Open AccessReply to Liu and Jiang: Maintenance of postreproductive cognitive capacity by inclusive fitness
Author(s) -
Stevan A. Springer,
Flavio Schwarz,
Tasha K. Altheide,
Nissi Varki,
Ajit Varki,
Pascal Gagneux
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.1601419113
Subject(s) - cognition , biology , gerontology , cognitive science , evolutionary biology , psychology , medicine , neuroscience
Our paper examines genes influencing cognitive decline in postreproductive humans, which arises from neurodegenerative and cardiovascular disease (1). Among these polymorphic genes, we found many protective alleles that are derived from and are unique to the human lineage. Liu and Jiang (2) add an important observation about potential effects of some of these loci earlier in life. Data from three studies indicate that these genes do not influence cognitive performance during childhood (3) or in the general population (4, 5). Our paper (1) does not address early phenotypes, as the establishment of early cognitive function and protection against late degeneration need not involve the same …
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