Cognitive Genomics: Recent Advances and Current Challenges

Overview

Journal Curr Psychiatry Rep

Publisher Current Science

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2020 Jan 12

PMID 31925558

Citations 3

Authors

Joan Fitzgerald

Derek W Morris

Gary Donohoe

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose Of Review: We review recent progress in uncovering the complex genetic architecture of cognition, arising primarily from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We explore the genetic correlations between cognitive performance and neuropsychiatric disorders, the genetic and environmental factors associated with age-related cognitive decline, and speculate about the future role of genomics in the understanding of cognitive processes.

Recent Findings: Improvements in genomic methods, and the increasing availability of large datasets via consortia cooperation, have led to a greater understanding of the role played by common and rare variants in the genomics of cognition, the highly polygenic basis of cognitive function and dysfunction, and the multiple biological processes involved. Recent research has aided in our understanding of the complex biological nature of genomics of cognition. Further development of data banks and techniques to analyze this data hold significant promise for understanding cognitive ability, and for treating cognitively related disability.

Citing Articles

Effects of obesity on aging brain and cognitive decline: A cohort study from the UK Biobank.

Li P, Zhu X, Huang C, Tian S, Li Y, Qiao Y IBRO Neurosci Rep. 2025; 18:148-157.

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Genome-wide association study of population-standardised cognitive performance phenotypes in a rural South African community.

Soo C, Brandenburg J, Nebel A, Tollman S, Berkman L, Ramsay M Commun Biol. 2023; 6(1):328.

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General intelligence and executive functioning are overlapping but separable at genetic and molecular pathway levels: An analytical review of existing GWAS findings.

Ciobanu L, Stankov L, Schubert K, Amare A, Jawahar M, Lawrence-Wood E PLoS One. 2022; 17(10):e0272368.

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Apolipoprotein E Genetic Variation and Its Association With Cognitive Function in Rural-Dwelling Older South Africans.

Soo C, Farrell M, Tollman S, Berkman L, Nebel A, Ramsay M Front Genet. 2021; 12:689756.

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