Cognitive and brain development is independently influenced by socioeconomic status and polygenic scores for educational attainment

Abstract

The influence of socioeconomic (SES) inequalities on brain and cognitive development is a hotly debated topic. However, previous studies have not considered that genetic factors overlap with SES. Here we showed, for the first time, that SES and EduYears-PGS (a score from thousands of genetic markers for educational attainment) have independent associations with both cognition and global cortical surface area in adolescents. EduYears-PGS also had a localized association in the brain: the intraparietal sulcus, a region related to non-verbal intelligence. In contrast, SES had global, but not regional, associations, and these persisted throughout adolescence. This suggests that the influence of SES inequalities is widespread -a result that opposes the current paradigm and can help inform policies in education.

Gene-Environment Pathways to Cognitive Intelligence and Psychotic-Like Experiences in Children

“…Considering that the observed variables of the PGSs, family SES, neighborhood SES, positive family and school environment, and PLEs are evaluated as a composite index by prior research, the IGSCA method can mitigate bias more effectively by representing these constructs as components. Notably, investigations carried out by Judd et al (2020) and Martin et al (2015) utilized composite indicators to examine the genetic influence on educational attainment and ADHD. Moreover, socioenvironmental influences are often treated as composite indicators as highlighted in Judd et al (2020).…”

“…Notably, investigations carried out by Judd et al (2020) and Martin et al (2015) utilized composite indicators to examine the genetic influence on educational attainment and ADHD. Moreover, socioenvironmental influences are often treated as composite indicators as highlighted in Judd et al (2020). When considering the psychosis continuum, studies like that of van Os et al (2009) postulate that psychotic disorders are likely underpinned by a multiplicity of background factors rather than a single common factor.…”

“…As the two most frequently used proxies of cognitive intelligence in genetic studies, PGSs for cognitive performance and educational attainment are positively correlated with intelligence, educational attainment, income, self-rated health, and height (Judd et al, 2020;Lee et al, 2018;Okbay et al, 2022;Selzam et al, 2019). Furthermore, the PGS for educational attainment is associated with a wide range of biological and social outcomes, including brain morphometry (Judd et al, 2020;Karcher, Paul, et al, 2021), psychopathologies such as PLEs, autism, depression, Alzheimer's disease, neuroticism (Karcher, Paul, et al, 2021;Okbay et al, 2022), cognitive decline (Joo et al, 2022;Karcher, Paul, et al, 2021;Ritchie et al, 2020), BMI, time spent watching television, geographic residence (Abdellaoui et al, 2022), and wealth inequality (Barth et al, 2020). Similar to the terms used in prior research, we will collectively refer to these two PGSs of focus as 'cognitive phenotypes PGSs' throughout this paper (Joo et al, 2022;Okbay et al, 2022;Selzam et al, 2019).…”

Human brain anatomy reflects separable genetic and environmental components of socioeconomic status

“…The second goal of the study is to differentiate genetic from environmental causes of the SES-GMV relation. As hinted by recent studies (12)(13)(14), both kinds of mechanisms are plausible. The possibility of environmental influence on brain structure is shown by animal studies in which features of lower SES environments, such as poor nutrition, environmental toxins, chronic stress and limited cognitive stimulation, are experimentally manipulated and found to impact brain structure (15), as well as the rare experimental study with human brains (16,17).…”