Genetics of Cognition: Outline of a Collaborative Twin Study

• DOI: 10.1375/1369052012146
• Publication Date: 2003-07-12T09:16:47Z
• Authors: Margie Wright; Eco De Geus; Juko Ando; Michelle Luciano; Danielle Posthuma; Yutaka Ono; Narelle Hansell; Caroline Van Baal; Kai Hiraishi; Toshikazu Hasegawa; Glen Smith; Gina Geffen; Laurie Geffen; Shigenobu Kanba; Akira Miyake; Nick Martin; Dorret Boomsma
• Keywords: Trait; Association (psychology)

Amultidisciplinary collaborative study examining cognition in a large sample of twins is outlined. A common experimental protocol and design used The Netherlands, Australia Japan to measure cognitive ability using traditional IQ measures (i.e., psychometric IQ), processing speed (e.g., reaction time [RT] inspection [IT]), working memory spatial span, delayed response [DR] performance). main aim investigate the genetic covariation among these phenotypes order use correlated biological markers future linkage association analyses detect quantitativetrait loci (QTLs). We outline methodology, report results from our preliminary that examines heritability indices, their phenotypic correlation with IQ. Heritability Full Scale was 87% 83% Australia, 71% Japan. estimates for indices ranged 33–64%. Associations RT IT (−0.28 −0.36) replicated previous findings those higher showing faster processing. Similarly, significant correlations were indicated between span task (storage [0.31], executive [0.37]) DR (0.25), better performance. These establish be twin cognition, support individual differences may underlie