and β, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.33, respectively). Conclusions and Relevance The findings in this study suggest that, after adjusting for other drug use, naturalistic use of psychedelic may be associated with lower rates of psychotic symptoms among adolescents. At the same time, the association between psychedelic use and manic symptoms seems to be associated with genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder. These findings should be considered in light of the study's limitations and should therefore be interpreted with caution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Otto Simonsson
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Miriam A. Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Walter Osika
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Stockholm Health Care Services, Southern Stockholm Psychiatric District, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Henrik Larsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Yi Lu
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Laura W. Wesseldijk
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Ericsson M, Finch B, Karlsson IK, Gatz M, Reynolds CA, Pedersen NL, Mosing MA. Educational Influences on Late-Life Health: Genetic Propensity and Attained Education. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2024; 79:gbad153. [PMID: 37862467 PMCID: PMC10745256 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbad153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/22/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The educational gradient in late-life health is well established. Despite this, there are still ambiguities concerning the role of underlying confounding by genetic influences and gene-environment (GE) interplay. Here, we investigate the role of educational factors (attained and genetic propensities) on health and mortality in late life using genetic propensity for educational attainment (as measured by a genome-wide polygenic score, PGSEdu) and attained education. METHODS By utilizing genetically informative twin data from the Swedish Twin Registry (n = 14,570), we investigated influences of the educational measures, familial confounding as well as the possible presence of passive GE correlation on both objective and subjective indicators of late-life health, that is, the Frailty Index, Multimorbidity, Self-rated health, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality. RESULTS Using between-within models to adjust for shared familial factors, we found that the relationship between educational level and health and mortality later in life persisted despite controlling for familial confounding. PGSEdu and attained education both uniquely predicted late-life health and mortality, even when mutually adjusted. Between-within models of PGSEdu on the health outcomes in dizygotic twins showed weak evidence for passive GE correlation (prGE) in the education-health relationship. DISCUSSION Both genetic propensity to education and attained education are (partly) independently associated with health in late life. These results lend further support for a causal education-health relationship but also raise the importance of genetic contributions and GE interplay.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Malin Ericsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Brian Finch
- Center for Social and Economic Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Ida K Karlsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Margaret Gatz
- Center for Social and Economic Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Chandra A Reynolds
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Nancy L Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankurt, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Wesseldijk LW, Gordon RL, Mosing MA, Ullén F. Music and verbal ability - a twin study of genetic and environmental associations. Psychol Aesthet Creat Arts 2023; 17:675-681. [PMID: 38269365 PMCID: PMC10805386 DOI: 10.1037/aca0000401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Musical aptitude and music training are associated with language-related cognitive outcomes, even when controlling for general intelligence. However, genetic and environmental influences on these associations have not been studied, and it remains unclear whether music training can causally increase verbal ability. In a sample of 1,336 male twins, we tested the associations between verbal ability measured at time of conscription at age 18 and two music related variables: overall musical aptitude and total amount of music training before the age of 18. We estimated the amount of specific genetic and environmental influences on the association between verbal ability and musical aptitude, over and above the factors shared with general intelligence, using classical twin modelling. Further, we tested whether music training could causally influence verbal ability using a co-twin-control analysis. Musical aptitude and music training were significantly associated with verbal ability. Controlling for general intelligence only slightly attenuated the correlations. The partial association between musical aptitude and verbal ability, corrected for general intelligence, was mostly explained by shared genetic factors (50%) and non-shared environmental influences (35%). The co-twin-control-analysis gave no support for causal effects of early music training on verbal ability at age 18. Overall, our findings in a sizeable population sample converge with known associations between the music and language domains, while results from twin modelling suggested that this reflected a shared underlying aetiology rather than causal transfer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura W. Wesseldijk
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solnavägen 9, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 5, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Reyna L. Gordon
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
| | - Miriam A. Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solnavägen 9, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels v 12A, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solnavägen 9, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Wesseldijk LW, Ullén F, Mosing MA. Music and Genetics. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 152:105302. [PMID: 37400010 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
The first part of this review provides a brief historical background of behavior genetic research and how twin and genotype data can be utilized to study genetic influences on individual differences in human behavior. We then review the field of music genetics, from its emergence to large scale twin studies and the recent, first molecular genetic studies of music-related traits. In the second part of the review, we discuss the wider utility of twin and genotype data beyond estimating heritability and gene-finding. We present four examples of music studies that utilized genetically informative samples to analyze causality and gene-environmental interplay for music skills. Overall, research in the field of music genetics has gained much momentum over the last decade and its findings highlight the importance of studying both environmental and genetic factors and particularly their interplay, paving the way for exciting and fruitful times to come.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura W Wesseldijk
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands; Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Gustavson DE, Coleman PL, Wang Y, Nitin R, Petty LE, Bush CT, Mosing MA, Wesseldijk LW, Ullén F, Below JE, Cox NJ, Gordon RL. Exploring the genetics of rhythmic perception and musical engagement in the Vanderbilt Online Musicality Study. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2023; 1521:140-154. [PMID: 36718543 PMCID: PMC10038917 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Uncovering the genetic underpinnings of musical ability and engagement is a foundational step for exploring their wide-ranging associations with cognition, health, and neurodevelopment. Prior studies have focused on using twin and family designs, demonstrating moderate heritability of musical phenotypes. The current study used genome-wide complex trait analysis and polygenic score (PGS) approaches utilizing genotype data to examine genetic influences on two musicality traits (rhythmic perception and music engagement) in N = 1792 unrelated adults in the Vanderbilt Online Musicality Study. Meta-analyzed heritability estimates (including a replication sample of Swedish individuals) were 31% for rhythmic perception and 12% for self-reported music engagement. A PGS derived from a recent study on beat synchronization ability predicted both rhythmic perception (β = 0.11) and music engagement (β = 0.19) in our sample, suggesting that genetic influences underlying self-reported beat synchronization ability also influence individuals' rhythmic discrimination aptitude and the degree to which they engage in music. Cross-trait analyses revealed a modest contribution of PGSs from several nonmusical traits (from the cognitive, personality, and circadian chronotype domains) to individual differences in musicality (β = -0.06 to 0.07). This work sheds light on the complex relationship between the genetic architecture of musical rhythm processing, beat synchronization, music engagement, and other nonmusical traits.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E Gustavson
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Peyton L Coleman
- School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Youjia Wang
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Rachana Nitin
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Lauren E Petty
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Catherine T Bush
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Laura W Wesseldijk
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Jennifer E Below
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Nancy J Cox
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Reyna L Gordon
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Wesseldijk LW, Lu Y, Karlsson R, Ullén F, Mosing MA. A comprehensive investigation into the genetic relationship between music engagement and mental health. Transl Psychiatry 2023; 13:15. [PMID: 36658108 PMCID: PMC9852421 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02308-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
While music engagement is often regarded as beneficial for mental health, some studies report higher risk for depression and anxiety among musicians. This study investigates whether shared underlying genetic influences (genetic pleiotropy) or gene-environment interaction could be at play in the music-mental health association using measured genotypes. In 5,648 Swedish twins with information on music and sport engagement, creative achievements, self-reported mental health and psychiatric diagnoses based on nationwide patient registries, we derived polygenic scores for major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, neuroticism, sensitivity to environmental stress, depressive symptoms and general musicality. In line with phenotypic associations, individuals with higher polygenic scores for major depression and bipolar disorder were more likely to play music, practice more music and reach higher levels of general artistic achievements, while a higher genetic propensity for general musicality was marginally associated with a higher risk for a depression diagnosis. Importantly, polygenic scores for major depression and bipolar remained associated with music engagement when excluding individuals who experienced psychiatric symptoms, just as a genetic propensity for general musicality predicted a depression diagnosis regardless of whether and how much individuals played music. In addition, we found no evidence for gene-environment interaction: the phenotypic association between music engagement and mental health outcomes did not differ for individuals with different genetic vulnerability for mental health problems. Altogether, our findings suggest that mental health problems observed in musically active individuals are partly explained by a pre-existing genetic risk for depression and bipolar disorder and likely reflect horizontal pleiotropy (when one gene influences multiple traits), rather than causal influences of mental health on music engagement, or vice versa (referred to as vertical pleiotropy).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura W. Wesseldijk
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden ,grid.7177.60000000084992262Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands ,grid.461782.e0000 0004 1795 8610Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany ,grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XMelbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Yi Lu
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Robert Karlsson
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden ,grid.461782.e0000 0004 1795 8610Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Miriam A. Mosing
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden ,grid.461782.e0000 0004 1795 8610Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany ,grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XMelbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia ,grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Bairnsfather JE, Osborne MS, Martin C, Mosing MA, Wilson SJ. Use of explicit priming to phenotype absolute pitch ability. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0273828. [PMID: 36103463 PMCID: PMC9473427 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Musicians with absolute pitch (AP) can name the pitch of a musical note in isolation. Expression of this unusual ability is thought to be influenced by heritability, early music training and current practice. However, our understanding of factors shaping its expression is hampered by testing and scoring methods that treat AP as dichotomous. These fail to capture the observed variability in pitch-naming accuracy among reported AP possessors. The aim of this study was to trial a novel explicit priming paradigm to explore phenotypic variability of AP. Thirty-five musically experienced individuals (Mage = 29 years, range 18–68; 14 males) with varying AP ability completed a standard AP task and the explicit priming AP task. Results showed: 1) phenotypic variability of AP ability, including high-accuracy AP, heterogeneous intermediate performers, and chance-level performers; 2) intermediate performance profiles that were either reliant on or independent of relative pitch strategies, as identified by the priming task; and 3) the emergence of a bimodal distribution of AP performance when adopting scoring criteria that assign credit to semitone errors. These findings show the importance of methods in studying behavioural traits, and are a key step towards identifying AP phenotypes. Replication of our results in larger samples will further establish the usefulness of this priming paradigm in AP research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jane E. Bairnsfather
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- * E-mail:
| | - Margaret S. Osborne
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Catherine Martin
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Miriam A. Mosing
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Behaviour Genetics Unit, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Sarah J. Wilson
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Yeom D, Tan YT, Haslam N, Mosing MA, Yap VM, Fraser T, Hildebrand MS, Berkovic SF, McPherson GE, Peretz I, Wilson SJ. Genetic factors and shared environment contribute equally to objective singing ability. iScience 2022; 25:104360. [PMID: 35633942 PMCID: PMC9136123 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Revised: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Singing ability is a complex human skill influenced by genetic and environmental factors, the relative contributions of which remain unknown. Currently, genetically informative studies using objective measures of singing ability across a range of tasks are limited. We administered a validated online singing tool to measure performance across three everyday singing tasks in Australian twins (n = 1189) to explore the relative genetic and environmental influences on singing ability. We derived a reproducible phenotypic index for singing ability across five performance measures of pitch and interval accuracy. Using this index we found moderate heritability of singing ability (h2 = 40.7%) with a striking, similar contribution from shared environmental factors (c2 = 37.1%). Childhood singing in the family home and being surrounded by music early in life both significantly predicted the phenotypic index. Taken together, these findings show that singing ability is equally influenced by genetic and shared environmental factors. We measured singing ability in a large sample of Australian twins Singing ability is moderately heritable Shared environmental factors are equally important Of these, early but not current musical environments shaped singing ability
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Yeom
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
- Corresponding author
| | - Yi Ting Tan
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
- Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, Southbank, VIC 3006, Australia
| | - Nick Haslam
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Miriam A. Mosing
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Valerie M.Z. Yap
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Trisnasari Fraser
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
- Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, Southbank, VIC 3006, Australia
| | - Michael S. Hildebrand
- Department of Medicine, Epilepsy Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Austin Health, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Sam F. Berkovic
- Department of Medicine, Epilepsy Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Austin Health, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia
| | - Gary E. McPherson
- Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, Southbank, VIC 3006, Australia
| | - Isabelle Peretz
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
- International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research and Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC H2V 2S9, Canada
| | - Sarah J. Wilson
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
- Department of Medicine, Epilepsy Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Austin Health, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Abstract
Major depression (MD) is a complex, heterogeneous neuropsychiatric disorder. An early age at onset of major depression (AAO-MD) has been associated with more severe illness, psychosis, and suicidality. However, not much is known about what contributes to individual variation in this important clinical characteristic. This study sought to investigate the genetic components underlying AAO-MD. To investigate the genetics of AAO-MD, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of AAO-MD based on self-reported age of symptoms onset and self-reported age at first diagnosis from the UK Biobank cohort (total N = 94,154). We examined the genetic relationship between AAO-MD and five other psychiatric disorders. Polygenic risk scores were derived to examine their association with five psychiatric outcomes and AAO-MD in independent sub-samples. We found a small but significant SNP-heritability (~6%) for the AAO-MD phenotype. No SNP or gene reached SNP or gene-level significance. We found evidence that AAO-MD has genetic overlap with MD risk ([Formula: see text] = -0.49). Similarly, we found shared genetic risks between AAO-MD and autism-spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and anorexia nervosa ([Formula: see text] range: -0.3 to -0.5). Polygenic risk scores for AAO-MD were associated with MD, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, and AAO-MD was in turn associated with polygenic risk scores derived from these disorders. Overall, our results indicate that AAO-MD is heritable, and there is an inverse genetic relationship between AAO-MD and both major depression and other psychiatric disorders, meaning that SNPs associated with earlier age at onset tend to increase the risk for psychiatric disorders. These findings suggest that the genetics of AAO-MD contribute to the shared genetic architecture observed between psychiatric disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Arvid Harder
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Thuy-Dung Nguyen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Joëlle A Pasman
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty for Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Yi Lu
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. .,Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Finkel D, Zavala C, Franz CE, Pahlen S, Gatz M, Pedersen NL, Finch BK, Dahl Aslan A, Catts VS, Ericsson M, Krueger RF, Martin NG, Mohan A, Mosing MA, Prescott CA, Whitfield KE. Financial strain moderates genetic influences on self-rated health: support for diathesis-stress model of gene-environment interplay. Biodemography Soc Biol 2022; 67:58-70. [PMID: 35156881 PMCID: PMC9038652 DOI: 10.1080/19485565.2022.2037069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Data from the Interplay of Genes and Environment across Multiple Studies (IGEMS) consortium were used to examine predictions of different models of gene-by-environment interaction to understand how genetic variance in self-rated health (SRH) varies at different levels of financial strain. A total of 11,359 individuals from 10 twin studies in Australia, Sweden, and the United States contributed relevant data, including 2,074 monozygotic and 2,623 dizygotic twin pairs. Age ranged from 22 to 98 years, with a mean age of 61.05 (SD = 13.24). A factor model was used to create a harmonized measure of financial strain across studies and items. Twin analyses of genetic and environmental variance for SRH incorporating age, age2, sex, and financial strain moderators indicated significant financial strain moderation of genetic influences on self-rated health. Moderation results did not differ across sex or country. Genetic variance for SRH increased as financial strain increased, matching the predictions of the diathesis-stress and social comparison models for components of variance. Under these models, environmental improvements would be expected to reduce genetically based health disparities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Deborah Finkel
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, Indiana
- Institute of Gerontology and Aging Research Network-Jönköping (ARN-J), Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden
| | - Catalina Zavala
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Carol E Franz
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, California
| | - Shandell Pahlen
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, California
| | - Margaret Gatz
- Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Nancy L Pedersen
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
| | - Brian K Finch
- Department of Sociology and Spatial Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Anna Dahl Aslan
- Institute of Gerontology and Aging Research Network-Jönköping (ARN-J), Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
| | - Vibeke S Catts
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, Australia
| | - Malin Ericsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
| | - Robert F Krueger
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| | - Nicholas G Martin
- Genetic Epidemiology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Adith Mohan
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, Australia
| | - Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Carol A Prescott
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Keith E Whitfield
- Department of Psychology, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Niarchou M, Gustavson DE, Sathirapongsasuti JF, Anglada-Tort M, Eising E, Bell E, McArthur E, Straub P, McAuley JD, Capra JA, Ullén F, Creanza N, Mosing MA, Hinds DA, Davis LK, Jacoby N, Gordon RL. Genome-wide association study of musical beat synchronization demonstrates high polygenicity. Nat Hum Behav 2022; 6:1292-1309. [PMID: 35710621 PMCID: PMC9489530 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01359-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Moving in synchrony to the beat is a fundamental component of musicality. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study to identify common genetic variants associated with beat synchronization in 606,825 individuals. Beat synchronization exhibited a highly polygenic architecture, with 69 loci reaching genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10-8) and single-nucleotide-polymorphism-based heritability (on the liability scale) of 13%-16%. Heritability was enriched for genes expressed in brain tissues and for fetal and adult brain-specific gene regulatory elements, underscoring the role of central-nervous-system-expressed genes linked to the genetic basis of the trait. We performed validations of the self-report phenotype (through separate experiments) and of the genome-wide association study (polygenic scores for beat synchronization were associated with patients algorithmically classified as musicians in medical records of a separate biobank). Genetic correlations with breathing function, motor function, processing speed and chronotype suggest shared genetic architecture with beat synchronization and provide avenues for new phenotypic and genetic explorations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Niarchou
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA. .,Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
| | - Daniel E. Gustavson
- grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA ,grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA
| | | | - Manuel Anglada-Tort
- grid.461782.e0000 0004 1795 8610Computational Auditory Perception Group, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Else Eising
- grid.419550.c0000 0004 0501 3839Department of Language and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Eamonn Bell
- grid.21729.3f0000000419368729Department of Music, Columbia University, New York, NY USA ,grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Department of Computer Science, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Evonne McArthur
- grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA
| | - Peter Straub
- grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA
| | | | - J. Devin McAuley
- grid.17088.360000 0001 2150 1785Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI USA
| | - John A. Capra
- grid.266102.10000 0001 2297 6811Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA USA ,grid.266102.10000 0001 2297 6811Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, CA USA
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- grid.465198.7Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden ,grid.461782.e0000 0004 1795 8610Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Nicole Creanza
- grid.152326.10000 0001 2264 7217Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA ,grid.152326.10000 0001 2264 7217Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA
| | - Miriam A. Mosing
- grid.465198.7Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden ,grid.461782.e0000 0004 1795 8610Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany ,grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XMelbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria Australia
| | - David A. Hinds
- grid.420283.f0000 0004 0626 085823andMe, Inc, Sunnyvale, CA USA
| | - Lea K. Davis
- grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA ,grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA ,grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA ,grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA ,grid.152326.10000 0001 2264 7217Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA
| | - Nori Jacoby
- grid.461782.e0000 0004 1795 8610Computational Auditory Perception Group, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Reyna L. Gordon
- grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA ,grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Department of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA ,grid.152326.10000 0001 2264 7217Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA ,grid.152326.10000 0001 2264 7217Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Wesseldijk LW, Mosing MA, Ullén F. Why Is an Early Start of Training Related to Musical Skills in Adulthood? A Genetically Informative Study. Psychol Sci 2021; 32:3-13. [PMID: 33308000 PMCID: PMC7809336 DOI: 10.1177/0956797620959014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Experts in domains such as music or sports often start training early. It has been suggested that this may reflect a sensitive period in childhood for skill acquisition. However, it could be that familial factors (e.g., genetics) contribute to the association. Here, we examined the effect of age of onset of musical training on musical aptitude and achievement in professional musicians (n = 310) and twins (n = 7,786). In line with previous literature, results showed that an earlier age of onset was associated with higher aptitude and achievement in both samples. After we adjusted for lifetime practice hours, age of onset was associated only with aptitude (p < .001; achievement: p > .14). Twin analyses showed that the association with aptitude was fully explained by familial factors. Thus, these findings provide little support for a sensitive period for music but highlight that familiar factors play an important role for associations between age of onset of training and skills in adulthood.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura W. Wesseldijk
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam
| | - Miriam A. Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne
| | | |
Collapse
|
15
|
Tomata Y, Li X, Karlsson IK, Mosing MA, Pedersen NL, Hägg S. Joint impact of common risk factors on incident dementia: A cohort study of the Swedish Twin Registry. J Intern Med 2020; 288:234-247. [PMID: 32363599 DOI: 10.1111/joim.13071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Revised: 03/14/2020] [Accepted: 03/30/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND As common risk factors of dementia, nine factors (low education, hearing loss, obesity, hypertension, smoking, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes and social isolation) were proposed. However, the joint impact of these factors on incident dementia is still uncertain; hence, we aimed to examine this impact. METHODS We conducted a cohort study of 9017 cognitively intact individuals aged ≥ 65 years in the Swedish Twin Registry. The main exposure was the total number of reported risk factors (ranging from 0 to 9). Data on dementia diagnoses were based on clinical workup and national health registers. After estimating the adjusted hazard ratios of incident dementia, the population attributable fraction (PAF) was calculated. We then conducted additional analyses, including APOE ε4 status in a genotyped subsample (n = 2810) to check the relative impact of the main exposure and discordant twin pair (n = 1158) analysis to consider confounding by familial effects (shared genetic or familial environmental factors). RESULTS The number of dementia cases was 1950 (21.6%). A dose-response relationship between the number of risk factors and incident dementia was observed; hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) per one-unit increment in number of risk factors was 1.07 (1.03 to 1.11). The PAF for the combination of the nine risk factors was 10.4%. The PAF of all nine risk factors was smaller than that of APOE ε4 genotype (20.8%) in the subsample. Discordant pair analysis suggested that the observed association was not likely explained by familial effects. CONCLUSION The nine risk factors may have considerable impact as modifiable factors on incident dementia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Y Tomata
- From the, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Informatics and Public Health, Tohoku University School of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
| | - X Li
- From the, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - I K Karlsson
- From the, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Institute of Gerontology and Aging Research Network - Jönköping (ARN-J), School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden
| | - M A Mosing
- From the, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - N L Pedersen
- From the, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - S Hägg
- From the, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Wesseldijk LW, Ullén F, Mosing MA. Does listening to music increase your ability to discriminate musical sounds? Personality and Individual Differences 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
|
17
|
Pedersen NL, Gatz M, Finch BK, Finkel D, Butler DA, Dahl Aslan A, Franz CE, Kaprio J, Lapham S, McGue M, Mosing MA, Neiderhiser J, Nygaard M, Panizzon M, Prescott CA, Reynolds CA, Sachdev P, Whitfield KE. IGEMS: The Consortium on Interplay of Genes and Environment Across Multiple Studies - An Update. Twin Res Hum Genet 2019; 22:809-816. [PMID: 31544729 PMCID: PMC7056501 DOI: 10.1017/thg.2019.76] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
The Interplay of Genes and Environment across Multiple Studies (IGEMS) is a consortium of 18 twin studies from 5 different countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, United States, and Australia) established to explore the nature of gene-environment (GE) interplay in functioning across the adult lifespan. Fifteen of the studies are longitudinal, with follow-up as long as 59 years after baseline. The combined data from over 76,000 participants aged 14-103 at intake (including over 10,000 monozygotic and over 17,000 dizygotic twin pairs) support two primary research emphases: (1) investigation of models of GE interplay of early life adversity, and social factors at micro and macro environmental levels and with diverse outcomes, including mortality, physical functioning and psychological functioning; and (2) improved understanding of risk and protective factors for dementia by incorporating unmeasured and measured genetic factors with a wide range of exposures measured in young adulthood, midlife and later life.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nancy L Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Margaret Gatz
- Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Brian K Finch
- Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Deborah Finkel
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN, USA
| | - David A Butler
- Office of Military and Veterans Health, Health and Medicine Division, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Anna Dahl Aslan
- Institute of Gerontology and Aging Research Network - Jönköping (ARN-J), School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden
| | - Carol E Franz
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jaakko Kaprio
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine & Institute for Molecular Medicine FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Susan Lapham
- Research and Evaluation, American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Matt McGue
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jenae Neiderhiser
- Department of Psychology, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Marianne Nygaard
- The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark
| | - Matthew Panizzon
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Carol A Prescott
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Chandra A Reynolds
- Department of Psychology, University of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Perminder Sachdev
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | | |
Collapse
|
18
|
Abstract
The association between active musical engagement (as leisure activity or professionally) and mental health is still unclear, with earlier studies reporting contrasting findings. Here we tested whether musical engagement predicts (1) a diagnosis of depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar or stress-related disorders based on nationwide patient registers or (2) self-reported depressive, burnout and schizotypal symptoms in 10,776 Swedish twins. Information was available on the years individuals played an instrument, including their start and stop date if applicable, and their level of achievement. Survival analyses were used to test the effect of musical engagement on the incidence of psychiatric disorders. Regression analyses were applied for self-reported psychiatric symptoms. Additionally, we conducted co-twin control analyses to further explore the association while controlling for genetic and shared environmental confounding. Results showed that overall individuals playing a musical instrument (independent of their musical achievement) may have a somewhat increased risk for mental health problems, though only significant for self-reported mental health measures. When controlling for familial liability associations diminished, suggesting that the association is likely not due to a causal negative effect of playing music, but rather to shared underlying environmental or genetic factors influencing both musicianship and mental health problems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura W Wesseldijk
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solnavägen 9, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden. .,Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 5, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solnavägen 9, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solnavägen 9, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels v 12A, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Wesseldijk LW, Mosing MA, Ullén F. Gene-environment interaction in expertise: The importance of childhood environment for musical achievement. Dev Psychol 2019; 55:1473-1479. [PMID: 30883154 DOI: 10.1037/dev0000726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Both genes and the environment are important for individual differences in expertise, but little is known about gene-environment interactions underlying domain-specific achievement. Here we explored this issue in a large Swedish twin cohort (N = 6,610), using moderator modeling with musical expertise as a model domain. Specifically, we tested whether musical enrichment of the childhood environment moderates adult musical achievement, as well as the magnitude of genetic and nongenetic influences on individual differences in achievement. Musical achievement was measured using the Creative Achievement Questionnaire and enrichment of the childhood environment was indexed with a principal component derived from the number of music records in the family home, number of individuals in the family environment playing an instrument, frequency of concert visits, and music education before the age of 12. As expected, we found a positive association between childhood musical enrichment and musical achievement in adulthood. Interestingly, however, the total variance in musical achievement as well as the relative importance of genetic influences increased with a higher level of musical enrichment. Estimates of genetic and environmental influences as well as the magnitude of the environmental moderation differed for men and women. These findings suggest that, in line with recent multifactorial models of expert performance, a musically enriched childhood environment amplifies individual differences, an effect which is largely driven by an increase in the importance of genetic factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
|
20
|
Mosing MA, Lundholm C, Cnattingius S, Gatz M, Pedersen NL. Associations between birth characteristics and age-related cognitive impairment and dementia: A registry-based cohort study. PLoS Med 2018; 15:e1002609. [PMID: 30020924 PMCID: PMC6051563 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2017] [Accepted: 06/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is evidence for long-lasting effects of birth characteristics on cognitive ability in childhood and adulthood. Further, low cognitive ability throughout the lifetime has been linked to age-related cognitive decline and dementia risk. However, little is known about the effects of birth characteristics on cognitive dysfunction late in life. Here we explore potential associations between birth characteristics (weight, head circumference, length, and gestational age), adjusted and not adjusted for gestational age, and cognitive impairment and dementia late in life. METHODS AND FINDINGS Data from twins in the Swedish Twin Registry born 1926-1960 were merged with information from the Swedish birth, patient, and cause of death registries, resulting in a sample of 35,191 individuals. A subsample of 4,000 twins aged 65 years and older also participated in a telephone cognitive screening in 1998-2002. Associations of birth characteristics with registry-based dementia diagnoses and on telephone-assessed cognitive impairment were investigated in the full sample and subsample, respectively. The full sample contained 907 (2.6%) individuals with a dementia diagnosis (an incidence rate of 5.9% per 100,000 person-years), 803 (2.4%) individuals born small for gestational age, and 929 (2.8%) individuals born with a small head for gestational age. The subsample contained 569 (14.2%) individuals with cognitive impairment. Low birth weight for gestational age and being born with a small head for gestational age were significant risk factors for cognitive dysfunction late in life, with an up to 2-fold risk increase (p < 0.001) compared to infants with normal growth and head size, even after controlling for familial factors, childhood socioeconomic status, and education in adulthood. In line with this, each additional 100 g birth weight and each additional millimeter head circumference significantly reduced the risk for dementia (hazard ratio 0.98, 95% confidence interval 0.97 to 0.99, p = 0.004) and cognitive impairment (odds ratio 0.99, 95% confidence interval 0.99 to 1.00, p = 0.004), respectively. Within-pair analyses of identical twins, though hampered by small sample size, suggested that the observed associations between birth characteristics and dementia are likely not due to underlying shared genetic or environmental etiology. A limitation of the present study is that registry-based dementia diagnoses likely miss some of the true dementia cases in the population. Further, a more precise measure of cognitive reserve early in life as well as a date of onset for the cognitive impairment measure in the subsample would have been favorable. CONCLUSIONS In this study, we found that infants of smaller birth size (i.e., low birth weight or small head circumference adjusted and unadjusted for gestational age) have a significantly higher risk of age-related cognitive dysfunction compared to those with normal growth, highlighting the importance of closely monitoring the cognitive development of such infants and evaluating the potential of early life interventions targeted at enhancing cognitive reserve.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A. Mosing
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- * E-mail:
| | - Cecilia Lundholm
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sven Cnattingius
- Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Margaret Gatz
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Nancy L. Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Mosing MA, Ullén F. Genetic influences on musical specialization: a twin study on choice of instrument and music genre. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2018; 1423:427-434. [PMID: 29744890 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2017] [Revised: 01/06/2018] [Accepted: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Though several studies show that genetic factors influence individual differences in musical engagement, aptitude, and achievement, no study to date has investigated whether specialization among musically active individuals in terms of choice of instrument and genre is heritable. Using a large twin cohort, we explored whether individual differences in instrument choice, instrument category, and the type of music individuals engage in can entirely be explained by the environment or are partly due to genetic influences. About 10,000 Swedish twins answered an extensive questionnaire about music-related traits, including information on the instrument and genre they played. Of those, 1259 same-sex twin pairs reported to either play an instrument or sing. We calculated the odds ratios (ORs) for concordance in music choices (if both twins played) comparing identical and nonidentical twin pairs, with significant ORs indicating that identical twins are more likely to engage in the same type of music-related behavior than are nonidentical twins. The results showed that for almost all music-related variables, the odds were significantly higher for identical twins to play the same musical instrument or music genre, suggesting significant genetic influences on such music specialization. Possible interpretations and implications of the findings are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Madison G, Mosing MA, Verweij KJ, Pedersen NL, Ullén F. Common genetic influences on intelligence and auditory simple reaction time in a large Swedish sample. Intelligence 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2016.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
|
23
|
Mosing MA, Verweij KJH, Abé C, de Manzano Ö, Ullén F. On the Relationship Between Domain-Specific Creative Achievement and Sexual Orientation in Swedish Twins. Arch Sex Behav 2016; 45:1799-1806. [PMID: 26969321 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-016-0708-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2014] [Revised: 02/02/2016] [Accepted: 02/07/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Despite the commonly held belief that homosexual males and females are more creative compared to heterosexuals, empirical studies on homosexuality and its relationship to creativity have been sparse, often with questionable methodology and very small sample sizes, reporting mixed findings. No study till date has explored the associations described above in a large population-based and genetically informative sample. Here, we examined such potential associations between sexual orientation and creative achievement in several different domains (music, writing, dance, visual arts, science, invention, and theater) using a large cohort of 4494 Swedish twins (of which 7.5 % were not exclusively heterosexual). Data were analyzed for the sexes separately as well as pooled. Results showed significant associations between sexual orientation and two of the creative domains-theater and writing-with non-heterosexuals being more creative in these domains. In all other domains, no significant differences were found between the non-heterosexual and heterosexual groups. Findings from co-twin control analyses suggested that the significant associations may not be causal in nature (i.e., homosexual orientation leads to higher creativity) but due to shared liability. However, we lacked power to differentiate between shared genetic and shared environmental influences. Results and potential implications are discussed critically.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Retzius v 8, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Karin J H Verweij
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Retzius v 8, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Christoph Abé
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Örjan de Manzano
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Retzius v 8, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Retzius v 8, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Okbay A, Baselmans BML, Neve JED, Turley P, Nivard MG, Fontana MA, Meddens SFW, Linnér RK, Rietveld CA, Derringer J, Gratten J, Lee JJ, Liu JZ, de Vlaming R, Ahluwalia TS, Buchwald J, Cavadino A, Frazier-Wood AC, Furlotte NA, Garfield V, Geisel MH, Gonzalez JR, Haitjema S, Karlsson R, van der Laan SW, Ladwig KH, Lahti J, van der Lee SJ, Lind PA, Liu T, Matteson L, Mihailov E, Miller MB, Minica CC, Nolte IM, Mook-Kanamori D, van der Most PJ, Oldmeadow C, Qian Y, Raitakari O, Rawal R, Realo A, Rueedi R, Schmidt B, Smith AV, Stergiakouli E, Tanaka T, Taylor K, Thorleifsson G, Wedenoja J, Wellmann J, Westra HJ, Willems SM, Zhao W, Amin N, Bakshi A, Bergmann S, Bjornsdottir G, Boyle PA, Cherney S, Cox SR, Davies G, Davis OSP, Ding J, Direk N, Eibich P, Emeny RT, Fatemifar G, Faul JD, Ferrucci L, Forstner AJ, Gieger C, Gupta R, Harris TB, Harris JM, Holliday EG, Hottenga JJ, Jager PLD, Kaakinen MA, Kajantie E, Karhunen V, Kolcic I, Kumari M, Launer LJ, Franke L, Li-Gao R, Liewald DC, Koini M, Loukola A, Marques-Vidal P, Montgomery GW, Mosing MA, Paternoster L, Pattie A, Petrovic KE, Pulkki-Råback L, Quaye L, Räikkönen K, Rudan I, Scott RJ, Smith JA, Sutin AR, Trzaskowski M, Vinkhuyzen AE, Yu L, Zabaneh D, Attia JR, Bennett DA, Berger K, Bertram L, Boomsma DI, Snieder H, Chang SC, Cucca F, Deary IJ, van Duijn CM, Eriksson JG, Bültmann U, de Geus EJC, Groenen PJF, Gudnason V, Hansen T, Hartman CA, Haworth CMA, Hayward C, Heath AC, Hinds DA, Hyppönen E, Iacono WG, Järvelin MR, Jöckel KH, Kaprio J, Kardia SLR, Keltikangas-Järvinen L, Kraft P, Kubzansky LD, Lehtimäki T, Magnusson PKE, Martin NG, McGue M, Metspalu A, Mills M, de Mutsert R, Oldehinkel AJ, Pasterkamp G, Pedersen NL, Plomin R, Polasek O, Power C, Rich SS, Rosendaal FR, den Ruijter HM, Schlessinger D, Schmidt H, Svento R, Schmidt R, Alizadeh BZ, Sørensen TIA, Spector TD, Starr JM, Stefansson K, Steptoe A, Terracciano A, Thorsteinsdottir U, Thurik AR, Timpson NJ, Tiemeier H, Uitterlinden AG, Vollenweider P, Wagner GG, Weir DR, Yang J, Conley DC, Smith GD, Hofman A, Johannesson M, Laibson DI, Medland SE, Meyer MN, Pickrell JK, Esko T, Krueger RF, Beauchamp JP, Koellinger PD, Benjamin DJ, Bartels M, Cesarini D. Corrigendum: Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses. Nat Genet 2016; 48:970. [PMID: 27463399 DOI: 10.1038/ng0816-970c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
25
|
Okbay A, Baselmans BML, De Neve JE, Turley P, Nivard MG, Fontana MA, Meddens SFW, Linnér RK, Rietveld CA, Derringer J, Gratten J, Lee JJ, Liu JZ, de Vlaming R, Ahluwalia TS, Buchwald J, Cavadino A, Frazier-Wood AC, Furlotte NA, Garfield V, Geisel MH, Gonzalez JR, Haitjema S, Karlsson R, van der Laan SW, Ladwig KH, Lahti J, van der Lee SJ, Lind PA, Liu T, Matteson L, Mihailov E, Miller MB, Minica CC, Nolte IM, Mook-Kanamori D, van der Most PJ, Oldmeadow C, Qian Y, Raitakari O, Rawal R, Realo A, Rueedi R, Schmidt B, Smith AV, Stergiakouli E, Tanaka T, Taylor K, Thorleifsson G, Wedenoja J, Wellmann J, Westra HJ, Willems SM, Zhao W, Amin N, Bakshi A, Bergmann S, Bjornsdottir G, Boyle PA, Cherney S, Cox SR, Davies G, Davis OSP, Ding J, Direk N, Eibich P, Emeny RT, Fatemifar G, Faul JD, Ferrucci L, Forstner AJ, Gieger C, Gupta R, Harris TB, Harris JM, Holliday EG, Hottenga JJ, De Jager PL, Kaakinen MA, Kajantie E, Karhunen V, Kolcic I, Kumari M, Launer LJ, Franke L, Li-Gao R, Liewald DC, Koini M, Loukola A, Marques-Vidal P, Montgomery GW, Mosing MA, Paternoster L, Pattie A, Petrovic KE, Pulkki-Råback L, Quaye L, Räikkönen K, Rudan I, Scott RJ, Smith JA, Sutin AR, Trzaskowski M, Vinkhuyzen AE, Yu L, Zabaneh D, Attia JR, Bennett DA, Berger K, Bertram L, Boomsma DI, Snieder H, Chang SC, Cucca F, Deary IJ, van Duijn CM, Eriksson JG, Bültmann U, de Geus EJC, Groenen PJF, Gudnason V, Hansen T, Hartman CA, Haworth CMA, Hayward C, Heath AC, Hinds DA, Hyppönen E, Iacono WG, Järvelin MR, Jöckel KH, Kaprio J, Kardia SLR, Keltikangas-Järvinen L, Kraft P, Kubzansky LD, Lehtimäki T, Magnusson PKE, Martin NG, McGue M, Metspalu A, Mills M, de Mutsert R, Oldehinkel AJ, Pasterkamp G, Pedersen NL, Plomin R, Polasek O, Power C, Rich SS, Rosendaal FR, den Ruijter HM, Schlessinger D, Schmidt H, Svento R, Schmidt R, Alizadeh BZ, Sørensen TIA, Spector TD, Starr JM, Stefansson K, Steptoe A, Terracciano A, Thorsteinsdottir U, Thurik AR, Timpson NJ, Tiemeier H, Uitterlinden AG, Vollenweider P, Wagner GG, Weir DR, Yang J, Conley DC, Smith GD, Hofman A, Johannesson M, Laibson DI, Medland SE, Meyer MN, Pickrell JK, Esko T, Krueger RF, Beauchamp JP, Koellinger PD, Benjamin DJ, Bartels M, Cesarini D. Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses. Nat Genet 2016; 48:624-33. [PMID: 27089181 PMCID: PMC4884152 DOI: 10.1038/ng.3552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 561] [Impact Index Per Article: 70.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2015] [Accepted: 03/24/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Very few genetic variants have been associated with depression and neuroticism, likely because of limitations on sample size in previous studies. Subjective well-being, a phenotype that is genetically correlated with both of these traits, has not yet been studied with genome-wide data. We conducted genome-wide association studies of three phenotypes: subjective well-being (n = 298,420), depressive symptoms (n = 161,460), and neuroticism (n = 170,911). We identify 3 variants associated with subjective well-being, 2 variants associated with depressive symptoms, and 11 variants associated with neuroticism, including 2 inversion polymorphisms. The two loci associated with depressive symptoms replicate in an independent depression sample. Joint analyses that exploit the high genetic correlations between the phenotypes (|ρ^| ≈ 0.8) strengthen the overall credibility of the findings and allow us to identify additional variants. Across our phenotypes, loci regulating expression in central nervous system and adrenal or pancreas tissues are strongly enriched for association.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aysu Okbay
- Department of Applied Economics, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Bart M L Baselmans
- Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | - Patrick Turley
- Department of Economics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Michel G Nivard
- Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Mark Alan Fontana
- Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - S Fleur W Meddens
- Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Vrije Universiteit, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Richard Karlsson Linnér
- Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Vrije Universiteit, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Cornelius A Rietveld
- Department of Applied Economics, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jaime Derringer
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, USA
| | - Jacob Gratten
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - James J Lee
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Jimmy Z Liu
- New York Genome Center, New York, New York, USA
| | - Ronald de Vlaming
- Department of Applied Economics, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Tarunveer S Ahluwalia
- COPSAC (Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood), Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Steno Diabetes Center, Gentofte, Denmark
| | - Jadwiga Buchwald
- Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Alana Cavadino
- Centre for Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
- South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Alexis C Frazier-Wood
- USDA-ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | | | - Victoria Garfield
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Marie Henrike Geisel
- Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University Hospital of Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Juan R Gonzalez
- Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Saskia Haitjema
- Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Robert Karlsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sander W van der Laan
- Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Karl-Heinz Ladwig
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Jari Lahti
- Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Folkhälsan Research Centre, Helsingfors, Finland
- Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sven J van der Lee
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Penelope A Lind
- Psychiatric Genetics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Tian Liu
- Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Department of Vertebrate Genomics, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lindsay Matteson
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | | | - Michael B Miller
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Camelia C Minica
- Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ilja M Nolte
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Dennis Mook-Kanamori
- Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
- BESC, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Peter J van der Most
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Christopher Oldmeadow
- Public Health Stream, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton, New South Wales, Australia
- Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Yong Qian
- Laboratory of Genetics, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Olli Raitakari
- Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Clinical Physiology, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Rajesh Rawal
- Research Unit of Molecular Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Anu Realo
- Department of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Rico Rueedi
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Börge Schmidt
- Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University Hospital of Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Albert V Smith
- Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, Iceland
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Evie Stergiakouli
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Toshiko Tanaka
- National Institute on Aging, US National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Kent Taylor
- Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute and Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA, Torrence, California, USA
| | | | - Juho Wedenoja
- Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Juergen Wellmann
- Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Harm-Jan Westra
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Sara M Willems
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Wei Zhao
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Najaf Amin
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Andrew Bakshi
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | | | | | - Patricia A Boyle
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | | | - Simon R Cox
- Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Gail Davies
- Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Oliver S P Davis
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Jun Ding
- Laboratory of Genetics, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Nese Direk
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Peter Eibich
- German Socio-Economic Panel Study, DIW Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Health Economics Research Centre, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Rebecca T Emeny
- Institute of Epidemiology II, Mental Health Research Unit, Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Ghazaleh Fatemifar
- Farr Institute of Health Informatics, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jessica D Faul
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Luigi Ferrucci
- National Institute on Aging, US National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Andreas J Forstner
- Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- Department of Genomics, Life and Brain Center, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Christian Gieger
- Research Unit of Molecular Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Richa Gupta
- Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tamara B Harris
- Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, National Institute on Aging, US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Juliette M Harris
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Elizabeth G Holliday
- Public Health Stream, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton, New South Wales, Australia
- Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Jouke-Jan Hottenga
- Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Philip L De Jager
- Program in Translational NeuroPsychiatric Genomics, Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Marika A Kaakinen
- Department of Genomics of Common Disease, Imperial College London, London, UK
- Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
| | - Eero Kajantie
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Ville Karhunen
- Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
| | - Ivana Kolcic
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Split, Split, Croatia
| | - Meena Kumari
- Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, UK
| | - Lenore J Launer
- Neuroepidemiology Section, National Institute on Aging, US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Lude Franke
- Department of Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Ruifang Li-Gao
- Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | | | - Marisa Koini
- Department of Neurology, General Hospital and Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Anu Loukola
- Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Pedro Marques-Vidal
- Department of Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Grant W Montgomery
- Molecular Epidemiology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Alison Pattie
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Katja E Petrovic
- Department of Neurology, General Hospital and Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Laura Pulkki-Råback
- Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Lydia Quaye
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Katri Räikkönen
- Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Igor Rudan
- Centre for Global Health Research, Usher Institute for Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Rodney J Scott
- Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
- Information-Based Medicine Stream, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Jennifer A Smith
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Angelina R Sutin
- National Institute on Aging, US National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Maciej Trzaskowski
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Split, Split, Croatia
| | - Anna E Vinkhuyzen
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Lei Yu
- Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Delilah Zabaneh
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Split, Split, Croatia
| | - John R Attia
- Public Health Stream, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton, New South Wales, Australia
- Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
| | - David A Bennett
- Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Klaus Berger
- Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Lars Bertram
- Lübeck Interdisciplinary Platform for Genome Analytics (LIGA), Institute of Neurogenetics and Institute of Integrative and Experimental Genomics, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Neuroepidemiology and Ageing Research Unit, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Dorret I Boomsma
- Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Harold Snieder
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Shun-Chiao Chang
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Francesco Cucca
- Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica (IRGB), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Cittadella Universitarià di Monserrato, Monserrato, Italy
| | - Ian J Deary
- Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | - Johan G Eriksson
- Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
- Unit of General Practice, University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Ute Bültmann
- Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Eco J C de Geus
- Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Patrick J F Groenen
- Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Econometric Institute, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Vilmundur Gudnason
- Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, Iceland
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Torben Hansen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Catharine A Hartman
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | | | - Caroline Hayward
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Andrew C Heath
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | | | - Elina Hyppönen
- South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Centre for Population Health Research, School of Health Sciences and Sansom Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Population, Policy and Practice, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK
| | - William G Iacono
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Marjo-Riitta Järvelin
- Department of Genomics of Common Disease, Imperial College London, London, UK
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
- Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
- Unit of Primary Care, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
| | - Karl-Heinz Jöckel
- Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University Hospital of Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Jaakko Kaprio
- Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department for Health, THL (National Institute for Health and Welfare), Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sharon L R Kardia
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | | | - Peter Kraft
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Laura D Kubzansky
- Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Terho Lehtimäki
- Fimlab Laboratories, Tampere, Finland
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Tampere, School of Medicine, Tampere, Finland
| | - Patrik K E Magnusson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Nicholas G Martin
- Genetic Epidemiology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Matt McGue
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Andres Metspalu
- Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Melinda Mills
- Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Renée de Mutsert
- Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Albertine J Oldehinkel
- Econometric Institute, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Gerard Pasterkamp
- Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry and Hematology, Division of Laboratories and Pharmacy, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Nancy L Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Robert Plomin
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, UK
| | - Ozren Polasek
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Split, Split, Croatia
| | - Christine Power
- South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Population, Policy and Practice, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK
| | - Stephen S Rich
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Frits R Rosendaal
- Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Hester M den Ruijter
- Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - David Schlessinger
- Laboratory of Genetics, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Helena Schmidt
- Department of Neurology, General Hospital and Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria
- Research Unit for Genetic Epidemiology, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Center of Molecular Medicine, General Hospital and Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Rauli Svento
- Department of Economics, Oulu Business School, Oulu, Finland
| | - Reinhold Schmidt
- Department of Neurology, General Hospital and Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Behrooz Z Alizadeh
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Thorkild I A Sørensen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Institute of Preventive Medicine, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospitals, Capital Region, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Tim D Spector
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK
| | | | | | - Andrew Steptoe
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Antonio Terracciano
- National Institute on Aging, US National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | | | - A Roy Thurik
- Department of Applied Economics, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Montpellier Business School, Montpellier, France
- Panteia, Zoetermeer, the Netherlands
| | | | - Henning Tiemeier
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - André G Uitterlinden
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Peter Vollenweider
- Department of Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Gert G Wagner
- Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
- German Socio-Economic Panel Study, DIW Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- School of Economics and Management, Berlin University of Technology, Berlin, Germany
| | - David R Weir
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Jian Yang
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Dalton C Conley
- Department of Sociology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
| | | | - Albert Hofman
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Magnus Johannesson
- Department of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - David I Laibson
- Department of Economics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Sarah E Medland
- Psychiatric Genetics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Michelle N Meyer
- Department of Bioethics, Clarkson University, Schenectady, New York, USA
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Joseph K Pickrell
- New York Genome Center, New York, New York, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Tõnu Esko
- Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Robert F Krueger
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | | | - Philipp D Koellinger
- Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Vrije Universiteit, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Daniel J Benjamin
- Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Meike Bartels
- Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - David Cesarini
- Department of Economics, New York University, New York, New York, USA
- Research Institute for Industrial Economics, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Mosing MA, Verweij KJ, Madison G, Pedersen NL, Zietsch BP, Ullén F. Did sexual selection shape human music? Testing predictions from the sexual selection hypothesis of music evolution using a large genetically informative sample of over 10,000 twins. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
|
27
|
Ullén F, Mosing MA, Madison G. Associations between motor timing, music practice, and intelligence studied in a large sample of twins. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2015; 1337:125-9. [PMID: 25773626 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Music performance depends critically on precise processing of time. A common model behavior in studies of motor timing is isochronous serial interval production (ISIP), that is, hand/finger movements with a regular beat. ISIP accuracy is related to both music practice and intelligence. Here we present a study of these associations in a large twin cohort, demonstrating that the effects of music practice and intelligence on motor timing are additive, with no significant multiplicative (interaction) effect. Furthermore, the association between music practice and motor timing was analyzed with the use of a co-twin control design using intrapair differences. These analyses revealed that the phenotypic association disappeared when all genetic and common environmental factors were controlled. This suggests that the observed association may not reflect a causal effect of music practice on ISIP performance but rather reflect common influences (e.g., genetic effects) on both outcomes. The relevance of these findings for models of practice and expert performance is discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
28
|
Mosing MA, Madison G, Pedersen NL, Ullén F. Investigating cognitive transfer within the framework of music practice: genetic pleiotropy rather than causality. Dev Sci 2015; 19:504-12. [PMID: 25939545 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2014] [Accepted: 02/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The idea of far transfer effects in the cognitive sciences has received much attention in recent years. One domain where far transfer effects have frequently been reported is music education, with the prevailing idea that music practice entails an increase in cognitive ability (IQ). While cross-sectional studies consistently find significant associations between music practice and IQ, randomized controlled trials, however, report mixed results. An alternative to the hypothesis of cognitive transfer effects is that some underlying factors, such as shared genes, influence practice behaviour and IQ causing associations on the phenotypic level. Here we explored the hypothesis of far transfer within the framework of music practice. A co-twin control design combined with classical twin-modelling based on a sample of more than 10,500 twins was used to explore causal associations between music practice and IQ as well as underlying genetic and environmental influences. As expected, phenotypic associations were moderate (r = 0.11 and r = 0.10 for males and females, respectively). However, the relationship disappeared when controlling for genetic and shared environmental influences using the co-twin control method, indicating that a highly practiced twin did not have higher IQ than the untrained co-twin. In line with that finding, the relationship between practice and IQ was mostly due to shared genetic influences. Findings strongly suggest that associations between music practice and IQ in the general population are non-causal in nature. The implications of the present findings for research on plasticity, modularity, and transfer are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.,Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
| | - Guy Madison
- Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Sweden
| | - Nancy L Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Mosing MA, Pedersen NL, Madison G, Ullén F. Genetic pleiotropy explains associations between musical auditory discrimination and intelligence. PLoS One 2014; 9:e113874. [PMID: 25419664 PMCID: PMC4242709 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2014] [Accepted: 11/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Musical aptitude is commonly measured using tasks that involve discrimination of different types of musical auditory stimuli. Performance on such different discrimination tasks correlates positively with each other and with intelligence. However, no study to date has explored these associations using a genetically informative sample to estimate underlying genetic and environmental influences. In the present study, a large sample of Swedish twins (N = 10,500) was used to investigate the genetic architecture of the associations between intelligence and performance on three musical auditory discrimination tasks (rhythm, melody and pitch). Phenotypic correlations between the tasks ranged between 0.23 and 0.42 (Pearson r values). Genetic modelling showed that the covariation between the variables could be explained by shared genetic influences. Neither shared, nor non-shared environment had a significant effect on the associations. Good fit was obtained with a two-factor model where one underlying shared genetic factor explained all the covariation between the musical discrimination tasks and IQ, and a second genetic factor explained variance exclusively shared among the discrimination tasks. The results suggest that positive correlations among musical aptitudes result from both genes with broad effects on cognition, and genes with potentially more specific influences on auditory functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A. Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- * E-mail:
| | - Nancy L. Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Guy Madison
- Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Abstract
The relative importance of nature and nurture for various forms of expertise has been intensely debated. Music proficiency is viewed as a general model for expertise, and associations between deliberate practice and music proficiency have been interpreted as supporting the prevailing idea that long-term deliberate practice inevitably results in increased music ability. Here, we examined the associations ( rs = .18–.36) between music practice and music ability (rhythm, melody, and pitch discrimination) in 10,500 Swedish twins. We found that music practice was substantially heritable (40%−70%). Associations between music practice and music ability were predominantly genetic, and, contrary to the causal hypothesis, nonshared environmental influences did not contribute. There was no difference in ability within monozygotic twin pairs differing in their amount of practice, so that when genetic predisposition was controlled for, more practice was no longer associated with better music skills. These findings suggest that music practice may not causally influence music ability and that genetic variation among individuals affects both ability and inclination to practice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nancy L. Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet
| | - Ralf Kuja-Halkola
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet
| | | |
Collapse
|
31
|
Abstract
The hypothesis was tested that musical activities may contribute to the prevention of alexithymia. We tested whether musical creative achievement and musical practice are associated with lower alexithymia. 8000 Swedish twins aged 27–54 were studied. Alexithymia was assessed using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20. Musical achievement was rated on a 7-graded scale. Participants estimated number of hours of music practice during different ages throughout life. A total life estimation of number of accumulated hours was made. They were also asked about ensemble playing. In addition, twin modelling was used to explore the genetic architecture of the relation between musical practice and alexithymia. Alexithymia was negatively associated with (i) musical creative achievement, (ii) having played a musical instrument as compared to never having played, and – for the subsample of participants that had played an instrument – (iii) total hours of musical training (r = -0.12 in men and -0.10 in women). Ensemble playing added significant variance. Twin modelling showed that alexithymia had a moderate heritability of 36% and that the association with musical practice could be explained by shared genetic influences. Associations between musical training and alexithymia remained significant when controlling for education, depression, and intelligence. Musical achievement and musical practice are associated with lower levels of alexithymia in both men and women. Musical engagement thus appears to be associated with higher emotional competence, although effect sizes are small. The association between musical training and alexithymia appears to be entirely genetically mediated, suggesting genetic pleiotropy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Töres P Theorell
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute Stockholm, Sweden ; Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden
| | | | - Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Ullén
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Mosing MA, Pedersen NL, Cesarini D, Johannesson M, Magnusson PKE, Nakamura J, Madison G, Ullén F. Genetic and environmental influences on the relationship between flow proneness, locus of control and behavioral inhibition. PLoS One 2012; 7:e47958. [PMID: 23133606 PMCID: PMC3487896 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2012] [Accepted: 09/18/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Flow is a psychological state of high but subjectively effortless attention that typically occurs during active performance of challenging tasks and is accompanied by a sense of automaticity, high control, low self-awareness, and enjoyment. Flow proneness is associated with traits and behaviors related to low neuroticism such as emotional stability, conscientiousness, active coping, self-esteem and life satisfaction. Little is known about the genetic architecture of flow proneness, behavioral inhibition and locus of control--traits also associated with neuroticism--and their interrelation. Here, we hypothesized that individuals low in behavioral inhibition and with an internal locus of control would be more likely to experience flow and explored the genetic and environmental architecture of the relationship between the three variables. Behavioral inhibition and locus of control was measured in a large population sample of 3,375 full twin pairs and 4,527 single twins, about 26% of whom also scored the flow proneness questionnaire. Findings revealed significant but relatively low correlations between the three traits and moderate heritability estimates of .41, .45, and .30 for flow proneness, behavioral inhibition, and locus of control, respectively, with some indication of non-additive genetic influences. For behavioral inhibition we found significant sex differences in heritability, with females showing a higher estimate including significant non-additive genetic influences, while in males the entire heritability was due to additive genetic variance. We also found a mainly genetically mediated relationship between the three traits, suggesting that individuals who are genetically predisposed to experience flow, show less behavioral inhibition (less anxious) and feel that they are in control of their own destiny (internal locus of control). We discuss that some of the genes underlying this relationship may include those influencing the function of dopaminergic neural systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A Mosing
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
33
|
Lee T, Mosing MA, Henry JD, Trollor JN, Ames D, Martin NG, Wright MJ, Sachdev PS. Genetic influences on four measures of executive functions and their covariation with general cognitive ability: the Older Australian Twins Study. Behav Genet 2012; 42:528-38. [PMID: 22302529 DOI: 10.1007/s10519-012-9526-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2011] [Accepted: 01/16/2012] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
"Executive functions" (EF) is a multidimensional construct which encompasses many higher-order cognitive control operations, and is considered a potential mediator of age-associated changes in other cognitive domains. Here we examine the heritability of four measures of EF, and the genetic influences on their covariation with general cognitive abilities (GCA) from the Older Australian Twins Study. Participants included 117 pairs of monozygotic twins, 98 pairs of dizygotic twins, and 42 single twins, with a mean age of 71. Genetic modeling showed that additive genetic factors contributed to 59, 63,29, and 31% of the variance in the four measures: working memory, verbal fluency, response inhibition and cognitive flexibility, respectively. The phenotypic associations among the four EF measures were modest, which is in line with other evidence that EF is a multi-dimensional construct.All of the covariation between the EF measures was attributable to a common genetic factor. Similarly, all of the covariation between EF and General Cognitive Ability was explained by a common genetic factor, with no significant covariance due to environmental (E) factors. The genetic correlations between the measures were moderately high, suggesting that they may have common biological underpinnings. The genetic influence in the covariation of the EF measures and GCA also suggests that some aspects of EF and GCA share the same genes or same set of genes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Lee
- Brain and Aging Research Program, School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
34
|
Mosing MA, Mellanby J, Martin NG, Wright MJ. Genetic and environmental influences on analogical and categorical verbal and spatial reasoning in 12-year old twins. Behav Genet 2012; 42:722-31. [PMID: 22552739 DOI: 10.1007/s10519-012-9540-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2011] [Accepted: 04/12/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Research on the genetic influences on different abstract reasoning skills (fluid intelligence) and their interrelation (especially in childhood/adolescence) has been sparse. A novel cognitive test battery, the Verbal and Spatial Reasoning test for Children (VESPARCH 1), consisting of four matched (in terms of test-procedure and design) subtests assessing verbal [analogical (VA) and categorical (VC)] and spatial [analogical (SA) and categorical (SC)] reasoning, was administered to a population based sample of 12-year old twins (169 pairs). Multivariate analysis was conducted to explore the genetic relationship between the four cognitive sub-domains. Heritabilities were 0.62 (VA), 0.49 (VC), 0.52 (SA), and 0.20 (SC). Genetic influences were due to one common factor with no specific genetic influences. This shared genetic factor also explained almost the entire covariance between the domains, as environmental variance was largely specific to each subtest. The finding of no genetic influences specific to each subtest may be due to the uniquely matched design of the VESPARCH 1, reducing confoundment of different test modalities used in conventional tests. For future research or when interpreting previous studies, our findings highlight the importance of taking such potential artefacts (i.e. different test modalities for different sub-domains) into account when exploring the relationship between cognitive sub-domains.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A Mosing
- Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Herston, Brisbane, QLD, 4006, Australia
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
35
|
Lee T, Mosing MA, Henry JD, Trollor JN, Ames D, Martin NG, Wright MJ, Sachdev PS. Erratum to: Genetic Influences on Four Measures of Executive Functions and Their Covariation with General Cognitive Ability: The Older Australian Twins Study. Behav Genet 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s10519-012-9536-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
|
36
|
Mosing MA, Pedersen NL, Martin NG, Wright MJ. Sex differences in the genetic architecture of optimism and health and their interrelation: a study of Australian and Swedish twins. Twin Res Hum Genet 2011; 13:322-9. [PMID: 20707702 DOI: 10.1375/twin.13.4.322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Optimism has a positive influence on mental and somatic health throughout lifetime and into old age. This association is mainly due to shared genetic influences, with some indication of sex differences in the heritability of these and related traits (e.g., depression and subjective wellbeing). Here we extend our initial study of Australian twins by combining with data available from Swedish twins, in order to increase the power to explore potential sex differences in the genetic architecture of optimism, mental and self-rated health and their covariation. Optimism, mental, and self-rated health were measured in 3053 Australian (501 identical female (MZf), 153 identical male (MZm), 274 non-identical female (DZf), 77 non-identical male (DZm), and 242 non-identical opposite-sex twin pairs, and 561 single twins; mean age 60.97 +/- 8.76), and 812 Swedish (71 MZf, 53 MZm, 93 DZf and 67 DZm twin pairs, and 244 single twins; mean age 60 +/- 14.3) twin individuals using the Life Orientation Test (LOT), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and a single-item self-rating of overall health, respectively. In females all three traits were moderately heritable (.27-.47), whereas in males heritability was substantially lower (.08-.19), but genetic modeling showed that sex differences were not significant. The absence of significant sex differences, despite the consistent trend across the two cohorts, is likely due to a lack of power, raising the importance for future studies, on the same or similar traits, to utilize large samples and to keep the possibility of sex differences in mind when conducting their analyses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A Mosing
- Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
37
|
Mosing MA, Verweij KJH, Medland SE, Painter J, Gordon SD, Heath AC, Madden PA, Montgomery GW, Martin NG. A genome-wide association study of self-rated health. Twin Res Hum Genet 2010; 13:398-403. [PMID: 20707712 PMCID: PMC3041637 DOI: 10.1375/twin.13.4.398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Self-rated health questions have been proven to be a highly reliable and valid measure of overall health as measured by other indicators in many population groups. It also has been shown to be a very good predictor of mortality, chronic or severe diseases, and the need for services, and is positively correlated with clinical assessments. Genetic factors have been estimated to account for 25-64% of the variance in the liability of self-rated health. The aim of the present study was to identify Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) underlying the heritability of self-rated health by conducting a genome-wide association analysis in a large sample of 6,706 Australian individuals aged 18-92. No genome wide significant SNPs associated with self-rated health could be identified, indicating that self-rated health may be influenced by a large number of SNPs with very small effect size. A very large sample will be needed to identify these SNPs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A Mosing
- Genetic Epidemiology, Molecular Epidemiology, and Queensland Statistical Genetics Laboratories, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
38
|
Mosing MA, Zietsch BP, Shekar SN, Wright MJ, Martin NG. Genetic and environmental influences on optimism and its relationship to mental and self-rated health: a study of aging twins. Behav Genet 2009; 39:597-604. [PMID: 19618259 DOI: 10.1007/s10519-009-9287-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2009] [Accepted: 07/07/2009] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Optimism has been shown to be important in maintaining wellbeing into old age, but little is known about the sources of variation in optimism and its links to mental and somatic health. Optimism, mental, and self-rated health were measured in 3,053 twin individuals (501 MZF, 153 MZM, 274 DZF, 77 DZM, and 242 DZ opposite-sex twin pairs and 561 single twins) over 50 years using the life orientation test, the General Health Questionnaire and a single-item question for self-rated health. Additive genetic factors explained 36, 34, and 46% of the variation in optimism, mental, and self-rated health, respectively, with the remainder being due to non-shared environmental influences. Genetic influences accounted for most of the covariance between the variables (14-20% of the genetic variance) indicating that in older adults genes predisposing to high optimism also predispose to good mental health and self-rated health.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A Mosing
- Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Rd, Brisbane, QLD, 4029, Australia.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
39
|
Mosing MA, Gordon SD, Medland SE, Statham DJ, Nelson EC, Heath AC, Martin NG, Wray NR. Genetic and environmental influences on the co-morbidity between depression, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and social phobia: a twin study. Depress Anxiety 2009; 26:1004-11. [PMID: 19750555 PMCID: PMC3035043 DOI: 10.1002/da.20611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Major depression (MD) and anxiety disorders such as panic disorder (PD), agoraphobia (AG), and social phobia (SP) are heritable and highly co-morbid. However, the relative importance of genetic and environmental etiology of the covariation between these disorders, particularly the relationship between PD and AG, is less clear. METHODS This study measured MD, PD, and AG in a population sample of 5,440 twin pairs and 1,245 single twins, about 45% of whom were also scored for SP. Prevalences, within individual co-morbidity and twin odds ratios for co-morbidity, are reported. A behavioral genetic analysis of the four disorders using the classical twin design was conducted. RESULTS Odds ratios for MD, PD, AG, and SP in twins of individuals diagnosed with one of the four disorders were increased. Heritability estimates under a threshold-liability model for MD, PD, AG, and SP respectively were .33 (CI: 0.30-0.42), .38 (CI: 0.24-0.55), .48 (CI: 0.37-0.65), and .39 (CI: 0.16-0.65), with no evidence for any variance explained by the common environment shared by twins. We find that a common genetic factor explains a moderate proportion of variance in these four disorders. The genetic correlation between PD and AG was .83. CONCLUSION MD, PD, AG, and SP strongly co-aggregate within families and common genetic factors explain a moderate proportion of variance in these four disorders. The high genetic correlation between PD and AG and the increased odds ratio for PD and AG in siblings of those with AG without PD suggests a common genetic etiology for PD and AG.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A. Mosing
- Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia,School of Psychology, University of Queensland, QLD, Australia
| | - Scott D. Gordon
- Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Sarah E. Medland
- Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Dixie J. Statham
- Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia,Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sunshine Coast, QLD, Australia
| | | | - Andrew C. Heath
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | | | - Naomi R. Wray
- Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| |
Collapse
|