Genes About a Quarter of the Secret To Staying Smart 77
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samzenpus
from the luck-of-the-draw dept.
from the luck-of-the-draw dept.
ananyo writes "A Scottish intelligence study that began 80 years ago has borne new fruit. Researchers have tracked down the study's surviving participants — who joined the study when they were 11 years old — to estimate the role that our genes have in maintaining intelligence through to old age. After conducting fresh intelligence tests on the surviving participants, the researchers tested the DNA samples they had collected for the presence of more than half a million common genetic variants, each affecting only a single letter in the DNA sequence of the genome. The team then calculated whether these variants were associated with cognitive stability — how well intelligence had been maintained over time. The sample size of 2,000 people was too small to grant the statistical power needed to track down individual genetic signatures associated with cognitive stability. But it was enough to estimate how much genetics contributes to cognitive aging. The team found that these variants accounted for nearly one-quarter of the differences in cognitive stability."
Re:So in other words (Score:2, Interesting)
Superior Genepool? (Score:3, Interesting)
What it takes to make it to 90? (Score:4, Interesting)
Comparing the intelligence and genes of those who did and did not survive to 90 would also be interesting.
*At least* a quarter... (Score:4, Interesting)
The study only sampled a subset of the genome (certain SNPs), there could be other variations in the genome that contribute even more. We simply can't tell from the study. All we can say is that this study suggests at least a quarter of the variation is explained by the subset of the genotype they have sampled.
Re:So in other words (Score:5, Interesting)
Not necessarily. If I'm reading this right, all this study showed that there was a correlation between certain DNA sequences and cognitive stability in 25% of the people in the study. That's it. "Mental exercise, diet, etc," could account for the other 75%, sure, but it could also be that the other 75% is purely genetic, but the researchers were looking at the wrong thing. Or that the correlation is pure coincidence. Or that there was a freak storm of cosmic rays that changed the DNA of 25% of the study participants[1]. Or that their methodology was flawed. Or that their methodology was correct but the sample size was just too small. Et cetera, ad infinitum.
In short, the study—any study—says what it says. What it doesn't say, it doesn't imply.
[1] And granted them superpowers, of course.
Re:"Scottish intelligence study"? (Score:4, Interesting)
A lot of the modern world was invented by Scots. Maxwell's equations, animal cloning, telephones, trains, televisions, penicillin.
I guess when you're surrounded by fields and sheep, all you can do is drink or think.
Re:So in other words (Score:4, Interesting)
Makes me wonder if one can pull of something similar to that using direct brain stimulation, and so train someone in a similar way to uploading a program.