What have we learned from recent twin studies about the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders?
Abstract
Purpose of review The relative influence of genes and environment on the liability to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) can be investigated using a twin design. This review highlights the results of the most recent twin studies of NDDs. Recent findings Recent twin studies have confirmed that NDDs show moderate-to-high heritability, and that from an etiological viewpoint both autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are best regarded as the extremes on a continuous liability distribution. Both ASD and ADHD show high heritability in childhood and a substantial drop in heritability in adulthood, which is likely explained by the use of different assessment strategies in childhood versus adulthood, or by a complex mechanism of gene-by-environment interaction. NDDs show substantial comorbidity among each other, and with other mental health problems, which is partly because of a shared genetic etiology between different disorders. Summary The findings of twin studies implicate substantial heritability of NDDs, and warrant large-scale molecular genetic studies for such traits.
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An inverse association between parental SES and childhood ADHD is expected by virtue of the high heritability of childhood ADHD along with an association of ADHD with low socioeconomic attainment.
“we would expect an inverse association with parental SES by virtue of the high heritability of childhood ADHD (Posthuma and Polderman 2013) along with an association of ADHD with low socioeconomic attainment (Polderman et al. 2010)”
From The descriptive epidemiology of DSM-IV adult ADHD in the world health organization world mental health surveys (2017) · cites this paper as Posthuma and Polderman 2013
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- Authors
- Posthuma, D., & Polderman, T. J. C.
- Affiliations
- Amsterdam Neuroscience (NL)
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Neurology
- Published
- 2013-04
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 111-121
- ISSN
- 1350-7540 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2048438388
- Cited by
- 81
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Opinion in Neurology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Keywords
- neurodevelopmental disorders, heritability, twin studies, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, gene-environment interaction, liability distribution, comorbidities, shared genetic etiology, molecular genetics
- MeSH terms
- Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Mental Disorders, Child, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Humans, Comorbidity, Twin Studies as Topic, Gene-Environment Interaction
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