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Age-Dependent Pleiotropy Between General Cognitive Function and Major Psychiatric Disorders.

W David Hill¹, Gail Davies¹,

¹Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Departments of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Biological Psychiatry

|October 19, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

General cognitive function is genetically linked to psychiatric disorders throughout life. Pleiotropy, or shared genetic influences, varies with age, impacting conditions like autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease.

Keywords:

Aging Autism Cognitive function Genetics Pleiotropy Schizophrenia

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Area of Science:

Psychiatric Genetics
Cognitive Neuroscience
Lifespan Psychology

Background:

General cognitive function is a known predictor of psychiatric illness across the lifespan.
Pleiotropy, where single genes influence multiple traits, is investigated as a mechanism linking cognitive function and psychiatric disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine the role of pleiotropy in the relationship between cognitive function and psychiatric disorders.
To investigate age-dependent genetic correlations between cognitive function and specific psychiatric conditions.

Main Methods:

Utilized large genome-wide association study datasets for cognitive function (childhood and older age) and educational attainment.
Employed linkage disequilibrium regression to derive genetic correlations, controlling for clinical state confounding.
Assessed genetic correlations between cognitive function and autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease.

Main Results:

A strong genetic correlation (rg = .711) was found for general cognitive function across the lifespan.
Positive genetic correlations were observed between childhood cognitive function and autism spectrum disorder (rg = .360).
Negative genetic correlations were found between older age cognitive function and schizophrenia (rg = -.231) and Alzheimer's disease (rg = -.324).

Conclusions:

Pleiotropy between cognitive function and psychiatric disorders demonstrates significant age-dependent associations.
These age-dependent genetic links may explain the persistence of causal variants for autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia in the genome.
Findings highlight the complex interplay between genetics, cognition, and mental health across different life stages.