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Independent evidence for an association between general cognitive ability and a genetic locus for educational attainment
Author(s) -
Trampush Joey W.,
Lencz Todd,
Knowles Emma,
Davies Gail,
Guha Saurav,
Pe'er Itsik,
Liewald David C.,
Starr John M.,
Djurovic Srdjan,
Melle Ingrid,
Sundet Kjetil,
Christoforou Andrea,
Reinvang Ivar,
Mukherjee Semanti,
DeRosse Pamela,
Lundervold Astri,
Steen Vidar M.,
John Majnu,
Espeseth Thomas,
Räikkönen Katri,
Widen Elisabeth,
Palotie Aarno,
Eriksson Johan G.,
Giegling Ina,
Konte Bettina,
Ikeda Masashi,
Roussos Panos,
Giakoumaki Stella,
Burdick Katherine E.,
Payton Antony,
Ollier William,
Horan Mike,
Scult Matthew,
Dickinson Dwight,
Straub Richard E.,
Donohoe Gary,
Morris Derek,
Corvin Aiden,
Gill Michael,
Hariri Ahmad,
Weinberger Daniel R.,
Pendleton Neil,
Iwata Nakao,
Darvasi Ariel,
Bitsios Panos,
Rujescu Dan,
Lahti Jari,
Le Hellard Stephanie,
Keller Matthew C.,
Andreassen Ole A.,
Deary Ian J.,
Glahn David C.,
Malhotra Anil K.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
american journal of medical genetics part b: neuropsychiatric genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.393
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1552-485X
pISSN - 1552-4841
DOI - 10.1002/ajmg.b.32319
Subject(s) - genome wide association study , cognition , neurocognitive , psychology , educational attainment , locus (genetics) , genetic association , cognitive test , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , genetics , biology , single nucleotide polymorphism , psychiatry , gene , genotype , economics , economic growth
Cognitive deficits and reduced educational achievement are common in psychiatric illness; understanding the genetic basis of cognitive and educational deficits may be informative about the etiology of psychiatric disorders. A recent, large genome‐wide association study (GWAS) reported a genome‐wide significant locus for years of education, which subsequently demonstrated association to general cognitive ability (“ g ”) in overlapping cohorts. The current study was designed to test whether GWAS hits for educational attainment are involved in general cognitive ability in an independent, large‐scale collection of cohorts. Using cohorts in the Cognitive Genomics Consortium (COGENT; up to 20,495 healthy individuals), we examined the relationship between g and variants associated with educational attainment. We next conducted meta‐analyses with 24,189 individuals with neurocognitive data from the educational attainment studies, and then with 53,188 largely independent individuals from a recent GWAS of cognition. A SNP (rs1906252) located at chromosome 6q16.1, previously associated with years of schooling, was significantly associated with g ( P = 1.47 × 10 −4 ) in COGENT. The first joint analysis of 43,381 non‐overlapping individuals for this a priori‐ designated locus was strongly significant ( P = 4.94 × 10 −7 ), and the second joint analysis of 68,159 non‐overlapping individuals was even more robust ( P = 1.65 × 10 −9 ). These results provide independent replication, in a large‐scale dataset, of a genetic locus associated with cognitive function and education. As sample sizes grow, cognitive GWAS will identify increasing numbers of associated loci, as has been accomplished in other polygenic quantitative traits, which may be relevant to psychiatric illness. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.