| 1. |
- Davies, G., et al.
(författare)
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Study of 300,486 individuals identifies 148 independent genetic loci influencing general cognitive function
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2041-1723. ; 9:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- General cognitive function is a prominent and relatively stable human trait that is associated with many important life outcomes. We combine cognitive and genetic data from the CHARGE and COGENT consortia, and UK Biobank (total N = 300,486; age 16-102) and find 148 genome-wide significant independent loci (P < 5 × 10-8) associated with general cognitive function. Within the novel genetic loci are variants associated with neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, physical and psychiatric illnesses, and brain structure. Gene-based analyses find 709 genes associated with general cognitive function. Expression levels across the cortex are associated with general cognitive function. Using polygenic scores, up to 4.3% of variance in general cognitive function is predicted in independent samples. We detect significant genetic overlap between general cognitive function, reaction time, and many health variables including eyesight, hypertension, and longevity. In conclusion we identify novel genetic loci and pathways contributing to the heritability of general cognitive function.
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| 2. |
- Silventoinen, K., et al.
(författare)
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The CODATwins Project : The current status and recent findings of COllaborative Project of Development of Anthropometrical Measures in Twins
- 2019
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Ingår i: Twin Research and Human Genetics. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1832-4274 .- 1839-2628. ; 22:6, s. 800-808
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins) project is a large international collaborative effort to analyze individual-level phenotype data from twins in multiple cohorts from different environments. The main objective is to study factors that modify genetic and environmental variation of height, body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) and size at birth, and additionally to address other research questions such as long-term consequences of birth size. The project started in 2013 and is open to all twin projects in the world having height and weight measures on twins with information on zygosity. Thus far, 54 twin projects from 24 countries have provided individual-level data. The CODATwins database includes 489,981 twin individuals (228,635 complete twin pairs). Since many twin cohorts have collected longitudinal data, there is a total of 1,049,785 height and weight observations. For many cohorts, we also have information on birth weight and length, own smoking behavior and own or parental education. We found that the heritability estimates of height and BMI systematically changed from infancy to old age. Remarkably, only minor differences in the heritability estimates were found across cultural-geographic regions, measurement time and birth cohort for height and BMI. In addition to genetic epidemiological studies, we looked at associations of height and BMI with education, birth weight and smoking status. Within-family analyses examined differences within same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins in birth size and later development. The CODATwins project demonstrates the feasibility and value of international collaboration to address gene-by-exposure interactions that require large sample sizes and address the effects of different exposures across time, geographical regions and socioeconomic status.
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| 3. |
- Silventoinen, K., et al.
(författare)
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Educational attainment of same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins : An individual-level pooled study of 19 twin cohorts
- 2021
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Ingår i: Hormones and Behavior. - : Elsevier. - 0018-506X .- 1095-6867. ; 136
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Comparing twins from same- and opposite-sex pairs can provide information on potential sex differences in a variety of outcomes, including socioeconomic-related outcomes such as educational attainment. It has been suggested that this design can be applied to examine the putative role of intrauterine exposure to testosterone for educational attainment, but the evidence is still disputed. Thus, we established an international database of twin data from 11 countries with 88,290 individual dizygotic twins born over 100 years and tested for differences between twins from same- and opposite-sex dizygotic pairs in educational attainment. Effect sizes with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated by linear regression models after adjusting for birth year and twin study cohort. In contrast to the hypothesis, no difference was found in women (β = −0.05 educational years, 95% CI −0.11, 0.02). However, men with a same-sex co-twin were slightly more educated than men having an opposite-sex co-twin (β = 0.14 educational years, 95% CI 0.07, 0.21). No consistent differences in effect sizes were found between individual twin study cohorts representing Europe, the USA, and Australia or over the cohorts born during the 20th century, during which period the sex differences in education reversed favoring women in the latest birth cohorts. Further, no interaction was found with maternal or paternal education. Our results contradict the hypothesis that there would be differences in the intrauterine testosterone levels between same-sex and opposite-sex female twins affecting education. Our findings in men may point to social dynamics within same-sex twin pairs that may benefit men in their educational careers.
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| 4. |
- Kehoe, Laura, et al.
(författare)
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Make EU trade with Brazil sustainable
- 2019
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 364:6438, s. 341-
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 5. |
- Bakaysa, S.L., et al.
(författare)
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Telomere length predicts survival independent of genetic influences
- 2007
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Ingår i: Aging Cell. ; 63:6, s. 769-774
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Telomeres prevent the loss of coding genetic material during chromosomal replication. Previous research suggests that shorter telomere length may be associated with lower survival. Because genetic factors are important for individual differences in both telomere length and mortality, this association could reflect genetic or environmental pleiotropy rather than a direct biological effect of telomeres. We demonstrate through within-pair analyses of Swedish twins that telomere length at advanced age is a biomarker that predicts survival beyond the impact of early familial environment and genetic factors in common with telomere length and mortality. Twins with the shortest telomeres had a three times greater risk of death during the follow-up period than their co-twins with the longest telomere measurements [hazard ratio (RR) = 2.8, 95% confidence interval 1.1-7.3, P = 0.03].
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| 6. |
- Graham, E. K., et al.
(författare)
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Trajectories of Big Five Personality Traits: A Coordinated Analysis of 16 Longitudinal Samplesty
- 2020
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Ingår i: European Journal of Personality. - : SAGE Publications. - 0890-2070 .- 1099-0984. ; 34:3, s. 301-321
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study assessed change in self-reported Big Five personality traits. We conducted a coordinated integrative data analysis using data from 16 longitudinal samples, comprising a total sample of over 60 000 participants. We coordinated models across multiple datasets and fit identical multi-level growth models to assess and compare the extent of trait change over time. Quadratic change was assessed in a subset of samples with four or more measurement occasions. Across studies, the linear trajectory models revealed declines in conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness. Non-linear models suggested late-life increases in neuroticism. Meta-analytic summaries indicated that the fixed effects of personality change are somewhat heterogeneous and that the variability in trait change is partially explained by sample age, country of origin, and personality measurement method. We also found mixed evidence for predictors of change, specifically for sex and baseline age. This study demonstrates the importance of coordinated conceptual replications for accelerating the accumulation of robust and reliable findings in the lifespan developmental psychological sciences. (c) 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology
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| 7. |
- Xu, W. L., et al.
(författare)
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Midlife overweight and obesity increase late-life dementia risk : a population-based twin study
- 2011
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Ingår i: Neurology. - 0028-3878 .- 1526-632X. ; 76:18, s. 1568-1574
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: The relation of overweight to dementia is controversial. We aimed to examine the association of midlife overweight and obesity with dementia, Alzheimer disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VaD) in late life, and to verify the hypothesis that genetic and early-life environmental factors contribute to the observed association.Methods: From the Swedish Twin Registry, 8,534 twin individuals aged ≥65 (mean age 74.4) were assessed to detect dementia cases (DSM-IV criteria). Height and weight at midlife (mean age 43.4) were available in the Registry. Data were analyzed as follows: 1) unmatched case-control analysis for all twins using generalized estimating equation (GEE) models and 2) cotwin matched case-control approach for dementia-discordant twin pairs by conditional logistic regression taking into account lifespan vascular disorders and diabetes.Results: Among all participants, dementia was diagnosed in 350 subjects, and 114 persons had questionable dementia. Overweight (body mass index [BMI] >25-30) and obesity (BMI >30) at midlife were present in 2,541 (29.8%) individuals. In fully adjusted GEE models, compared with normal BMI (20-25), overweight and obesity at midlife were related to dementia with odds ratios (ORs) (95% CIs) of 1.71 (1.30-2.25) and 3.88 (2.12-7.11), respectively. Conditional logistic regression analysis in 137 dementia-discordant twin pairs led to an attenuated midlife BMI-dementia association. The difference in ORs from the GEE and the matched case-control analysis was statistically significant (p = 0.019).Conclusions: Both overweight and obesity at midlife independently increase the risk of dementia, AD, and VaD. Genetic and early-life environmental factors may contribute to the midlife high adiposity-dementia association.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Gatz, M, et al.
(författare)
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Accounting for the relationship between low education and dementia: a twin study.
- 2007
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Ingår i: Physiol Behav. ; , s. 232-237
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We evaluated whether the association between low education and greater risk of dementia is explained by genetic influences, using three different types of analyses. The HARMONY study (Swedish for "health" (Hälsa), "genes" (ARv), "environment" (Miljö), "and" (Och), and "new" (NY)) includes members of the Swedish Twin Registry who were aged 65 and older and alive in 1998, and who were screened and clinically assessed for dementia. There were 394 cases with dementia and 7786 unrelated controls. Analyses included co-twin control, tests for association between education and a measured genotype, and bivariate twin modeling. Low education was a significant risk factor for dementia both in case-control analyses (odds ratio=1.77, 95% confidence interval 1.38 to 2.28) and co-twin control analyses with monozygotic twin pairs (odds ratio=3.17, 95% confidence interval 1.26 to 7.93). Apolipoprotein E genotype was not associated with education and did not account for the relationship between education and dementia. Bivariate twin modeling showed that the association between education and dementia was not mediated by genetic influences in common between education and dementia. The association was mediated by shared environmental influences that were related to both dementia and to education. Low education is confirmed as a risk factor for dementia. Findings from three different analytic approaches showed that genetic influences did not explain this association.
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| 10. |
- Harel, O, et al.
(författare)
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Population inference with mortality and attrition in longitudinal studies on aging: a two-stage multiple imputation method.
- 2007
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Ingår i: Exp Aging Res. ; 33:2, s. 187-203
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A major challenge for inference regarding aging-related change in longitudinal studies is that of study attrition and population mortality. Inferences in longitudinal studies can account for attrition and mortality-related change as distinct processes, but this is made difficult when follow-up of all individuals (i.e., age at death) is not complete. This is a common problem because most longitudinal studies of aging either have incomplete follow-up or are still collecting data on subsequent outcomes, including time of death. A statistical approach is suggested for including time-to-death as a predictor in models with incomplete follow-up using a two-stage multiple-imputation procedure. An empirical example using data from the OCTO-Twin study is presented that shows the utility of his procedure for making inferences conditional on mortality when mortality data are incomplete
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