The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component.
Oliver SP Davis;
Gavin Band;
Matti Pirinen;
Claire MA Haworth;
Emma L Meaburn;
Yulia Kovas;
Nicole Harlaar;
Sophia J Docherty;
Ken B Hanscombe;
Maciej Trzaskowski;
+43 more...
Charles JC Curtis;
Amy Strange;
Colin Freeman;
Céline Bellenguez;
Zhan Su;
Richard Pearson;
Damjan Vukcevic;
Cordelia Langford;
Panos Deloukas;
Sarah Hunt;
Emma Gray;
Serge Dronov;
Simon C Potter;
Avazeh Tashakkori-Ghanbaria;
Sarah Edkins;
Suzannah J Bumpstead;
Jenefer M Blackwell;
Elvira Bramon;
Matthew A Brown;
Juan P Casas;
Aiden Corvin;
Audrey Duncanson;
Janusz AZ Jankowski;
Hugh S Markus;
Christopher G Mathew;
Colin NA Palmer;
Anna Rautanen;
Stephen J Sawcer;
Richard C Trembath;
Ananth C Viswanathan;
Nicholas W Wood;
Ines Barroso;
Leena Peltonen;
Philip S Dale;
Stephen A Petrill;
Leonard S Schalkwyk;
Ian W Craig;
Cathryn M Lewis;
Thomas S Price;
Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium 2;
Peter Donnelly;
Robert Plomin;
Chris CA Spencer;
(2014)
The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component.
Nature communications, 5 (1).
4204-.
ISSN 2041-1723
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5204
Dissecting how genetic and environmental influences impact on learning is helpful for maximizing numeracy and literacy. Here we show, using twin and genome-wide analysis, that there is a substantial genetic component to children's ability in reading and mathematics, and estimate that around one half of the observed correlation in these traits is due to shared genetic effects (so-called Generalist Genes). Thus, our results highlight the potential role of the learning environment in contributing to differences in a child's cognitive abilities at age twelve.
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