title: The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component.
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.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, UCL Genetics Institute, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK [2] King's College London, Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK [3].
authors.forename: Oliver S P
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: 1] Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK [2].
authors.forename: Gavin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Band
authors.affiliation: 1] Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK [2].
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirinen
authors.affiliation: 1] King's College London, Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK [2] Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
authors.forename: Claire M A
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Haworth
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London WC1E 7HX, UK.
authors.forename: Emma L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Meaburn
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK.
authors.forename: Yulia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kovas
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0345, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Harlaar
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Sophia J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Docherty
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Ken B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Hanscombe
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trzaskowski
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Charles J C
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strange
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bellenguez
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
authors.forename: Zhan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
authors.forename: Damjan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vukcevic
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Cordelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Langford
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Panos
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deloukas
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dronov
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Simon C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Potter
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Avazeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tashakkori-Ghanbaria
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Edkins
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Suzannah J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Bumpstead
authors.affiliation: 1] Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia [2] Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge CB2 0XY, UK.
authors.forename: Jenefer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Blackwell
authors.affiliation: 1] UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK [2] UCL Mental Health Sciences Unit, University College London, London W1W 7EJ, UK.
authors.forename: Elvira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bramon
authors.affiliation: University of Queensland Diamantia Institute, Translational Research Institute, Princess Alexandra Hospital, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland QLD 4102, Australia.
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK [2] Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Juan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Casas
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychiatric Genetics Research Group, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Aiden
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corvin
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Physiological Sciences, The Wellcome Trust, London NW1 2BE, UK.
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Duncanson
authors.affiliation: 1] Centre for Digestive Diseases, Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 2AT, UK [2] Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UD, UK [3] Peninsula School of Medicine and Dentistry, Associate Deans Office, John Bull Building, Plymouth PL6 8BU, UK.
authors.forename: Janusz A Z
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Jankowski
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neurosciences, Saint George's University of London, London SW17 0RE, UK.
authors.forename: Hugh S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Markus
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, King's College London, King's Health Partners Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK.
authors.forename: Christopher G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Mathew
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Centre, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK.
authors.forename: Colin N A
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rautanen
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Sawcer
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, King's College London, King's Health Partners Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK.
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Trembath
authors.affiliation: NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHSFT and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London EC1V 2PD, UK.
authors.forename: Ananth C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Viswanathan
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
authors.forename: Nicholas W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Barroso
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peltonen
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA.
authors.forename: Philip S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Dale
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Science, Institute for Population Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Petrill
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Leonard S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Schalkwyk
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Ian W
authors.initials: IW
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Cathryn M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-5158, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Price
authors.affiliation: 1] Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK [2] Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3TG, UK.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.affiliation: 1] King's College London, Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK [2].
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Plomin
authors.affiliation: 1] Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK [2].
authors.forename: Chris C A
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Spencer
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005828:Genetics, Population; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D011932:Reading; D014427:Twins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D006113:United Kingdom