| 1. |
- Madison, Guy, et al.
(författare)
-
Common genetic influences on intelligence and auditory simple reaction time in a large Swedish sample
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Intelligence. - : Elsevier. - 0160-2896 .- 1873-7935. ; 59, s. 157-162
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Intelligence and cognitive ability have long been associated with chronometric performance measures, such as reaction time (RT), but few studies have investigated auditory RT in this context. The nature of this relationship is important for understanding the etiology and structure of intelligence. Here, we present a bivariate twin analysis of simple auditory RT and psychometric intelligence (measured by the Wiener Matrizen Test). The sample consisted of 1,816 complete twin pairs and 4623 singletons enrolled in the Swedish Twin Registry, who performed the tests online. The heritabilities were 0.54 and 0.21 for intelligence and RT, respectively, and the phenotypic correlation was −0.17, 47% of which was explained by common genetic variance. These results are comparable to those found for visual RT and for other cognitive tests, and add RT in the auditory modality to the small literature on common genetic influences across intelligence and other cognitive and chronometric variables.
|
|
| 2. |
- Mosing, Miriam A., et al.
(författare)
-
Did sexual selection shape human music? : Testing predictions from the sexual selection hypothesis of music evolution using a large genetically informative sample of over 10,000 twins
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Evolution and human behavior. - : Elsevier. - 1090-5138 .- 1879-0607. ; 36:5, s. 359-366
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although music is a universal feature of human culture, little is known about its origins and functions. A prominent theory of music evolution is the sexual selection hypothesis, which proposes that music evolved as a signal of genetic quality to potential mates. The sexual selection hypothesis offers several empirically testable predictions. First, musically skilled and active individuals should have greater mating success than less-skilled individuals. Second, if musical ability functions as an indicator of genetic quality, it is expected to be associated with other traits putatively related to genetic quality. Third, associations as per the first and second predictions are expected to be at least partly due to overlapping genetic influences. We tested these predictions in a large genetically informative sample of 10,975 Swedish twin individuals aged between 27 and 54 years (M = 40.1, SD = 7.7), using musical aptitude and music achievement as measures of musical ability. To assess mating success we examined number of sex-partners, age of first intercourse, sociosexuality, and number of offspring. General intelligence, simple reaction time, and height were used to investigate relationships with traits putatively related to genetic quality. Twin modeling showed moderate genetic influences on musical aptitude for both sexes (heritability estimates were 38% for males and 51% for females). Music achievement was also moderately influenced by genetic influences in males (heritability = 57%), but the genetic influences were low and nonsignificant for females (heritability = 9%). Contrary to predictions, the majority of phenotypic associations between musical ability and music achievement with mating success were nonsignificant or significant in the other direction, with those with greater musical ability scoring lower on the measures of mating success. Genetic correlations between these measures were also nonsignificant. Most correlations of musical aptitude and music achievement with genetic quality measures were significant, including correlations with general intelligence, simple reaction time, and, in females, height (but only for aptitude). However, only the correlation between musical aptitude and general intelligence in men was significantly driven by overlapping genetic influences. Our findings provide little support for a role of sexual selection in the evolution of musical ability. Alternative explanations and limitations are discussed.
|
|
| 3. |
- Mosing, Miriam A, et al.
(författare)
-
Genetic and environmental influences on the relationship between flow proneness, locus of control and behavioral inhibition
- 2012
-
Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public library of science. - 1932-6203. ; 7:11, s. e47958-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Flow is a psychological state of high but subjectively effortless attention that typically occurs during active performance of challenging tasks and is accompanied by a sense of automaticity, high control, low self-awareness, and enjoyment. Flow proneness is associated with traits and behaviors related to low neuroticism such as emotional stability, conscientiousness, active coping, self-esteem and life satisfaction. Little is known about the genetic architecture of flow proneness, behavioral inhibition and locus of control - traits also associated with neuroticism - and their interrelation. Here, we hypothesized that individuals low in behavioral inhibition and with an internal locus of control would be more likely to experience flow and explored the genetic and environmental architecture of the relationship between the three variables. Behavioral inhibition and locus of control was measured in a large population sample of 3,375 full twin pairs and 4,527 single twins, about 26% of whom also scored the flow proneness questionnaire. Findings revealed significant but relatively low correlations between the three traits and moderate heritability estimates of .41, .45, and .30 for flow proneness, behavioral inhibition, and locus of control, respectively, with some indication of non-additive genetic influences. For behavioral inhibition we found significant sex differences in heritability, with females showing a higher estimate including significant non-additive genetic influences, while in males the entire heritability was due to additive genetic variance. We also found a mainly genetically mediated relationship between the three traits, suggesting that individuals who are genetically predisposed to experience flow, show less behavioral inhibition (less anxious) and feel that they are in control of their own destiny (internal locus of control). We discuss that some of the genes underlying this relationship may include those influencing the function of dopaminergic neural systems.
|
|
| 4. |
- Mosing, Miriam A., et al.
(författare)
-
Genetic pleiotropy explains associations between musical auditory discrimination and intelligence
- 2014
-
Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 9:11
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Musical aptitude is commonly measured using tasks that involve discrimination of different types of musical auditory stimuli. Performance on such different discrimination tasks correlates positively with each other and with intelligence. However, no study to date has explored these associations using a genetically informative sample to estimate underlying genetic and environmental influences. In the present study, a large sample of Swedish twins (N=10,500) was used to investigate the genetic architecture of the associations between intelligence and performance on three musical auditory discrimination tasks (rhythm, melody and pitch). Phenotypic correlations between the tasks ranged between 0.23 and 0.42 (Pearson r values). Genetic modelling showed that the covariation between the variables could be explained by shared genetic influences. Neither shared, nor non-shared environment had a significant effect on the associations. Good fit was obtained with a two-factor model where one underlying shared genetic factor explained all the covariation between the musical discrimination tasks and IQ, and a second genetic factor explained variance exclusively shared among the discrimination tasks. The results suggest that positive correlations among musical aptitudes result from both genes with broad effects on cognition, and genes with potentially more specific influences on auditory functions.
|
|
| 5. |
- Mosing, Miriam A., et al.
(författare)
-
Heritability of proneness for psychological flow experiences
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Personality and Individual Differences. - : PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. - 0191-8869 .- 1873-3549. ; 53:5, s. 699-704
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Flow is a subjective experience of high but effortless attention, loss of self-awareness, control, and enjoyment that can occur during active performance of challenging tasks. Proneness to experience flow is associated with personality, specifically with low neuroticism and high conscientiousness. We investigated genetic and non-genetic influences on flow proneness in 444 adult twin pairs. Data were collected using an on-line administration of the Swedish Flow Proneness Questionnaire, which includes separate scales for flow proneness in three major domains of life: work, maintenance, and leisure. We found moderate (.29-.35) heritabilities for the flow scales. Twin correlations as well as multivariate modeling suggested non-additive genetic influences. Genetic influences were almost entirely shared for the three flow scales and genetic correlations between the scales were very high (.81-.97), suggesting that the same genes influence flow proneness independently of domain. Non-shared environmental influences, in contrast, were largely specific to each flow scale. We conclude that an individual's general proneness to experience flow is influenced by the same genetic factors regardless of domain, and these may be associated with personality traits that are conducive to flow. In addition, specific environmental factors appear to be of importance for within-individual differences in flow proneness in different domains. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 6. |
- Mosing, Miriam A, et al.
(författare)
-
Investigating cognitive transfer within the framework of music practice : genetic pleiotropy rather than causality
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Developmental Science. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1363-755X .- 1467-7687. ; 19:3, s. 504-512
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The idea of far transfer effects in the cognitive sciences has received much attention in recent years. One domain where far transfer effects have frequently been reported is music education, with the prevailing idea that music practice entails an increase in cognitive ability (IQ). While cross-sectional studies consistently find significant associations between music practice and IQ, randomized controlled trials, however, report mixed results. An alternative to the hypothesis of cognitive transfer effects is that some underlying factors, such as shared genes, influence practice behaviour and IQ causing associations on the phenotypic level. Here we explored the hypothesis of far transfer within the framework of music practice. A co-twin control design combined with classical twin-modelling based on a sample of more than 10,500 twins was used to explore causal associations between music practice and IQ as well as underlying genetic and environmental influences. As expected, phenotypic associations were moderate (r = 0.11 and r = 0.10 for males and females, respectively). However, the relationship disappeared when controlling for genetic and shared environmental influences using the co-twin control method, indicating that a highly practiced twin did not have higher IQ than the untrained co-twin. In line with that finding, the relationship between practice and IQ was mostly due to shared genetic influences. Findings strongly suggest that associations between music practice and IQ in the general population are non-causal in nature. The implications of the present findings for research on plasticity, modularity, and transfer are discussed.
|
|
| 7. |
- Mosing, Miriam A, et al.
(författare)
-
Practice does not make perfect : no causal effect of music practice on music ability
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Psychological Science. - : Sage Publications. - 0956-7976 .- 1467-9280. ; 25:9, s. 1795-1803
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The relative importance of nature and nurture for various forms of expertise has been intensely debated. Music proficiency is viewed as a general model for expertise, and associations between deliberate practice and music proficiency have been interpreted as supporting the prevailing idea that long-term deliberate practice inevitably results in increased music ability. Here, we examined the associations (rs = .18–.36) between music practice and music ability (rhythm, melody, and pitch discrimination) in 10,500 Swedish twins. We found that music practice was substantially heritable (40%−70%). Associations between music practice and music ability were predominantly genetic, and, contrary to the causal hypothesis, nonshared environmental influences did not contribute. There was no difference in ability within monozygotic twin pairs differing in their amount of practice, so that when genetic predisposition was controlled for, more practice was no longer associated with better music skills. These findings suggest that music practice may not causally influence music ability and that genetic variation among individuals affects both ability and inclination to practice.
|
|
