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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 23, 2026

An Allele-specific Gene Expression Assay to Test the Functional Basis of Genetic Associations

An Allele-specific Gene Expression Assay to Test the Functional Basis of Genetic Associations

Published on: November 3, 2010

Generalist genes and high cognitive abilities.

Claire M A Haworth¹, Philip S Dale, Robert Plomin

¹Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre P080, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK. Claire.Haworth@iop.kcl.ac.uk

Behavior Genetics

|April 21, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Generalist genes influence high cognitive abilities, similar to overall performance. However, genetic factors explain less of the variation in top-tier cognitive skills compared to the general population.

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Area of Science:

Behavioral Genetics
Cognitive Science
Developmental Psychology

Background:

Generalist genes are recognized for influencing broad cognitive abilities.
The genetic and environmental underpinnings of exceptional cognitive performance remain less understood.
Investigating the high extreme of cognitive abilities is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of human intelligence.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine the genetic and environmental overlap in high-achieving individuals across cognitive domains.
To determine if cognitive specialization increases at the upper extreme of ability distributions.
To compare the genetic architecture of high abilities with that of the general population and cognitive disabilities.

Main Methods:

Utilized DF extremes analysis on a large UK twin sample (N=4,000, 12-year-olds).
Assessed general cognitive ability, reading, mathematics, and language performance via web-based tests.
Focused analysis on the top 15% of the performance distribution.

Main Results:

Generalist genes are significantly present in the highest cognitive performance extremes.
The genetic influence on the intercorrelations between cognitive abilities appears reduced at the high extreme.
Environmental influences may play a relatively larger role in the phenotypic correlations among high achievers.

Conclusions:

Generalist genes contribute to exceptional cognitive abilities, mirroring their role in average and lower cognitive ranges.
While generalist genes are evident, there's a suggestion of increased relative environmental influence or domain-specific genetic factors at the highest levels of cognitive performance.