| 1. |
- Judd, N., et al.
(författare)
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Cognitive and brain development is independently influenced by socioeconomic status and polygenic scores for educational attainment
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 117:22, s. 12411-12418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic factors and socioeconomic status (SES) inequalities play a large role in educational attainment, and both have been associated with variations in brain structure and cognition. However, genetics and SES are correlated, and no prior study has assessed their neural associations independently. Here we used a polygenic score for educational attainment (EduYears-PGS), as well as SES, in a longitudinal study of 551 adolescents to tease apart genetic and environmental associations with brain development and cognition. Subjects received a structural MRI scan at ages 14 and 19. At both time points, they performed three working memory (WM) tasks. SES and EduYears-PGS were correlated (r = 0.27) and had both common and independent associations with brain structure and cognition. Specifically, lower SES was related to less total cortical surface area and lower WM. EduYears-PGS was also related to total cortical surface area, but in addition had a regional association with surface area in the right parietal lobe, a region related to nonverbal cognitive functions, including mathematics, spatial cognition, and WM. SES, but not EduYears-PGS, was related to a change in total cortical surface area from age 14 to 19. This study demonstrates a regional association of EduYears-PGS and the independent prediction of SES with cognitive function and brain development. It suggests that the SES inequalities, in particular parental education, are related to global aspects of cortical development, and exert a persistent influence on brain development during adolescence.
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| 2. |
- Cauchoix, M., et al.
(författare)
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The repeatability of cognitive performance : a meta-analysis
- 2018
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Ingår i: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8436 .- 1471-2970. ; 373:1756
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Behavioural and cognitive processes play important roles in mediating an individual's interactions with its environment. Yet, while there is a vast literature on repeatable individual differences in behaviour, relatively little is known about the repeatability of cognitive performance. To further our understanding of the evolution of cognition, we gathered 44 studies on individual performance of 25 species across six animal classes and used meta-analysis to assess whether cognitive performance is repeatable. We compared repeatability (R) in performance (1) on the same task presented at different times (temporal repeatability), and (2) on different tasks that measured the same putative cognitive ability (contextual repeatability). We also addressed whether R estimates were influenced by seven extrinsic factors (moderators): type of cognitive performance measurement, type of cognitive task, delay between tests, origin of the subjects, experimental context, taxonomic class and publication status. We found support for both temporal and contextual repeatability of cognitive performance, with mean R estimates ranging between 0.15 and 0.28. Repeatability estimates were mostly influenced by the type of cognitive performance measures and publication status. Our findings highlight the widespread occurrence of consistent inter-individual variation in cognition across a range of taxa which, like behaviour, may be associated with fitness outcomes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities'.
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| 3. |
- Papaevangelou, T., et al.
(författare)
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ESS nBLM : Beam loss monitors based on fast neutron detection
- 2018
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Ingår i: HB2018 - Proceedings of the 61st ICFA Advanced Beam Dynamics Workshop on High-Intensity and High-Brightness Hadron Beams. - 9783954502028 ; , s. 404-409
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new type of Beam Loss Monitor (BLM) system is being developed for use in the European Spallation Source (ESS) linac, primarily aiming to cover the low energy part (proton energies between 3-100 MeV). In this region of the linac, typical BLM detectors based on charged particle detection (i.e. Ionization Chambers) are not appropriate because the expected particle fields will be dominated by neutrons and photons. Another issue is the photon background due to the RF cavities, which is mainly due to field emission from the electrons from the cavity walls, resulting in bremsstrahlung photons. The idea for the ESS neutron sensitive BLM system (ESS nBLM) is to use Micromegas detectors specially designed to be sensitive to fast neutrons and insensitive to low energy photons (X and gammas). In addition, the detectors must be insensitive to thermal neutrons, because those neutrons may not be directly correlated to beam losses. The appropriate configuration of the Micromegas operating conditions will allow excellent timing, intrinsic photon background suppression and individual neutron counting, extending thus the dynamic range to very low particle fluxes.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Judd, N, et al.
(författare)
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Schooling substantially improves intelligence, but neither lessens nor widens the impacts of socioeconomics and genetics
- 2022
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Ingår i: NPJ science of learning. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2056-7936. ; 7:1, s. 33-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Schooling, socioeconomic status (SES), and genetics all impact intelligence. However, it is unclear to what extent their contributions are unique and if they interact. Here we used a multi-trait polygenic score for cognition (cogPGS) with a quasi-experimental regression discontinuity design to isolate how months of schooling relate to intelligence in 6567 children (aged 9–11). We found large, independent effects of schooling (β ~ 0.15), cogPGS (β ~ 0.10), and SES (β ~ 0.20) on working memory, crystallized (cIQ), and fluid intelligence (fIQ). Notably, two years of schooling had a larger effect on intelligence than the lifetime consequences, since birth, of SES or cogPGS-based inequalities. However, schooling showed no interaction with cogPGS or SES for the three intelligence domains tested. While schooling had strong main effects on intelligence, it did not lessen, nor widen the impact of these preexisting SES or genetic factors.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Matzel, LD, et al.
(författare)
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Déjà vu All Over Again: A Unitary Biological Mechanism for Intelligence Is (Probably) Untenable
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Intelligence. - : MDPI AG. - 2079-3200. ; 8:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nearly a century ago, Spearman proposed that “specific factors can be regarded as the ‘nuts and bolts’ of cognitive performance…, while the general factor is the mental energy available to power the specific engines”. Geary (2018; 2019) takes Spearman’s analogy of “mental energy” quite literally and doubles-down on the notion by proposing that a unitary energy source, the mitochondria, explains variations in both cognitive function and health-related outcomes. This idea is reminiscent of many earlier attempts to describe a low-level biological determinant of general intelligence. While Geary does an admirable job developing an innovative theory with specific and testable predictions, this new theory suffers many of the shortcomings of previous attempts at similar goals. We argue that Geary’s theory is generally implausible, and does not map well onto known psychological and genetic properties of intelligence or its relationship to health and fitness. While Geary’s theory serves as an elegant model of “what could be”, it is less successful as a description of “what is”.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Sansoni, P, et al.
(författare)
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New advances in CMV and immunosenescence
- 2014
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Ingår i: Experimental gerontology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-6815 .- 0531-5565. ; 55, s. 54-62
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 11. |
- Sauce, B, et al.
(författare)
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Change by challenge: A common genetic basis behind childhood cognitive development and cognitive training
- 2021
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Ingår i: NPJ science of learning. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2056-7936. ; 6:1, s. 16-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The interplay of genetic and environmental factors behind cognitive development has preoccupied multiple fields of science and sparked heated debates over the decades. Here we tested the hypothesis that developmental genes rely heavily on cognitive challenges—as opposed to natural maturation. Starting with a polygenic score (cogPGS) that previously explained variation in cognitive performance in adults, we estimated its effect in 344 children and adolescents (mean age of 12 years old, ranging from 6 to 25) who showed changes in working memory (WM) in two distinct samples: (1) a developmental sample showing significant WM gains after 2 years of typical, age-related development, and (2) a training sample showing significant, experimentally-induced WM gains after 25 days of an intense WM training. We found that the same genetic factor, cogPGS, significantly explained the amount of WM gain in both samples. And there was no interaction of cogPGS with sample, suggesting that those genetic factors are neutral to whether the WM gains came from development or training. These results represent evidence that cognitive challenges are a central piece in the gene-environment interplay during cognitive development. We believe our study sheds new light on previous findings of interindividual differences in education (rich-get-richer and compensation effects), brain plasticity in children, and the heritability increase of intelligence across the lifespan.
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| 12. |
- Sauce, B, et al.
(författare)
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The impact of digital media on children's intelligence while controlling for genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic background
- 2022
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Ingår i: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 12:1, s. 7720-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Digital media defines modern childhood, but its cognitive effects are unclear and hotly debated. We believe that studies with genetic data could clarify causal claims and correct for the typically unaccounted role of genetic predispositions. Here, we estimated the impact of different types of screen time (watching, socializing, or gaming) on children’s intelligence while controlling for the confounding effects of genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic status. We analyzed 9855 children from the USA who were part of the ABCD dataset with measures of intelligence at baseline (ages 9–10) and after two years. At baseline, time watching (r = − 0.12) and socializing (r = − 0.10) were negatively correlated with intelligence, while gaming did not correlate. After two years, gaming positively impacted intelligence (standardized β = + 0.17), but socializing had no effect. This is consistent with cognitive benefits documented in experimental studies on video gaming. Unexpectedly, watching videos also benefited intelligence (standardized β = + 0.12), contrary to prior research on the effect of watching TV. Although, in a posthoc analysis, this was not significant if parental education (instead of SES) was controlled for. Broadly, our results are in line with research on the malleability of cognitive abilities from environmental factors, such as cognitive training and the Flynn effect.
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| 13. |
- Sauce, B, et al.
(författare)
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The impact of environmental interventions among mouse siblings on the heritability and malleability of general cognitive ability
- 2018
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Ingår i: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2970. ; 373:1756
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- General cognitive ability can be highly heritable in some species, but at the same time, is very malleable. This apparent paradox could potentially be explained by gene–environment interactions and correlations that remain hidden due to experimental limitations on human research and blind spots in animal research. Here, we shed light on this issue by combining the design of a sibling study with an environmental intervention administered to laboratory mice. The analysis included 58 litters of four full-sibling genetically heterogeneous CD-1 male mice, for a total of 232 mice. We separated the mice into two subsets of siblings: a control group (maintained in standard laboratory conditions) and an environmental-enrichment group (which had access to continuous physical exercise and daily exposure to novel environments). We found that general cognitive ability in mice has substantial heritability (24% for all mice) and is also malleable. The mice that experienced the enriched environment had a mean intelligence score that was 0.44 standard deviations higher than their siblings in the control group (equivalent to gains of 6.6 IQ points in humans). We also found that the estimate of heritability changed between groups (55% in the control group compared with non-significant 15% in the enrichment group), analogous to findings in humans across socio-economic status. Unexpectedly, no evidence of gene–environment interaction was detected, and so the change in heritability might be best explained by higher environmental variance in the enrichment group. Our findings, as well as the ‘sibling intervention procedure’ for mice, may be valuable to future research on the heritability, mechanisms and evolution of cognition.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities’.
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