The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component

Davis, O.S.P. and Band, G. and Pirinen, M. and Haworth, C.M.A. and Meaburn, Emma L. and Kovas, Y. and Harlaar, N. and Docherty, S.J. and Hanscombe, K.B. and Trzaskowski, M. and Curtis, C.J.C. and Strange, A. and Freeman, C. and Bellenguez, C. and Su, Z. and Pearson, R. and Vukcevic, D. and Langford, C. and Deloukas, P. and Hunt, S. and Gray, E. and Dronov, S. and Potter, S.C. and Tashakkori-Ghanbaria, A. and Edkins, S. and Bumpstead, S.J. and Blackwell, J.M. and Bramon, E. and Brown, M.A. and Casas, J.P. and Corvin, A. and Duncanson, A. and Jankowski, J.A.Z. and Markus, H.S. and Mathew, C.G. and Palmer, C.N.A. and Rautanen, A. and Sawcer, S.J. and Trembath, R.C. and Viswanathan, A.C. and Wood, N.W. and Barroso, I. and Peltonen, L. and Dale, P.S. and Petrill, S.A. and Schalkwyk, L.S. and Craig, I.W. and Lewis, C.M. and Price, T.S. and Donnelly, P. and Plomin, R. and Spencer, C.C.A. (2014) The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component. Nature Communications 5 , p. 4204. ISSN 2041-1723.

Abstract

Dissecting how genetic and environmental influences impact on learning is helpful for maximizing numeracy and literacy. Here we show, using twin and genome-wide analysis, that there is a substantial genetic component to children’s ability in reading and mathematics, and estimate that around one half of the observed correlation in these traits is due to shared genetic effects (so-called Generalist Genes). Thus, our results highlight the potential role of the learning environment in contributing to differences in a child’s cognitive abilities at age twelve.

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