Educational attainment polygenic score predicts inhibitory control and academic skills in early and middle childhood

Rea‐Sandin, Gianna; Oro, Veronica; Strouse, Emma; Clifford, Sierra; Wilson, Melvin N.; Shaw, Daniel S.; Lemery‐Chalfant, Kathryn

doi:10.1111/gbb.12762

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Similarly, the educational attainment PGS was negatively associated with individual hyperactivity items. Previous evidence suggests higher educational attainment PGS predict lower ADHD symptoms and better inhibitory control . Indeed, our networks showed the educational attainment PGS was negatively associated with cheating, having poor attention, and being easily distracted and impulsive and positively associated with internalizing and peer problems, such as being solitary, having many worries, not being liked, and not volunteering to help others.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 51%

Polygenic Scores and Networks of Psychopathology Symptoms

Piazza,

Allegrini,

Eley

et al. 2024

JAMA Psychiatry

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ImportanceStudies on polygenic risk for psychiatric traits commonly use a disorder-level approach to phenotyping, implicitly considering disorders as homogeneous constructs; however, symptom heterogeneity is ubiquitous, with many possible combinations of symptoms falling under the same disorder umbrella. Focusing on individual symptoms may shed light on the role of polygenic risk in psychopathology.ObjectiveTo determine whether polygenic scores are associated with all symptoms of psychiatric disorders or with a subset of indicators and whether polygenic scores are associated with comorbid phenotypes via specific sets of relevant symptoms.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsData from 2 population-based cohort studies were used in this cross-sectional study. Data from children in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were included in the primary analysis, and data from children in the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) were included in confirmatory analyses. Data analysis was conducted from October 2021 to January 2024. Pregnant women based in the Southwest of England due to deliver in 1991 to 1992 were recruited in ALSPAC. Twins born in 1994 to 1996 were recruited in TEDS from population-based records. Participants with available genetic data and whose mothers completed the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire when children were 11 years of age were included.Main Outcomes and MeasuresPsychopathology relevant symptoms, such as hyperactivity, prosociality, depression, anxiety, and peer and conduct problems at age 11 years. Psychological networks were constructed including individual symptoms and polygenic scores for depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), body mass index (BMI), and educational attainment in ALSPAC. Following a preregistered confirmatory analysis, network models were cross-validated in TEDS.ResultsIncluded were 5521 participants from ALSPAC (mean [SD] age, 11.8 [0.14] years; 2777 [50.3%] female) and 4625 participants from TEDS (mean [SD] age, 11.27 [0.69] years; 2460 [53.2%] female). Polygenic scores were preferentially associated with restricted subsets of core symptoms and indirectly associated with other, more distal symptoms of psychopathology (network edges ranged between r = −0.074 and r = 0.073). Psychiatric polygenic scores were associated with specific cross-disorder symptoms, and nonpsychiatric polygenic scores were associated with a variety of indicators across disorders, suggesting a potential contribution of nonpsychiatric traits to comorbidity. For example, the polygenic score for ADHD was associated with a core ADHD symptom, being easily distracted (r = 0.07), and the polygenic score for BMI was associated with symptoms across disorders, including being bullied (r = 0.053) and not thinking things out (r = 0.041).Conclusions and RelevanceGenetic associations observed at the disorder level may hide symptom-level heterogeneity. A symptom-level approach may enable a better understanding of the role of polygenic risk in shaping psychopathology and comorbidity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 51%

Polygenic Scores and Networks of Psychopathology Symptoms

Piazza,

Allegrini,

Eley

et al. 2024

JAMA Psychiatry

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“…PGS-EA has been significantly associated with vocabulary, executive function (inhibitory control, working memory), and episodic memory in children and adolescents (Domingue et al, 2015;Judd et al, 2020;Loughnan et al, 2021;Rea-Sandin et al, 2021).…”

Section: Pgs-ea Socioeconomic Factors and Neurocognitive Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although multiple studies have demonstrated associations between PGS‐EA and general cognitive ability (Plomin & von Stumm, 2018), a smaller body of work has shown associations between PGS‐EA and specific neurocognitive skills that underlie general cognitive ability. PGS‐EA has been significantly associated with vocabulary, executive function (inhibitory control, working memory), and episodic memory in children and adolescents (Domingue et al, 2015; Judd et al, 2020; Loughnan et al, 2021; Rea‐Sandin et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, we also examined interactions between socioeconomic factors and PGS‐EA in predicting cortical structure and neurocognitive skills. In addition, based on previous work (Rabinowitz et al, 2020; Rea‐Sandin et al, 2021), we examined whether there were significant interactions between PGS‐EA and age for cortical structure and neurocognitive skills. We also examined interactions between socioeconomic factors and age, controlling for PGS‐EA, in the prediction of cortical structure and neurocognitive skills.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Educational attainment polygenic scores, socioeconomic factors, and cortical structure in children and adolescents

Merz

Strack

Hurtado

et al. 2022

Human Brain Mapping

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Genome‐wide polygenic scores for educational attainment (PGS‐EA) and socioeconomic factors, which are correlated with each other, have been consistently associated with academic achievement and general cognitive ability in children and adolescents. Yet, the independent associations of PGS‐EA and socioeconomic factors with specific underlying factors at the neural and neurocognitive levels are not well understood. The main goals of this study were to examine the unique contributions of PGS‐EA and parental education to cortical structure and neurocognitive skills in children and adolescents, and the associations among PGS‐EA, cortical structure, and neurocognitive skills. Participants were typically developing 3‐ to 21‐year‐olds (53% male; N = 391). High‐resolution, T1‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired, and cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) were measured. PGS‐EA were computed based on the EA3 genome‐wide association study of educational attainment. Participants completed executive function, vocabulary, and episodic memory tasks. Higher PGS‐EA and parental education were independently and significantly associated with greater total SA and vocabulary. Higher PGS‐EA was significantly associated with greater SA in the left medial orbitofrontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus, which was associated with higher executive function. Higher parental education was significantly associated with greater SA in the left parahippocampal gyrus after accounting for PGS‐EA and total brain volume. These findings suggest that education‐linked genetics may influence SA in frontal regions, leading to variability in executive function. Associations of parental education with cortical structure in children and adolescents remained significant after controlling for PGS‐EA, a source of genetic confounding.

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“…Although multiple studies have demonstrated associations between PGS-EA and general cognitive ability (Plomin & von Stumm, 2018), a smaller body of work has shown associations between PGS-EA and specific neurocognitive skills that underlie general cognitive ability. PGS-EA has been significantly associated with vocabulary, executive function (inhibitory control, working memory), and episodic memory in children and adolescents (Domingue et al, 2015;Judd et al, 2020;Loughnan et al, 2021;Rea-Sandin et al, 2021). In a largely separate literature, greater family income and parental education have been significantly associated with higher levels of these neurocognitive skills (Lawson et al, 2017;Merz et al, 2019;Noble et al, 2005Noble et al, , 2007.…”

Section: Pgs-ea Socioeconomic Factors and Neurocognitive Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Educational Attainment Polygenic Scores, Socioeconomic Factors, and Cortical Structure in Children and Adolescents

Merz

Strack

Hurtado

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: Genome-wide polygenic scores for educational attainment (PGS-EA) and socioeconomic factors, which are correlated with each other, have been consistently associated with academic achievement and general cognitive ability in children and adolescents. Yet, the independent associations of PGS-EA and socioeconomic factors with specific underlying factors at the neural and neurocognitive levels are not well understood. The goal of this study was to examine the unique contributions of PGS-EA and parental education to cortical thickness (CT), cortical surface area (SA), and neurocognitive skills in children and adolescents. Methods: Participants were typically developing children and adolescents (3-21 years of age; 53% male; N = 391). High-resolution, T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired. PGS-EA were computed based on the most recent genome-wide association study of educational attainment. Sustained attention, inhibitory control, working memory, vocabulary, and episodic memory were measured. Results: PGS-EA and parental education were independently and significantly associated with SA, vocabulary, and attention outcomes but were not associated with CT. Vertex-wise analyses indicated that higher PGS-EA was significantly associated with greater SA in the left medial orbitofrontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus after accounting for parental education. Higher parental education was significantly associated with greater SA in the left parahippocampal gyrus after accounting for PGS-EA. Conclusions: These findings suggest that education-linked genetics may influence SA, particularly in certain frontal regions, leading to variability in academic achievement. Results suggested genetic confounding in associations between parental education and SA in children and adolescents, with these associations remaining significant after controlling for PGS-EA.

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Educational attainment polygenic score predicts inhibitory control and academic skills in early and middle childhood

Cited by 7 publications

References 73 publications

Polygenic Scores and Networks of Psychopathology Symptoms

Polygenic Scores and Networks of Psychopathology Symptoms

Educational attainment polygenic scores, socioeconomic factors, and cortical structure in children and adolescents

Educational Attainment Polygenic Scores, Socioeconomic Factors, and Cortical Structure in Children and Adolescents

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