TY - JOUR
T1 - Most Reported Genetic Associations With General Intelligence Are Probably False Positives
AU - Chabris, Christopher F.
AU - Hebert, Benjamin M.
AU - Benjamin, Daniel J.
AU - Beauchamp, Jonathan
AU - Cesarini, David
AU - van der Loos, Matthijs
AU - Johannesson, Magnus
AU - Magnusson, Patrik K.E.
AU - Lichtenstein, Paul
AU - Atwood, Craig S.
AU - Freese, Jeremy
AU - Hauser, Taissa S.
AU - Hauser, Robert M.
AU - Christakis, Nicholas
AU - Laibson, David
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by National Institute on Aging Grants P01AG005842 and T32-AG000186-23. The Swedish Twin Registry is supported by the Swedish Department of Higher Education, European Commission Grant QLG2-CT-2002-01254, the Swedish Research Council, and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research.
PY - 2012/11
Y1 - 2012/11
N2 - General intelligence (g) and virtually all other behavioral traits are heritable. Associations between g and specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in several candidate genes involved in brain function have been reported. We sought to replicate published associations between g and 12 specific genetic variants (in the genes DTNBP1, CTSD, DRD2, ANKK1, CHRM2, SSADH, COMT, BDNF, CHRNA4, DISC1, APOE, and SNAP25) using data sets from three independent, well-characterized longitudinal studies with samples of 5,571, 1,759, and 2,441 individuals. Of 32 independent tests across all three data sets, only 1 was nominally significant. By contrast, power analyses showed that we should have expected 10 to 15 significant associations, given reasonable assumptions for genotype effect sizes. For positive controls, we confirmed accepted genetic associations for Alzheimer's disease and body mass index, and we used SNP-based calculations of genetic relatedness to replicate previous estimates that about half of the variance in g is accounted for by common genetic variation among individuals. We conclude that the molecular genetics of psychology and social science requires approaches that go beyond the examination of candidate genes.
AB - General intelligence (g) and virtually all other behavioral traits are heritable. Associations between g and specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in several candidate genes involved in brain function have been reported. We sought to replicate published associations between g and 12 specific genetic variants (in the genes DTNBP1, CTSD, DRD2, ANKK1, CHRM2, SSADH, COMT, BDNF, CHRNA4, DISC1, APOE, and SNAP25) using data sets from three independent, well-characterized longitudinal studies with samples of 5,571, 1,759, and 2,441 individuals. Of 32 independent tests across all three data sets, only 1 was nominally significant. By contrast, power analyses showed that we should have expected 10 to 15 significant associations, given reasonable assumptions for genotype effect sizes. For positive controls, we confirmed accepted genetic associations for Alzheimer's disease and body mass index, and we used SNP-based calculations of genetic relatedness to replicate previous estimates that about half of the variance in g is accounted for by common genetic variation among individuals. We conclude that the molecular genetics of psychology and social science requires approaches that go beyond the examination of candidate genes.
KW - behavior genetics
KW - cognitive ability
KW - genetics
KW - individual differences
KW - intelligence
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U2 - 10.1177/0956797611435528
DO - 10.1177/0956797611435528
M3 - Article
C2 - 23012269
AN - SCOPUS:84861451528
SN - 0956-7976
VL - 23
SP - 1314
EP - 1323
JO - Psychological Science
JF - Psychological Science
IS - 11
ER -