scholarly journals Dissecting Biological Pathways of Psychopathology using Cognitive Genomics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Lam ◽  
Chia-Yen Chen ◽  
W. David Hill ◽  
Charley Xia ◽  
Ruoyu Tian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Correlation Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Genetic Correlation ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Biological Pathways ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Gene Sets ◽  
Cognitive Dimensions

Cognitive deficits are known to be related to most forms of psychopathology. Here, we perform local genetic correlation analysis as a means of identifying independent segments of the genome that show biologically interpretable pleiotropic associations between cognitive dimensions and psychopathology. We identified collective segments of the genome, which we call "meta-loci", that showed differential pleiotropic patterns for psychopathology relative to either General Cognitive Ability (GCA) or Non-Cognitive Skills (NCS). We observed that neurodevelopmental gene sets expressed during the prenatal-early childhood predominated in GCA-relevant meta-loci, while post-natal synaptic gene sets were more involved in NCS-relevant meta-loci. Notably, we found that GABA-ergic, cholinergic, and glutamatergic genes drove pleiotropic relationships within dissociable NCS meta-loci.

scholarly journals A Meta-Analysis of Stressors from the Total Environment Associated with Children’s General Cognitive Ability

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (15) ◽  
pp. 5451
Author(s):  
Frances M. Nilsen ◽  
Jazmin D.C. Ruiz ◽  
Nicolle S. Tulve
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Early Life Stage ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Childhood Cognitive Ability ◽  
Total Environment

General cognitive ability, often referred to as ‘general intelligence’, comprises a variety of correlated abilities. Childhood general cognitive ability is a well-studied area of research and can be used to predict social outcomes and perceived success. Early life stage (e.g., prenatal, postnatal, toddler) exposures to stressors (i.e., chemical and non-chemical stressors from the total (built, natural, social) environment) can impact the development of childhood cognitive ability. Building from our systematic scoping review (Ruiz et al., 2016), we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate more than 100 stressors related to cognitive development. Our meta-analysis identified 23 stressors with a significant increase in their likelihood to influence childhood cognitive ability by 10% or more, and 80 stressors were observed to have a statistically significant effect on cognitive ability. Stressors most impactful to cognition during the prenatal period were related to maternal health and the mother’s ability to access information relevant to a healthy pregnancy (e.g., diet, lifestyle). Stressors most impactful to cognition during the early childhood period were dietary nutrients (infancy), quality of social interaction (toddler), and exposure to toxic substances (throughout early childhood). In conducting this analysis, we examined the relative impact of real-world exposures on cognitive development to attempt to understand the inter-relationships between exposures to both chemical and non-chemical stressors and early developmental life stages. Our findings suggest that the stressors observed to be the most influential to childhood cognitive ability are not permanent and can be broadly categorized as activities/behaviors which can be modified to improve childhood cognition. This meta-analysis supports the idea that there are complex relationships between a child’s total environment and early cognitive development.

scholarly journals Genetic overlap between educational attainment, schizophrenia and autism

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Varun Warrier ◽  
Richard AI Bethlehem ◽  
Daniel H Geschwind ◽  
Simon Baron-Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Enrichment Analysis ◽  
Biological Pathways ◽  
Risk Genes ◽  
Gene Sets ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Genetic Overlap ◽  
Psychiatric Conditions ◽  
Human Accelerated Regions

AbstractImportanceThe genetic relationship between cognition, autism, and schizophrenia is complex. It is unclear how genes that contribute to cognition also contribute to risk for autism and schizophrenia.ObjectiveTo investigate the interaction between genes related to cognition (measured via proxy through educational attainment, which we call ‘edu genes’) and genes/biological pathways that are atypical in autism and schizophrenia.DesignGenetic correlation and enrichment analysis were conducted to identify the interaction between edu genes and risk genes and biological pathways for autism or schizophrenia.ResultsFirst, edu genes are enriched in a specific developmental co-expression module that is also enriched for high confidence autism risk genes. Second, modules enriched for genes that are dysregulated in autism and schizophrenia are also enriched for edu genes. Finally, genes that overlap between the two above modules and educational attainment are significantly enriched for genes that flank human accelerated regions, suggesting increased positive selection for the overlapping gene sets.ConclusionOur results identify distinct co-expression modules where risk genes for the two psychiatric conditions interact with edu genes. This suggests specific pathways that contribute to both cognitive deficits and cognitive talents, in individuals with schizophrenia or autism.Key PointsQuestionHow do genes for educational attainment interact with risk genes for autism and schizophrenia?FindingsWe show that genes for educational attainment (edu genes) are significantly likely to be mutated in autism and intellectual disability. We further show that edu genes also interact with co-expression modules that are associated with autism or schizophrenia and are enriched for differentially expressed genes in autism or schizophrenia. Finally, we identify that the enrichment between risk genes for autism and schizophrenia and human accelerated regions are driven, in part, by their overlap with edu genes.MeaningEdu genes interact with schizophrenia and autism risk genes in specific pathways, contributing to both cognitive deficits and talents.

scholarly journals White matter maturation profiles through early childhood predict general cognitive ability

2014 ◽  
Vol 221 (2) ◽  
pp. 1189-1203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean C. L. Deoni ◽  
Jonathan O’Muircheartaigh ◽  
Jed T. Elison ◽  
Lindsay Walker ◽  
Ellen Doernberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
White Matter Maturation

Cognitive but Not Affective Theory of Mind Deficits in Progressive MS

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (08) ◽  
pp. 896-900
Author(s):  
Katie Lancaster ◽  
Eric M. Stone ◽  
Helen M. Genova
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Component ◽  
Social Cognitive Deficits

AbstractObjective:Social cognitive deficits are an important consequence of multiple sclerosis (MS), yet our understanding of how these deficits manifest in progressive MS is currently limited. To this end, we examined theory of mind (ToM) ability in a sample of individuals with progressive MS using an ecologically valid virtual assessment tool that allows for delineation of cognitive ToM (inferring thoughts and intentions of others) from affective ToM (inferring emotions of others).Methods & Results:We compared 15 individuals with progressive MS and 15 healthy controls on their ToM ability using the Virtual Assessment of Mentalising Ability. We found that, relative to healthy controls, participants with progressive MS were impaired in cognitive ToM, but not in affective ToM. Furthermore, we found that the MS participants’ deficits in cognitive ToM were mediated by their general cognitive ability such that poor cognitive ToM ability in MS was explained by poor performance on tests of memory and processing speed.Conclusions:Our findings demonstrate that ToM deficits in progressive MS may be limited to cognitive ToM, while affective ToM is conserved. This could be attributable to the MS-related deficits in general cognitive ability, which appear to negatively affect only the cognitive component of ToM.

scholarly journals Research Progress on Cognitive Deficiencies of Specific Reading Com-prehension Disorders

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaozhen Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Specific Reading ◽  
Training And Research ◽  
Cognitive Deficiencies ◽  
Specific Dyslexia

<p>Specific dyslexia is a sub-type of dyslexia, which has gradually attracted the attention of researchers at home and abroad in recent years. Research on specific dyslexia mainly comes from cognitive field and focuses on language skills, general cognitive ability and impairment of cognitive flexibility. This paper sorts out and summarizes the basic viewpoints and related researches on cognitive deficits of specific dyslexics, and analyzes the causes and effects of specific dyslexics, so as to provide references for the identification, intervention training and research of specific dyslexics.</p>

Sex Differences in Childhood Associations between DNA Markers and General Cognitive Ability

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalind Arden ◽  
Nicole Harlaar ◽  
Robert Plomin
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Dna Markers ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
The Difference

Abstract. An association between intelligence at age 7 and a set of five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has been identified and replicated. We used this composite SNP set to investigate whether the associations differ between boys and girls for general cognitive ability at ages 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, and 10 years. In a longitudinal community sample of British twins aged 2-10 (n > 4,000 individuals), we found that the SNP set is more strongly associated with intelligence in males than in females at ages 7, 9, and 10 and the difference is significant at 10. If this finding replicates in other studies, these results will constitute the first evidence of the same autosomal genes acting differently on intelligence in the two sexes.

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