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Life events moderate variation in cognitive ability (g) in adults

Molecular Psychiatry volume 16, pages 4–6 (2011)Cite this article

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A Corrigendum to this article was published on 07 September 2010

The heritability of general cognitive ability (g) in adults is estimated to lie approximately between 75 and 85%.1 Despite this overwhelming indirect evidence of ‘genes for g’, only a handful of genes have been identified so far, together explaining <∼5% of the genetic variation.2 Several reasons have been suggested for this ‘missing heritability’,3 including the presence of gene–environment interactions (GEI). We have investigated the presence of GEI for measured Life Events and g, in a population-based sample of adult twins and their siblings (N=560).

The reported large heritability estimates for g are derived from classical twin studies, in which additivity of genetic and environmental effects is assumed; implying heritability estimates are equal across environmental conditions. Non-additivity of genetic and environmental effects (that is, GEI), conversely, implies that genes control an individual's sensitivity to environmental influences, or environmental factors moderate gene expression. If GEI is present, the extent to which genes and environment cause variation in g varies across environmental conditions, and a single heritability estimate is no longer accurate.4 Consequently, assuming the absence of GEI may lead to biased estimates of the relative importance of genetic and environmental influences.4 Moreover, when genetic effects vary across environmental conditions, an environmentally stratified design might seriously improve gene-finding success when researchers focus on those environmental conditions wherein the genetic effects are largest. Gene-finding attempts for g would thus benefit from studies that elucidate the environmental circumstances for which genetic effects are largest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    A A E Vinkhuyzen

  2. Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    A A E Vinkhuyzen, S van der Sluis & D Posthuma

  3. Section Medical Genomics, VU Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    D Posthuma

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  1. A A E Vinkhuyzen
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  2. S van der Sluis
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  3. D Posthuma
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Correspondence to A A E Vinkhuyzen.

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Vinkhuyzen, A., van der Sluis, S. & Posthuma, D. Life events moderate variation in cognitive ability (g) in adults. Mol Psychiatry 16, 4–6 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2010.12

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