You weren't that smart - you just had the right epigenetic marks on your HES1 gene

Research led by the University of Southampton, UK, with support from New Zealand and Singapore, provides evidence that epigenetic processes influence brain development enough to have an impact on a child’s later ability to learn and their cognitive performance. The research aims to understand the mechanisms by which one’s early-life environment affects one’s chances later in life.

The body uses epigenetics as its principal control system, to increase or decrease the expression of our genes, and epigenetic processes are known to be important in memory and other aspects of brain function. The research team noted in the International Journal of Epidemiology, “In animal models, early environmental cues affect neuropsychological phenotypes via epigenetic processes but, as yet, there is little direct evidence for such mechanisms in humans.”

Their research used umbilical cord tissue collected at birth and identified epigenetic marks, in a key brain development gene called HES1, that were linked to a child’s cognitive performance and ability to learn at ages four and seven. The findings in two groups of children in Southampton were accompanied by additional findings in children from Singapore, whose HES1 epigenetic marks at birth were associated with aspects of socially disruptive behaviour previously linked with poor performance at school.

“Alongside the findings in different groups of children in the UK and Singapore, we also found evidence for an effect of the epigenetic marks on the function of the HES1 gene in laboratory studies,” said study leaders Professor Karen Lillycrop and Dr Paula Costello. “Together, the findings provide substantial support for a role for epigenetics in mediating the long-term consequences of the early-life environment on brain development and later cognitive performance.”

Dr Anne Rifkin-Graboi, a key investigator in the Singaporean study included in the research, added, “This is the first time that epigenetic marks at birth have been linked with substantial effects on a child’s ability to learn. The effects on later cognitive function and behaviour in two culturally diverse populations are particularly noteworthy, as they relate to healthy children within the normal range of size at birth. The research marks an important step forward in determining biological mechanisms through which brain development is susceptible to environmental exposures.”

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