scholarly journals Classical and Molecular Genetic Research on General Cognitive Ability

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (S1) ◽  
pp. S25-S31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt McGue ◽  
Irving I. Gottesman
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
General Cognitive Ability

scholarly journals Genetics, environment and cognitive abilities: review and work in progress towards a genome scan for quantitative trait locus associations using DNA pooling

2001 ◽  
Vol 178 (S40) ◽  
pp. s41-s48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Plomin ◽  
Ian Craig
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Dna Markers ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Allelic Association ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Chromosome 4 ◽  
Dna Pooling ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
A Genome

BackgroundMultivariate genetic research indicates that genetic effects on diverse cognitive abilities are general rather than specific or modular. General cognitive ability (g), a key factor in learning and memory, is among the most heritable behavioural traits.AimsTo give a brief overview of quantitative genetic research on g and to describe initial results from a programme of research that aims to identify genes responsible for the substantial heritability of general cognitive ability.MethodThe research uses a new technique called DNA pooling, which combines DNA from individuals within a group and makes it feasible to screen thousands of DNA markers for a systematic scan of the genome for associations between DNA markers and g. Two independent samples of children with very high g scores and two control samples of children with average g scores were compared in a systematic scan of 147 markers on chromosome 4 and 66 markers on chromosome 22.ResultsThree replicated associations on chromosome 4 were identified using DNA pooling and confirmed using individual genotyping.ConclusionsThese first results of the application of DNA pooling in systematic analysis of allelic association are encouraging.

scholarly journals Finding genetic factors associated with cognitive abilities

2021 ◽  
pp. 29-34
Author(s):  
Valentyn Pomohaibo ◽  
Natalia Karapuzova ◽  
Yuliia Pavlenko
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Human Genetics ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Prenatal Development ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Functional Regions

The article provides an overview of the results of modern genetic studies of human cognitive abilities. Finding genetic factors, associated with cognitive abilities, will have far-reaching ramifications at all levels of understanding from DNA to brain and to behavior. Despite its complexity, cognitive ability is a reasonable candidate for molecular genetic research because it is one of the most heritable features of behavior. The first attempts to find genetic factors, associated with cognitive abilities, focused on genes, involved in brain development and function, but this direction proved to be unproductive, as it turned out that there are about 18.000 genes, and it was too difficult to detect among them those genes that are involved in cognitive processes. In addition, a considerable number of genetic factors of human traits are single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) which are in non-coding DNA regions rather than in traditional genes. The effect of each separate SNP is unimportant, and a clear expression of the general cognitive ability is noticeable only if all the associated SNPs are involved. Currently, over 11,000 such SNPs have been identified, which are uneven in different functional regions of the genome: over 60 % in gene introns, almost 30 % in intergenic DNA regions, about 5 % in gene exons, and about 5 % in transcribed regions (downstream, upstream) and frame regions (UTR'5, UTR'3) of genes. Also there are found 74 SNPs, associated with school achievements. These SNPs are disproportionately located in genes that regulate transcription and alternative splicing of other genes, which are expressed in nerve tissues of the brain during its prenatal development. Finding genetic factors that explain the inheritance of cognitive abilities is important for both science and society. Information about these factors can be used in other fields of human science – human genetics and medicine. It will open up new scientific horizons for education too owing to understanding of the genetic aspects of learning and memory

scholarly journals Internet Cognitive Testing of Large Samples Needed in Genetic Research

2007 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 554-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire M. A. Haworth ◽  
Nicole Harlaar ◽  
Yulia Kovas ◽  
Oliver S. P. Davis ◽  
Bonamy R. Oliver ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Cognitive Testing ◽  
Cognitive Test ◽  
Large Samples

AbstractQuantitative and molecular genetic research requires large samples to provide adequate statistical power, but it is expensive to test large samples in person, especially when the participants are widely distributed geographically. Increasing access to inexpensive and fast Internet connections makes it possible to test large samples efficiently and economically online. Reliability and validity of Internet testing for cognitive ability have not been previously reported; these issues are especially pertinent for testing children. We developed Internet versions of reading, language, mathematics and general cognitive ability tests and investigated their reliability and validity for 10- and 12-year-old children. We tested online more than 2500 pairs of 10-year-old twins and compared their scores to similar internet-based measures administered online to a subsample of the children when they were 12 years old (> 759 pairs). Within 3 months of the online testing at 12 years, we administered standard paper and pencil versions of the reading and mathematics tests in person to 30 children (15 pairs of twins). Scores on Internet-based measures at 10 and 12 years correlated .63 on average across the two years, suggesting substantial stability and high reliability. Correlations of about .80 between Internet measures and in-person testing suggest excellent validity. In addition, the comparison of the internet-based measures to ratings from teachers based on criteria from the UK National Curriculum suggests good concurrent validity for these tests. We conclude that Internet testing can be reliable and valid for collecting cognitive test data on large samples even for children as young as 10 years.

Sex Differences in Childhood Associations between DNA Markers and General Cognitive Ability

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalind Arden ◽  
Nicole Harlaar ◽  
Robert Plomin
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Dna Markers ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
The Difference

Abstract. An association between intelligence at age 7 and a set of five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has been identified and replicated. We used this composite SNP set to investigate whether the associations differ between boys and girls for general cognitive ability at ages 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, and 10 years. In a longitudinal community sample of British twins aged 2-10 (n > 4,000 individuals), we found that the SNP set is more strongly associated with intelligence in males than in females at ages 7, 9, and 10 and the difference is significant at 10. If this finding replicates in other studies, these results will constitute the first evidence of the same autosomal genes acting differently on intelligence in the two sexes.

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