Holocene selection for variants associated with cognitive ability: Comparing ancient and modern genomes

Abstract

Human populations living in Eurasia during the Holocene experienced considerable microevolutionary change. It has been predicted that the transition of Holocene populations into agrarianism and urbanization brought about culture-gene coevolution that favoured via directional selection genetic variants associated with higher general cognitive ability (GCA). To examine whether GCA might have risen during the Holocene, we compare a sample of 99 ancient Eurasian genomes (ranging from 4.56 to 1.21 kyr BP) with a sample of 503 modern European genomes, using three different cognitive polygenic scores. Significant differences favouring the modern genomes were found for all three polygenic scores (Odds Ratios=0.92, p=0.037; 0.81, p=0.001 and 0.81, p=0.02). Furthermore, a significant increase in positive allele count over 3.25 kyr was found using a subsample of 66 ancient genomes (r=0.217, p one-tailed =0.04). These observations are consistent with the expectation that GCA rose during the Holocene.peer-reviewed)

Polygenic scores mediate the Jewish phenotypic advantage in educational attainment and cognitive ability compared with Catholics and Lutherans.

“…When comparing ancient Bronze and Early Iron Age genomes, sourced from Eurasia, with those from ancestrally matched modern European populations, significant differences in the frequencies of positively predictive alleles for educational attainment and GCA have also been found, favoring the modern populations. This is consistent with a long-term Holocene selective sweep in these populations, favoring higher GCA (Woodley of Menie, Younuskunju, Balan, & Piffer, 2017). Even among a subsample of the ancient genomes for which radiocarbon dates were available, significant associations between sample age and positive allele frequency were noted across a span of 3250 years (Woodley of Menie, Younuskunju et al, 2017).…”

“…This is consistent with a long-term Holocene selective sweep in these populations, favoring higher GCA (Woodley of Menie, Younuskunju, Balan, & Piffer, 2017). Even among a subsample of the ancient genomes for which radiocarbon dates were available, significant associations between sample age and positive allele frequency were noted across a span of 3250 years (Woodley of Menie, Younuskunju et al, 2017).…”

The Myth of the Stupid Believer: The Negative Religiousness–IQ Nexus is Not on General Intelligence (g) and is Likely a Product of the Relations Between IQ and Autism Spectrum Traits

“…There are several conceptual and empirical problems with this hypothesis, highlighted by Dutton and van der Linden (2017). One is that evolution continued, and maybe even accelerated, during the Holocene (Cochran and Harpending 2009;Woodley of Menie et al 2017) which the Savanna-IQ Interaction hypothesis assumes is not the case. Dutton and van der Linden (2017) proposed the Intelligence Mismatch Association Model.…”

How Intelligence Affects Fertility 30 Years On: Retherford and Sewell Revisited — With Polygenic Scores and Numbers of Grandchildren

“…However, the causal basis of this negative correlation is unclear. There are indications of historical positive directional selection favoring higher frequencies of variants predictive of cognitive ability when ancient (Bronze and early Iron Age) and ancestrally matched modern genomes are compared (Woodley of Menie et al, 2017b). This suggests that in Western populations the negative association only arose relatively recently, most likely during the period of industrialization, when increasing ecological mildness lifted reproductive constraints on those with lower cognitive ability and the development of innovations such as contraception created opportunities for those with high cognitive ability to limit their fertility (Lynn, 1996;Woodley of Menie et al, 2017a).…”