In:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 111, No. 38 ( 2014-09-23), p. 13790-13794
Abstract:
We identify common genetic variants associated with cognitive performance using a two-stage approach, which we call the proxy-phenotype method. First, we conduct a genome-wide association study of educational attainment in a large sample ( n = 106,736), which produces a set of 69 education-associated SNPs. Second, using independent samples ( n = 24,189), we measure the association of these education-associated SNPs with cognitive performance. Three SNPs (rs1487441, rs7923609, and rs2721173) are significantly associated with cognitive performance after correction for multiple hypothesis testing. In an independent sample of older Americans ( n = 8,652), we also show that a polygenic score derived from the education-associated SNPs is associated with memory and absence of dementia. Convergent evidence from a set of bioinformatics analyses implicates four specific genes ( KNCMA1 , NRXN1 , POU2F3 , and SCRT ). All of these genes are associated with a particular neurotransmitter pathway involved in synaptic plasticity, the main cellular mechanism for learning and memory.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0027-8424
,
1091-6490
DOI:
10.1073/pnas.1404623111
Language:
English
Publisher:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publication Date:
2014
detail.hit.zdb_id:
209104-5
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1461794-8
SSG:
11
SSG:
12
Bookmarklink