Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper, Avdelningen för obstetrik och gynekologi,Institute of Clinical Sciences, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,Sahlgrens Acad, Inst Clin Sci, Dept Obstet & Gynecol, S-41685 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Baumbach, Clemens (författare)
German Res Ctr Environm Hlth, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, Res Unit Mol Epidemiol, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany.;German Res Ctr Environm Hlth, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, Inst Epidemiol 2, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
Univ Munster, Inst Epidemiol & Social Med, D-48149 Munster, Germany.
Westra, Harm-Jan (författare)
Broad Inst MIT & Harvard, Program Med & Populat Genet, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA.;Harvard Univ, Sch Med, Brigham & Womens Hosp, Div Genet,Dept Med, Boston, MA 02115 USA.;Harvard Univ, Sch Med, Brigham & Womens Hosp, Div Rheumatol,Dept Med, Boston, MA 02115 USA.;Partners Ctr Personalized Genet Med, Boston, MA 02115 USA.
Yang, Jingyun (författare)
Rush Univ, Rush Alzheimers Dis Ctr, Chicago, IL 60612 USA.;Rush Univ, Med Ctr, Dept Neurol Sci, Chicago, IL 60612 USA.
Zhao, Wei (författare)
Univ Michigan, Dept Epidemiol, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.
Univ Oxford, Said Business Sch, Oxford OX1 1HP, England.
Deloukas, Panos (författare)
Queen Mary Univ London, William Harvey Res Inst, Barts & London Sch Med & Dent, London EC1M 6BQ, England.;King Abdulaziz Univ, Princess Al Jawhara Al Brahim Ctr Excellence Res, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Demuth, Ilja (författare)
Charite, Res Grp Geriatr, Berlin Aging Study 2, D-13347 Berlin, Germany.;Charite, Inst Med & Human Genet, D-13353 Berlin, Germany.
Broad Inst MIT & Harvard, Program Med & Populat Genet, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA.;Brigham & Womens Hosp, Dept Neurol, Program Translat NeuroPsychiat Genom, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115 USA.;Brigham & Womens Hosp, Dept Psychiat, Program Translat NeuroPsychiat Genom, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115 USA.;Harvard Univ, Sch Med, Boston, MA 02115 USA.
Univ Manchester, Inst Populat Hlth, Ctr Integrated Genom Med Res, Manchester M13 9PT, Lancs, England.
Palotie, Aarno (författare)
Erasmus Univ, Inst Behav & Biol, NL-3062 PA Rotterdam, Netherlands.;Massachusetts Gen Hosp, Dept Med, Analyt & Translat Genet Unit, Boston, MA 02114 USA.;Broad Inst MIT & Harvard, Stanley Ctr Psychiat Res, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA.;Massachusetts Gen Hosp, Dept Psychiat, Psychiat & Neurodev Genet Unit, Boston, MA 02114 USA.;Massachusetts Gen Hosp, Dept Neurol, Boston, MA 02114 USA.
Hunter Med Res Inst, Publ Hlth Stream, New Lambton, NSW 2305, Australia.;Univ Manchester, Inst Populat Hlth, Ctr Integrated Genom Med Res, Manchester M13 9PT, Lancs, England.
Bennett, David A. (författare)
Rush Univ, Rush Alzheimers Dis Ctr, Chicago, IL 60612 USA.;Rush Univ, Med Ctr, Dept Neurol Sci, Chicago, IL 60612 USA.
Univ Med Greifswald, Inst Community Med, D-17475 Greifswald, Germany.
Hyppnen, Elina (författare)
Univ S Australia, Sch Hlth Sci, Ctr Populat Hlth Res, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.;Univ S Australia, Sansom Inst, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.;South Australian Hlth & Med Res Inst, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.;UCL Inst Child Hlth, Populat Policy & Practice, London WC1N 1EH, England.
Iacono, William G. (författare)
Univ Minnesota Twin Cities, Dept Psychol, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA.
Jacobsson, Bo (författare)
Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper, Avdelningen för obstetrik och gynekologi,Institute of Clinical Sciences, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,Sahlgrens Acad, Inst Clin Sci, Dept Obstet & Gynecol, S-41685 Gothenburg, Sweden.;Norwegian Inst Publ Hlth, Dept Genes & Environm, N-0403 Oslo, Norway.
Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta (författare)
Univ London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med, Sch Publ Hlth, MRC PHE Ctr Environm & Hlth, Dept Epidemiol & Biostat, London W2 1PG, England.;Univ Oulu, Fac Med, Ctr Life Course Epidemiol, Oulu 90014, Finland.;Oulu Univ Hosp, Unit Primary Care, Oulu 90029, Finland.;Univ Oulu, Bioctr Oulu, Oulu 90014, Finland.
Boston Childrens Hosp, Div Endocrinol, Boston, MA USA.;Boston Childrens Hosp, Ctr Basic & Translat Obes Res, Boston, MA USA.;Broad Inst MIT & Harvard, Program Med & Populat Genet, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA.;Univ Tartu, Estonian Genome Ctr, EE-51010 Tartu, Estonia.;Harvard Univ, Sch Med, Dept Genet, Boston, MA 02115 USA.
Educational attainment is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals(1). Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends our earlier discovery sample(1,2) of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and a replication study in an independent sample of 111,349 individuals from the UK Biobank. We identify 74 genome-wide significant loci associated with the number of years of schooling completed. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with educational attainment are disproportionately found in genomic regions regulating gene expression in the fetal brain. Candidate genes are preferentially expressed in neural tissue, especially during the prenatal period, and enriched for biological pathways involved in neural development. Our findings demonstrate that, even for a behavioural phenotype that is mostly environmentally determined, a well-powered GWAS identifies replicable associated genetic variants that suggest biologically relevant pathways. Because educational attainment is measured in large numbers of individuals, it will continue to be useful as a proxy phenotype in efforts to characterize the genetic influences of related phenotypes, including cognition and neuropsychiatric diseases.