TY - JOUR
T1 - Common DNA Markers Can Account for More Than Half of the Genetic Influence on Cognitive Abilities
AU - Plomin, Robert
AU - Haworth, Claire M A
AU - Meaburn, Emma L.
AU - Price, Thomas S.
AU - Davis, Oliver S P
PY - 2013/4/1
Y1 - 2013/4/1
N2 - For nearly a century, twin and adoption studies have yielded substantial estimates of heritability for cognitive abilities, although it has proved difficult for genomewide-association studies to identify the genetic variants that account for this heritability (i.e., the missing-heritability problem). However, a new approach, genomewide complex-trait analysis (GCTA), forgoes the identification of individual variants to estimate the total heritability captured by common DNA markers on genotyping arrays. In the same sample of 3,154 pairs of 12-year-old twins, we directly compared twin-study heritability estimates for cognitive abilities (language, verbal, nonverbal, and general) with GCTA estimates captured by 1.7 million DNA markers. We found that DNA markers tagged by the array accounted for.66 of the estimated heritability, reaffirming that cognitive abilities are heritable. Larger sample sizes alone will be sufficient to identify many of the genetic variants that influence cognitive abilities.
AB - For nearly a century, twin and adoption studies have yielded substantial estimates of heritability for cognitive abilities, although it has proved difficult for genomewide-association studies to identify the genetic variants that account for this heritability (i.e., the missing-heritability problem). However, a new approach, genomewide complex-trait analysis (GCTA), forgoes the identification of individual variants to estimate the total heritability captured by common DNA markers on genotyping arrays. In the same sample of 3,154 pairs of 12-year-old twins, we directly compared twin-study heritability estimates for cognitive abilities (language, verbal, nonverbal, and general) with GCTA estimates captured by 1.7 million DNA markers. We found that DNA markers tagged by the array accounted for.66 of the estimated heritability, reaffirming that cognitive abilities are heritable. Larger sample sizes alone will be sufficient to identify many of the genetic variants that influence cognitive abilities.
KW - behavioral genetics
KW - cognitive ability
KW - cognitive development
KW - genetics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84876196443&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0956797612457952
DO - 10.1177/0956797612457952
M3 - Article (Academic Journal)
C2 - 23501967
AN - SCOPUS:84876196443
SN - 0956-7976
VL - 24
SP - 562
EP - 568
JO - Psychological Science
JF - Psychological Science
IS - 4
ER -