Intrauterine environment and cognitive development in young twins

Antoniou, Evangelia; Fowler, Tom; Thiery, Evert; Southwood, T; Gestel, S Van; Jacobs, Nele; Vlietinck, Robert; Os, Jim van; Rijsdijk, Frühling; Derom, Cathérine

doi:10.1017/s2040174413000287

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 71 publications

(101 reference statements)

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“…No differences on 6 McCarthy scales. Antoniou et al ( 2010 ) 663 twin pairs Belgium Examination of placenta 7–15 years, M = 10.4 years MZ versus DZ on placentation Bivariate ACE models BWT-IQ and cord knots-IQ associations No chorionicity effect Spitz et al ( 1996 ) 20 MZMC 24 MZDC 24 DZ France Ultrasound and macroscopic examination at delivery 8–12 years MZMC versus MZDC Intra-class correlations Anthropometric measures at birth and assessment; Cognitive battery (Vocabulary, block design from WISC-R, K-ABC, perception and mental rotation r MC < r DC for BWT, child weight, height, BMI. r MC > r DC block design.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Prenatal Environment in Twin Studies: A Review on Chorionicity

et al. 2016

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A literature search was conducted to identify articles examining the association of chorionicity (e.g., whether twins share a single chorion and thus placenta or have separate chorions/placentas) and genetics, psychiatry/behavior, and neurological manifestations in humans twins and higher-order multiples. The main aim was to assess how frequently chorionicity has been examined in relation to heritability estimates, and to assess which phenotypes may be most sensitive to, or affected by, bias in heritability estimates because of chorionicity. Consistent with the theory that some chorionicity effects could lead to overestimation and others to underestimation of heritability, there were instances of each across the many phenotypes reviewed. However, firm conclusions should not be drawn since some of the outcomes were only examined in one or few studies and often sample sizes were small. While the evidence for bias due to chorionicity was mixed or null for many outcomes, results do, however, consistently suggest that heritability estimates are underestimated for measures of birth weight and early growth when chorionicity is not taken into account.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10519-016-9782-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Prenatal Environment in Twin Studies: A Review on Chorionicity

et al. 2016

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“…The East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey (EFPTS) is a population based register of multiple births in the province of East-Flanders (Belgium) since 1964 [15]. 376 twin pairs born between 1982 and 1992 were invited, in 1992 and between 1996 and 1999 child IQ was assessed with use of the WISC-R (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised) test [16, 17]. The parents filled out the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) [16].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Placental mitochondrial DNA content is associated with childhood intelligence

et al. 2019

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BackgroundDevelopmental processes in the placenta and the fetal brain are shaped by the similar biological signals. Evidence accumulates that adaptive responses of the placenta may influence central nervous system development. We hypothesize that placental mtDNA content at birth is associated with intelligence in childhood. In addition, we investigate if intra-pair differences in mtDNA content are associated with intra-pair differences in intelligence.MethodsRelative mtDNA content was measured using qPCR in placental tissue of 375 children of the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey. Intelligence was assessed with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) between 8 and 15 years old. We accounted for sex, gestational age, birth weight, birth year, zygosity and chorionicity, cord insertion, age at measurement, indicators of socioeconomic status, smoking during pregnancy, and urban environment.ResultsIn multivariable adjusted mixed modelling analysis, each doubling in placental mtDNA content was associated with 2.0 points (95% CI 0.02 to 3.9; p = 0.05) higher total and 2.3 points (95% CI 0.2 to 4.3; p = 0.03) higher performance IQ in childhood. We observed no association between mtDNA content and verbal intelligence. Intra-pair differences in mtDNA content and IQ were significantly (p = 0.01) correlated in monozygotic-monochorionic twin pairs, showing that the twin with the highest mtDNA content was 1.9 times more likely (p = 0.05) to have the highest IQ. This was not observed in dichorionic twin pairs.ConclusionsWe provide the first evidence that placental mtDNA content is associated with childhood intelligence. This emphasizes the importance of placental mitochondrial function during in utero life on fetal brain development with long-lasting consequences.

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“…Although twins display significant deficits in early cognitive ability, it is also established that they catch up to the population mean by early childhood (Antoniou et al, 2013;Ross et al, 2012), making rapid gains in standardized cognitive scores across the toddler years (Wilson, 1974(Wilson, , 1975. Wilson (1974) concluded that the recovery to the population mean was most pronounced between ages 4 and 6 years, observing mean Wechsler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) scores of 92.6, 95.9, and 100.9 at ages 4, 5, and 6 years, respectively.…”

Section: Patterns Of Cognitive Development: Early Childhood Through A...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and environmental correlates of the nonlinear recovery of cognitive ability in Twins.

Womack¹,

Beam²,

Davis³

et al. 2022

Developmental Psychology

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Twins regularly score nearly a standard deviation below the population mean on standardized measures of cognitive development in infancy but recover to the population mean by early childhood, making rapid gains through the toddler years. To date, only polynomial growth models have been fit to model cognitive recovery across childhood, limiting the applicability of the growth parameters to later developmental periods. We fit a nonlinear asymptotic Gompertz growth model to prospective cognitive scores from 1,153 individual twins from 578 families (47.9% male, 91.5% White, 61.6% monozygotic) measured at 16 time points between 3 months and 15 years. Twins displayed a lower asymptote of 86.47 (.90 SD below the population mean) and gained on average 17.01 points, achieving an upper asymptote of 103.48. Growth was observed to be most rapid at 3.26 years, highlighting the importance of the toddler years in cognitive development. Biometric analyses revealed that shared environmental factors accounted for the majority of the variance in initial cognitive ability as well as asymptotic growth in cognitive ability. Gestational age and family socioeconomic status (SES) were robust predictors of cognitive growth. Results from the present study provide insight into the growth processes underlying the recovery of cognitive ability to the population mean for children evincing slight delays in their initial cognitive ability. In particular, findings highlight prenatal factors and family economic resources as important aspects of the environment in the recovery of cognitive ability.

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Intrauterine environment and cognitive development in young twins

Cited by 9 publications

References 71 publications

The Prenatal Environment in Twin Studies: A Review on Chorionicity

The Prenatal Environment in Twin Studies: A Review on Chorionicity

Placental mitochondrial DNA content is associated with childhood intelligence

Genetic and environmental correlates of the nonlinear recovery of cognitive ability in Twins.

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