Hundreds of genes linked to intelligence in global study

A depiction of the double helical structure of DNA. Its four coding units (A, T, C, G) are color-coded in pink, orange, purple and yellow. Credit: NHGRI

More than 500 genes linked to intelligence have been identified in the largest study of its kind. Scientists compared variation in DNA in more than 240,000 people from around the world, to discover which genes are associated with intelligence. Researchers identified 538 genes that play a role in intellectual ability. They also found 187 regions in the human genome that are linked to thinking skills.

15 mar 2018--Scientists say the study sheds new light on the biological building blocks of people's differences in intelligence. The research was carried out by the Universities of Edinburgh and Southampton, and Harvard University.
Genes found to be linked to intelligence also appeared to influence other biological processes, researchers say. Some genes linked to intellectual ability are also associated with living longer, scientists found. They also found that genes linked with problem solving powers were associated with the process by which neurons carry signals from one place to another in the brain.
Using these genetic discoveries, scientists next predicted seven per cent of intelligence differences in an independent group of individuals using their DNA alone. "Our study identified a large number of genes linked to intelligence. Importantly, we were also able to identify some of the biological processes that genetic variation appears to influence to produce such differences in intelligence, and we were also able to predict intelligence in another group using only their DNA," says Dr. David Hill.
"We know that environments and genes both contribute to the differences we observe in people's intelligence. This study adds to what we know about which genes influence intelligence, and suggests that health and intelligence are related in part because some of the same genes influence them," says Professor Ian Deary.
The study used data from the UK Biobank, a major genetic study into the role of nature and nurture in health and disease.
It is published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

More information: W. D. Hill et al. A combined analysis of genetically correlated traits identifies 187 loci and a role for neurogenesis and myelination in intelligence, Molecular Psychiatry (2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41380-017-0001-5


Provided by University of Edinburgh

Get smart about what you eat and you might actually improve your intelligence

03 july 2008--MIT researchers offer tantalizing evidence on how to make people smarter, naturally
New research findings published online in The FASEB Journal provide more evidence that if we get smart about what we eat, our intelligence can improve. According to MIT scientists, dietary nutrients found in a wide range of foods from infant formula to eggs increase brain synapses and improve cognitive abilities.
"I hope human brains will, like those of experimental animals, respond to this kind of treatment by making more brain synapses and thus restoring cognitive abilities," said Richard Wurtman, MD, senior researcher on the project.
In the study, gerbils were given various combinations of three compounds needed for healthy brain membranes: choline, found in eggs; uridine monophosphate (UMP) found in beets; and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), found in fish oils. Other gerbils were given none of these to serve as a baseline. Then they were checked for cognitive changes four weeks later. The scientists found that the gerbils given choline with UMP and/or DHA showed cognitive improvements in tasks thought to be relevant to gerbils, such as navigating mazes. After these tests were concluded, the researchers dissected the mouse brains for a biological cause for the improvement. They found biochemical evidence that there was more than the usual amount of brain synapse activity, which was consistent with behaviors indicating higher intelligence.
"Now that we know how to make gerbils smarter," said Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, "it's not too far a stretch to hope that people's intelligence can also be improved. Quite frankly, this can't happen soon enough, as every environmentalist, advocate of evolution and war opponent will attest."

New Reason To Hit The Gym: Fighting Memory Loss

Research has shown that people who exercise do better on memory tests. Now a new Columbia University Medical Center study explains specifically what exercise does within the brain. Exercise, the researchers found, targets a region of the brain within the hippocampus, known as the dentate gyrus, which underlies normal age-related memory decline that begins around age 30 for most adults.
This finding is significant because it was accomplished via the first-ever observation of neurogenesis, the growth of neurons, within a living brain. Using an MRI imaging technique developed at Columbia, the researchers were able to identify neurogenesis within the dentate gyrus region following exercise. Previously, researchers were only able to prove neurogenesis upon postmortem exam in animal studies.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070320073516.htm