Genome-wide association meta-analysis of 78,308 individuals identifies new loci and genes influencing human intelligence
Nature Genetics 49, 1107 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3869
Authors: Suzanne Sniekers, Sven Stringer, Kyoko Watanabe, Philip R Jansen, Jonathan R I Coleman, Eva Krapohl, Erdogan Taskesen, Anke R Hammerschlag, Aysu Okbay, Delilah Zabaneh, Najaf Amin, Gerome Breen, David Cesarini, Christopher F Chabris, William G Iacono, M Arfan Ikram, Magnus Johannesson, Philipp Koellinger, James J Lee, Patrik K E Magnusson, Matt McGue, Mike B Miller, William E R Ollier, Antony Payton, Neil Pendleton, Robert Plomin, Cornelius A Rietveld, Henning Tiemeier, Cornelia M van Duijn & Danielle Posthuma
Intelligence is associated with important economic and health-related life outcomes. Despite intelligence having substantial heritability (0.54) and a confirmed polygenic nature, initial genetic studies were mostly underpowered. Here we report a meta-analysis for intelligence of 78,308 individuals. We identify 336 associated SNPs (METAL P < 5 × 10−8) in 18 genomic loci, of which 15 are new. Around half of the SNPs are located inside a gene, implicating 22 genes, of which 11 are new findings. Gene-based analyses identified an additional 30 genes (MAGMA P < 2.73 × 10−6), of which all but one had not been implicated previously. We show that the identified genes are predominantly expressed in brain tissue, and pathway analysis indicates the involvement of genes regulating cell development (MAGMA competitive P = 3.5 × 10−6). Despite the well-known difference in tw...
Source: Nature Genetics - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Suzanne Sniekers Sven Stringer Kyoko Watanabe Philip R Jansen Jonathan R I Coleman Eva Krapohl Erdogan Taskesen Anke R Hammerschlag Aysu Okbay Delilah Zabaneh Najaf Amin Gerome Breen David Cesarini Christopher F Chabris William G Iacono M Arfan Ikram Magn Tags: Letter Source Type: research