Education genes linked to neuroticism

The latest research by the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium (SSGAC) has confirmed that our genes can affect our educational attainment by as much as 20% and those same genes appear to be associated with conditions like schizophrenia, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, bipolar disorder and dyslexia.

Published in Nature, the SSGAC study analysed the genomes of nearly 300,000 people in the world’s largest study of its type, identifying 74 genes that can influence how long an individual will pursue formal education.

Professor Peter Visscher from the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland was one of hundreds of scientists worldwide who contributed to the SSGAC research. He noted, “Educational attainment is a complex phenomenon, and mostly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but we knew that genes play a role too.”

The known associations between educational attainment and health outcomes were a deciding factor in pursuing this line of research, which has already caused some controversy. Professor Visscher explained that the findings of this research are “a tiny piece of the puzzle as to why some people complete more years of education than others... But it’s an intriguing piece of the puzzle and definitely opens new doors for research.”

The study’s authors have been at pains to downplay any determinative role that their findings could lead to, but critics say that such broad-based research is not useful in understanding normal individuals and could be used inappropriately.

“Policymakers and funders should pull the plug on this sort of work,” said anthropologists Anne Buchanan and Kenneth Weiss of Pennsylvania State University in response to the study. “We gain little that is useful in our understanding of this sort of trait by a massively large genetic approach in normal individuals.”

The study’s authors agree with their critics that when it comes to determining educational attainment, factors such as health, parenting and access to quality schools have a far larger impact than genetics. Of particular interest is some Swedish data covering a period when there was a large-scale overhaul of the country’s educational system, resulting in far better academic outcomes across the population.

“Crucially, this latest finding does not show that your educational attainment is something determined at birth. There are many other factors that come into play,” said Professor Visscher.

The 74 genetic markers uncovered by this research comprise a mere 0.43% of the total genetic contribution to educational attainment. But their apparent correlation to a variety of psychiatric conditions may be useful in establishing future research.

“These tiny genetic differences may ultimately help to understand why some people are more susceptible to early cognitive decline than others,” said Professor Visscher.

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/fstop123