Scientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have found new genetic variations associated with a person's general cognitive ability. The work was published yesterday in Cell Reports.
"For the first time, we were able to use genetic information to point us towards specific drugs that might aid in cognitive disorders of the brain, including Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder," said Todd Lencz, Ph.D., senior author of the study.
In this study, the scientists studied the genomes of more than 100,000 individuals who had their brain function measured by neuropsychological tests. They then combined this data with the genomes from 300,000 people measured for the highest level of education achieved. This served as an estimate of cognitive ability.
While profiling cognitive ability, the researchers also found a genetic predisposition towards higher cognitive ability was associated with longer lifespan. They also found a link between cognitive ability and risk for autoimmune diseases.
"The field of genomics is growing by leaps and bounds," Lencz said. "Because the number of genes we can discover is a direct function of the sample size available, further research with additional samples is likely to provide even more insight into how our genes play a role in cognitive ability."