Genetic Covariation between Event-Related Potential (ERP) and Behavioral Non-ERP Measures of Working-Memory, Processing Speed, and IQ

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify genetic covariants for fundamental measures of brain function (event-related potentials (ERPs): P300 latency and slow wave amplitude recorded in a working-memory task) and more complex cognitive measures (behavioral non-ERP measures: working-memory performance, information processing speed, IQ). Data were collected from 252 monozygotic and 297 dizygotic twin pairs aged 16. Multivariate modeling identified two independent genetic factors associated with processing speed that also influenced working-memory performance (one reflected the duration of neural activity required to evaluate target information, the other reflected more general cognitive and speed-related abilities). However, the allocation of neural resources, as assessed by ERP slow wave amplitude measures, was not associated with the other cognitive measures investigated. Thus, of the ERP measures examined, P300 latency, but not slow wave amplitude, may be an informative measure to include (i.e., with working-memory performance) in future multivariate linkage and association analyses of cognitive function.

Verbal working memory impairments in individuals with schizophrenia and their first-degree relatives: Findings from the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia

“…Based on a sample that largely overlaps with the current one, the observed heritability for LNS-Reordered was .39, which was among the highest of the candidate endophenotypes. This figure closely approximates previous heritability estimates for verbal and visual working memory (36-42%) in families of schizophrenia probands from a Finnish isolate with a different pedigree structure (TuulioHenriksson et al 2002) and in non-clinical samples (Ando et al 2001;Hansell et al 2005).…”

“…Heritability estimates for verbal and spatial WM tasks are moderately high in both healthy individuals (.43 -.49; (Ando et al 2001;Hansell et al 2005)) and schizophrenia patients (.36 -.42;(Tuulio-Henriksson et al 2002)). In addition, WM impairments in healthy siblings of schizophrenia probands scale in severity with genetic loading for this disorder in singleton versus multiplex families (TuulioHenriksson et al 2003) and in discordant dizygotic versus monozygotic twin pairs (Cannon et al 2000;Glahn et al 2003).…”

Phenotypic and genetic correlations between evoked EEG/ERP measures during the response anticipation period of a delayed response task

“…Focusing on significant effects in the high memory load condition, heritability varied from 25% to 43% for SCP. These estimates are comparable to those in earlier reports (Hansell et al, 2001(Hansell et al, , 2005, where heritabilities of 39% were found for the SCP in the high memory load condition in the same delayed response task. For upper alpha synchronization, heritability varied from 35% to 65%, and for theta desynchronization, heritability ranged from 31% to 50%.…”

The effects of HIV on P300 are moderated by familial risk for substance dependence: Implications for a theory of brain reserve

“…Second, P300 reflects global functional capacity. Its generators involve circuits within both frontal and nonfrontal regions (Linden, 2005;Ardekani et al, 2002;Bledowski et al, 2004;Clark et al, 2000;Kiehl et al, 2005) and its amplitude and latency are correlated with other measures of global capacity, including IQ (Hansell et al, 2005). Accordingly, it is an appropriate metric for detecting individual differences in brain reserve.…”