Study finds 1,271 gene variants linked to educational attainment
Researchers analyzed genetic data from roughly 1.1 million people and published the results in Nature Genetics. They found 1,271 independent genome-wide-significant SNPs tied to educational attainment, many of them pointing to genes involved in brain development and communication between neurons. Effects varied across environments, the team found. A separate look at the X chromosome turned up 10 more significant SNPs, with SNP heritability of about 0.3 percent in both men and women, a pattern consistent with partial dosage compensation. Combining educational attainment with three related cognitive measures in a joint analysis produced polygenic scores that account for 11 to 13 percent of the variance in educational attainment and 7 to 10 percent of the variance in cognitive performance.
The improved prediction accuracy makes these polygenic scores considerably more useful as tools for research into human cognitive traits.
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