The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Davis OS
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4102107 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BACKGROUND:Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and mathematics ability are associated, but little is known about the genetic and environmental influences underlying this association. METHODS:Data came from more than 6,000 twelve-year-old twin pairs from the UK population-representative Twins Early Development Study. Parents rated each twin's behaviour using a DSM-IV-based 18-item questionnaire of inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive ADHD symptoms. Mathematics tests based on the UK National Curriculum were completed by each twin. The twins also completed standardised tests of reading and general cognitive ability. Multivariate twin model fitting was applied. RESULTS:Inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive ADHD symptoms were highly heritable (67% and 73% respectively). Mathematics ability was moderately heritable (46%). Mathematics ability and inattentiveness showed a significantly greater phenotypic correlation (r(p) = -.26) and genetic correlation (r(A) = -.41) than mathematics ability and hyperactivity-impulsivity (r(p) = -.18; r(A) = -.22). The genetic correlation between inattentiveness and mathematics ability was largely independent from hyperactivity-impulsivity, and was only partially accounted for by genetic influences related to reading and general cognitive ability. CONCLUSIONS:Results revealed the novel finding that mathematics ability shows significantly stronger phenotypic and genetic associations with inattentiveness than with hyperactivity-impulsivity. Genetic associations between inattentiveness and mathematics ability could only partially be accounted for by hyperactivity-impulsivity, reading and general cognitive ability. Results suggest that mathematics ability is associated with ADHD symptoms largely because it shares genetic risk factors with inattentiveness, and provide further evidence for considering inattentiveness and hyperactivity-impulsivity separately. DNA markers for ADHD symptoms (especially inattentiveness) may also be candidate risk factors for mathematics ability and vice versa.
| S-EPMC3865138 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mathematics ability is a complex cognitive trait with polygenic heritability. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) has been an effective approach to investigate genetic components underlying mathematic ability. Although previous studies reported several candidate genetic variants, none of them exceeded genome-wide significant threshold in general populations. Herein, we performed GWAS in Chinese elementary school students to identify potential genetic variants associated with mathematics ability. The discovery stage included 494 and 504 individuals from two independent cohorts respectively. The replication stage included another cohort of 599 individuals. In total, 28 of 81 candidate SNPs that met validation criteria were further replicated. Combined meta-analysis of three cohorts identified four SNPs (rs1012694, rs11743006, rs17778739 and rs17777541) of SPOCK1 gene showing association with mathematics ability (minimum p value 5.67 × 10-10, maximum β -2.43). The SPOCK1 gene is located on chromosome 5q31.2 and encodes a highly conserved glycoprotein testican-1 which was associated with tumor progression and prognosis as well as neurogenesis. This is the first study to report genome-wide significant association of individual SNPs with mathematics ability in general populations. Our preliminary results further supported the role of SPOCK1 during neurodevelopment. The genetic complexities underlying mathematics ability might contribute to explain the basis of human cognition and intelligence at genetic level.
| S-EPMC5290743 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although previous research has shown cognitive skills to be important predictors of reading ability in children, the respective roles for genetic and environmental influences on these relations is an open question. The present study explored the genetic and environmental etiologies underlying the relations between selected executive functions and cognitive abilities (working memory, inhibition, processing speed, and naming speed) with 3 components of reading ability (word reading, reading comprehension, and listening comprehension). Twin pairs drawn from the Colorado Front Range (n = 676; 224 monozygotic pairs; 452 dizygotic pairs) between the ages of 8 and 16 (M = 11.11) were assessed on multiple measures of each cognitive and reading-related skill. Each cognitive and reading-related skill was modeled as a latent variable, and behavioral genetic analyses estimated the portions of phenotypic variance on each latent variable due to genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental influences. The covariance between the cognitive skills and reading-related skills was driven primarily by genetic influences. The cognitive skills also shared large amounts of genetic variance, as did the reading-related skills. The common cognitive genetic variance was highly correlated with the common reading genetic variance, suggesting that genetic influences involved in general cognitive processing are also important for reading ability. Skill-specific genetic variance in working memory and processing speed also predicted components of reading ability. Taken together, the present study supports a genetic association between children's cognitive ability and reading ability.
| S-EPMC4792094 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In functional neuroimaging studies, individuals with dyslexia frequently exhibit both hypoactivation, often in the left parietotemporal cortex, and hyperactivation, often in the left inferior frontal cortex, but there has been no evidence to suggest how to interpret the differential relations of hypoactivation and hyperactivation to dyslexia. To address this question, we measured brain activation by functional MRI during visual word rhyme judgment compared with visual cross-hair fixation rest, and we measured gray matter morphology by voxel-based morphometry in dyslexic adolescents in comparison with (i) an age-matched group, and (ii) a reading-matched group younger than the dyslexic group but equal to the dyslexic group in reading performance. Relative to the age-matched group (n = 19; mean 14.4 years), the dyslexic group (n = 19; mean 14.4 years) exhibited hypoactivation in left parietal and bilateral fusiform cortices and hyperactivation in left inferior and middle frontal gyri, caudate, and thalamus. Relative to the reading-matched group (n = 12; mean 9.8 years), the dyslexic group (n = 12; mean 14.5 years) also exhibited hypoactivation in left parietal and fusiform regions but equal activation in all four areas that had exhibited hyperactivation relative to age-matched controls as well. In regions that exhibited atypical activation in the dyslexic group, only the left parietal region exhibited reduced gray matter volume relative to both control groups. Thus, areas of hyperactivation in dyslexia reflected processes related to the level of current reading ability independent of dyslexia. In contrast, areas of hypoactivation in dyslexia reflected functional atypicalities related to dyslexia itself, independent of current reading ability, and related to atypical brain morphology in dyslexia.
| S-EPMC1820738 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background: Changes in DNA methylation patterns with age frequently have been observed and implicated in the normal aging process and its associated increasing risk of disease, particularly cancer. Additionally, the offspring of older parents are at significantly increased risk of cancer, diabetes, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Only a proportion of these increased risks among the children of older parents can be attributed to nondisjunction and chromosomal rearrangements. Results: Using a genome-wide survey of 27,578 CpG dinucleotides in a cohort of 168 newborns, we examined the relationship between DNA methylation in newborns and a variety of parental and newborn traits. We found that methylation levels of 144 CpGs belonging to 142 genes were significantly correlated with maternal age. A weaker correlation was observed with paternal age. Among these genes, processes related to cancer were over-represented, as were functions related to neurological regulation, glucose/carbohydrate metabolism, nucleocytoplasmic transport, and transcriptional regulation. CpGs exhibiting gender differences in methylation were overwhelmingly located on the X chromosome, although a small subset of autosomal CpGs were found in genes previously shown to exhibit gender-specific differences in methylation levels. Conclusions: These results indicate that there are differences in CpG methylation levels at birth that are related to parental age and that could influence disease risk in childhood and throughout life. 168 newborn umbilical cord buffy coat samples run singly as a cross-sectional study, not case-control.
2011-08-31 | E-GEOD-27317 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Background: Changes in DNA methylation patterns with age frequently have been observed and implicated in the normal aging process and its associated increasing risk of disease, particularly cancer. Additionally, the offspring of older parents are at significantly increased risk of cancer, diabetes, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Only a proportion of these increased risks among the children of older parents can be attributed to nondisjunction and chromosomal rearrangements. Results: Using a genome-wide survey of 27,578 CpG dinucleotides in a cohort of 168 newborns, we examined the relationship between DNA methylation in newborns and a variety of parental and newborn traits. We found that methylation levels of 144 CpGs belonging to 142 genes were significantly correlated with maternal age. A weaker correlation was observed with paternal age. Among these genes, processes related to cancer were over-represented, as were functions related to neurological regulation, glucose/carbohydrate metabolism, nucleocytoplasmic transport, and transcriptional regulation. CpGs exhibiting gender differences in methylation were overwhelmingly located on the X chromosome, although a small subset of autosomal CpGs were found in genes previously shown to exhibit gender-specific differences in methylation levels. Conclusions: These results indicate that there are differences in CpG methylation levels at birth that are related to parental age and that could influence disease risk in childhood and throughout life.
2011-09-01 | GSE27317 | GEO
Project description:Interacting with a cluttered and dynamic environment requires making decisions about visual information at relevant locations while ignoring irrelevant locations. Typical adults can do this with covert spatial attention: prioritizing particular visual field locations even without moving the eyes. Deficits of covert spatial attention have been implicated in developmental dyslexia, a specific reading disability. Previous studies of children with dyslexia, however, have been complicated by group differences in overall task ability that are difficult to distinguish from selective spatial attention. Here, we used a single-fixation visual search task to estimate orientation discrimination thresholds with and without an informative spatial cue in a large sample (N = 123) of people ranging in age from 5 to 70 years and with a wide range of reading abilities. We assessed the efficiency of attentional selection via the cueing effect: the difference in log thresholds with and without the spatial cue. Across our whole sample, both absolute thresholds and the cueing effect gradually improved throughout childhood and adolescence. Compared to typical readers, individuals with dyslexia had higher thresholds (worse orientation discrimination) as well as smaller cueing effects (weaker attentional selection). Those differences in dyslexia were especially pronounced prior to age 20, when basic visual function is still maturing. Thus, in line with previous theories, literacy skills are associated with the development of selective spatial attention.
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Project description:Behavioral and brain imaging studies speak to commonalities between reading and math. Here, we investigated relationships between individual differences in reading and math ability (single word reading and calculation) with brain anatomy (cortical thickness and surface area) in 342 participants between 6-22 years of age from the NIH Pediatric MRI Database. We found no brain-behavioral correlations in the full sample. When dividing the dataset into three age-specific subgroups, cortical thickness of the left supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and fusiform gyrus (FG) correlated with reading ability in the oldest subgroup (15-22 years) only. Next, we tested unique contributions of these educational measures to neuroanatomy. Single word reading ability, age, and their interaction all contributed unique variance to cortical thickness in the left SMG and intraparietal sulcus (IPS). Age, and the interaction between age and reading, predicted cortical thickness in the left FG. However, regression analyses for math ability showed no relationships with cortical thickness; nor for math or reading ability with surface area. Overall, our results demonstrate relationships between cortical thickness and reading ability in emerging adults, but not in younger age groups. Surprisingly, there were no such relationships with math, and hence no convergence between the reading and math results.
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Project description:It was investigated whether test anxiety (TA), mathematics anxiety (MA), and reading anxiety (RA) can be traced back to some type of general academic anxiety or whether these are separable. A total of 776 fifth graders (Mage = 10.9 years) completed questionnaires on TA, MA, and RA, as well as a mathematics test. Also, mathematics and reading performance results from the National Tracking System were requested. The sample was randomly split into two halves. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a three-factor model (factors: TA, MA, RA) had superior model fit compared with a one-factor model (factor: "Academic anxiety"), in both halves. The resulting anxiety factors were related to math performance measures using structural equation models. A scarcity of data on reading performance prevented the analysis of links between anxiety and reading performance. Anxiety-math performance relations were stronger for MA than for TA and MA. We concluded that TA, MA, and RA are separable constructs.
| S-EPMC10890043 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The main purpose of the present study was to investigate whether visual processing uniquely contributed to character reading and early mathematics in Chinese children. Eighty-two Chinese kindergarteners at K3 (mean age = 68 months, SD = 0.30) were followed up to grade one (mean age = 82 months, SD = 0.35) with an interval of 14 months. Nonverbal intelligence, inhibitory control, sustained attention, character reading, and mathematics were measured at kindergarten. Character reading and mathematics were assessed again at grade one. Results showed visual processing at kindergarten significantly predicted character reading at grade one after controlling for prior reading performance, inhibitory control, sustained attention, age, gender, and nonverbal IQ. Similarly, visual processing at kindergarten explained unique variance in early mathematics at grade one when prior mathematics performance and other covariates at kindergarten were controlled. These findings suggest that visual processing should serve as a domain-general precursor of children's performance in character reading and early mathematics and an important cognitive factor for later academic learning.
| S-EPMC7141237 | biostudies-literature