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Cited by 50Cognitive Abilities and TestingGenetic Associations and EpidemiologyGenetics and Physical Performance

A Polygenic Score for Higher Educational Attainment is Associated with Larger Brains

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Elliott, Maxwell L, Belsky, Daniel W, Anderson, Kevin, Corcoran, David L, Ge, Tian, Knodt, Annchen, Prinz, Joseph A, Sugden, Karen, Williams, Benjamin, Ireland, David, Poulton, Richie, Caspi, Avshalom, Holmes, Avram, Moffitt, Terrie, Hariri, Ahmad R·2019·Cerebral Cortex
DOI 10.1093/cercor/bhy219PMC PMC6645179

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Abstract

People who score higher on intelligence tests tend to have larger brains. Twin studies suggest the same genetic factors influence both brain size and intelligence. This has led to the hypothesis that genetics influence intelligence partly by contributing to the development of larger brains. We tested this hypothesis using four large imaging genetics studies (combined N = 7965) with polygenic scores derived from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of educational attainment, a correlate of intelligence. We conducted meta-analysis to test associations among participants’ genetics, total brain volume (i.e., brain size), and cognitive test performance. Consistent with previous findings, participants with higher polygenic scores achieved higher scores on cognitive tests, as did participants with larger brains. Participants with higher polygenic scores also had larger brains. We found some evidence that brain size partly mediated associations between participants’ education polygenic scores and their cognitive test performance. Effect sizes were larger in the population-based samples than in the convenience-based samples. Recruitment and retention of population-representative samples should be a priority for neuroscience research. Findings suggest promise for studies integrating GWAS discoveries with brain imaging to understand neurobiology linking genetics with cognitive performance.

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  • EduYears shows phenotypic correlations and shares genetic components with multiple traits and diseases relevant to medical research, including cognitive function, neurodegeneration and psychiatric disorders.

    “As previous studies and our results suggest, EduYears shows phenotypic correlations and shares genetic components with multiple traits and diseases relevant to medical research, including cognitive function, neurodegeneration and psychiatric disorders43–46”

    From Shared genetic architectures of educational attainment in East Asian and European populations (2024) · cites this paper as [44]

    The Introduction and Discussion report associations between educational-attainment genetics and cognitive performance, supporting the cognitive-function part of the claim. The passages do not establish phenotypic correlations or shared genetic components with neurodegeneration or psychiatric disorders. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Elliott, M. L., Belsky, D. W., Anderson, K., Corcoran, D. L., Ge, T., Knodt, A., Prinz, J. A., Sugden, K., Williams, B., Ireland, D., Poulton, R., Caspi, A., Holmes, A., Moffitt, T., & Hariri, A. R.
Affiliations
  • Duke University (US)
  • Yale University (US)
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • University of Otago (NZ)
Corresponding author
Elliott, Maxwell L
ORCID
Venue
Cerebral Cortex
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2018-09-12
Volume
29
Issue
8
Pages
3496-3504
ISSN
  • 1047-3211 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2199
DOI
10.1093/cercor/bhy219
PMC
PMC6645179
OpenAlex
W2949631323
Cited by
50
References
13
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3
FWCI
0.96
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Cerebral Cortex (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • NZ HRC
  • NZ MBIE
  • National Institute on Aging (R01AG032282, R01AG049789)
  • UK Medical Research Council (MR/P005918/1)
  • National Institutes of Health (R01DA033369, R01DA031579, K99AG054573)
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research (DGE-1644868)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (K01MH099232)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Physical Performance
Keywords
polygenic risk score, educational attainment, brain size, total brain volume, intelligence, cognitive performance, genetic mediation, neuroimaging genetics, population-based sample, recruitment and retention
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Brain, Cognition, Educational Status, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Intelligence, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, New Zealand, Organ Size, United States, Multifactorial Inheritance, Genome-Wide Association Study, Young Adult

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