Common variants in the ARC gene are not associated withcognitive abilities

• Introduction: The Activity-Regulated Cytoskeleton-associated (ARC) gene encodes a protein that is critical for the consolidation of synaptic plasticity and long-term memory formation. Given ARC's key role in synaptic plasticity, we hypothesized that genetic variations in ARC may contribute to interindividual variability in human cognitive abilities or to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) susceptibility, where cognitive impairment often accompanies the disorder. Methods: We tested whether ARC variants are associated with six measures of cognitive functioning in 670 healthy subjects in the Norwegian Cognitive NeuroGenetics (NCNG) by extracting data from its Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS). In addition, the Swedish Betula sample of 1800 healthy subjects who underwent similar cognitive testing was also tested for association with 19 tag SNPs. Results: No ARC variants show association at the study-wide level, but several markers show a trend toward association with human cognitive functions. We also tested for association between ARCSNPs and ADHD in a Norwegian sample of cases and controls, but found no significant associations. Conclusion: This study suggests that common genetic variants located in ARC do not account for variance in human cognitive abilities, though small effects cannot be ruled out.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Medicinsk genetik (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Medical Genetics (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Neurovetenskaper (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Neurosciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein

cognition

genetics

memory

single-nucleotide polymorphism

synaptic plasticity

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)