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Why do we differ in number sense? Evidence from a genetically sensitive investigation.

M G Tosto1, S A Petrill2, J Halberda3

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom ; Department of Psychology, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenin Prospekt, 634050, Tomsk, Russia.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive genetics
  • Developmental psychology
  • Behavioral genetics

Background:

  • Number sense, the ability to estimate quantity, is present in animals and humans.
  • Individual differences in human number sense emerge early and correlate with general intelligence.
  • The genetic and environmental origins of these individual differences remain largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in number sense.
  • To conduct the first large-scale, genetically sensitive study on number sense in twins.
  • To explore the potential role of evolutionary selection in shaping number sense heritability.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed numerosity discrimination abilities in 837 monozygotic and 1422 dizygotic twin pairs.
  • Utilized univariate genetic analysis and sex-limitation models.
  • Performed Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA) on 1118 unrelated individuals with genetic data.

Main Results:

  • Number sense showed moderate heritability (32%), primarily influenced by non-shared environmental factors (68%).
  • No significant sex differences were found in the etiology of number sense.
  • GCTA revealed effectively zero heritability for number sense, contrasting with other cognitive abilities.

Conclusions:

  • Individual differences in number sense are largely shaped by environmental influences rather than shared genetics.
  • The discrepancy between twin and GCTA heritability estimates supports the hypothesis of reduced additive genetic variance due to directional selection.
  • Number sense may represent an evolutionarily important trait where genetic variation has been minimized.