Admiral
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Intelligence and Genetics
While the IQ (intelligence quotient) test is (in)famous for measuring cognitive aptitude, very little is known about the biology of intelligence. Now a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports just might provide some answers.
Researchers from Peking University in Beijing pulled 158 IQ-related genes from a collection of databases and studies and used computational search algorithms to comb through a larger pool of associated protein-protein interaction networks. Using these data, they reconstructed a network of IQ-specific genes based on their interactions.
According to the study, nearly 80% of IQ-specific genes were enriched on just 6 chromosomes, with the X-chromosome topping the list with 16% of those genes. The X-chromosome finding is interesting because it is a sex chromosome, and new studies are now thinking about gender differences in intelligence, said Min Zhao, first author of the study.
Zhao and his team also explored the connection between IQ-specific genes and drugs known to affect cognitive processes. Among the drugs, dopamine and norepinephrine were distinctly found to affect 70% of all IQ-genes. Because the brains natural reward systems run on dopamine and norepinephrine, Zhao believes that intelligence may be driven by rewards.
Nobody has connected this rewards system to IQ yet, said Zhao. It may be that if you learn something and practice it more, it may give you pleasure, and this would accelerate your cognitive abilities.
Right now, the network just presents known gene interactions relating to IQ, but Zhaos group plans to explore the implications of these interactions, beginning with studies of how these genes are expressed. According to Zhao, such future studies should offer valuable information about variations in intelligence between genders and ethnic groups.
Copied from National Academy of Young Scientists, Pakistan
Reference:
Full text available at: Scientific Reports, Nature (February, 2014)
Zhao M, Kong L, Qu H. A systems biology approach to identify intelligence quotient score-related genomic regions, and pathways relevant to potential therapeutic treatments.
While the IQ (intelligence quotient) test is (in)famous for measuring cognitive aptitude, very little is known about the biology of intelligence. Now a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports just might provide some answers.
Researchers from Peking University in Beijing pulled 158 IQ-related genes from a collection of databases and studies and used computational search algorithms to comb through a larger pool of associated protein-protein interaction networks. Using these data, they reconstructed a network of IQ-specific genes based on their interactions.
According to the study, nearly 80% of IQ-specific genes were enriched on just 6 chromosomes, with the X-chromosome topping the list with 16% of those genes. The X-chromosome finding is interesting because it is a sex chromosome, and new studies are now thinking about gender differences in intelligence, said Min Zhao, first author of the study.
Zhao and his team also explored the connection between IQ-specific genes and drugs known to affect cognitive processes. Among the drugs, dopamine and norepinephrine were distinctly found to affect 70% of all IQ-genes. Because the brains natural reward systems run on dopamine and norepinephrine, Zhao believes that intelligence may be driven by rewards.
Nobody has connected this rewards system to IQ yet, said Zhao. It may be that if you learn something and practice it more, it may give you pleasure, and this would accelerate your cognitive abilities.
Right now, the network just presents known gene interactions relating to IQ, but Zhaos group plans to explore the implications of these interactions, beginning with studies of how these genes are expressed. According to Zhao, such future studies should offer valuable information about variations in intelligence between genders and ethnic groups.
Copied from National Academy of Young Scientists, Pakistan
Reference:
Full text available at: Scientific Reports, Nature (February, 2014)
Zhao M, Kong L, Qu H. A systems biology approach to identify intelligence quotient score-related genomic regions, and pathways relevant to potential therapeutic treatments.
