GWAS of 126,559 individuals identifies genetic variants associated with educational attainment.
Rietveld CA., Medland SE., Derringer J., Yang J., Esko T., Martin NW., Westra H-J., Shakhbazov K., Abdellaoui A., Agrawal A., Albrecht E., Alizadeh BZ., Amin N., Barnard J., Baumeister SE., Benke KS., Bielak LF., Boatman JA., Boyle PA., Davies G., de Leeuw C., Eklund N., Evans DS., Ferhmann R., Fischer K., Gieger C., Gjessing HK., Hägg S., Harris JR., Hayward C., Holzapfel C., Ibrahim-Verbaas CA., Ingelsson E., Jacobsson B., Joshi PK., Jugessur A., Kaakinen M., Kanoni S., Karjalainen J., Kolcic I., Kristiansson K., Kutalik Z., Lahti J., Lee SH., Lin P., Lind PA., Liu Y., Lohman K., Loitfelder M., McMahon G., Vidal PM., Meirelles O., Milani L., Myhre R., Nuotio M-L., Oldmeadow CJ., Petrovic KE., Peyrot WJ., Polasek O., Quaye L., Reinmaa E., Rice JP., Rizzi TS., Schmidt H., Schmidt R., Smith AV., Smith JA., Tanaka T., Terracciano A., van der Loos MJHM., Vitart V., Völzke H., Wellmann J., Yu L., Zhao W., Allik J., Attia JR., Bandinelli S., Bastardot F., Beauchamp J., Bennett DA., Berger K., Bierut LJ., Boomsma DI., Bültmann U., Campbell H., Chabris CF., Cherkas L., Chung MK., Cucca F., de Andrade M., De Jager PL., De Neve J-E., Deary IJ., Dedoussis GV., Deloukas P., Dimitriou M., Eiríksdóttir G., Elderson MF., Eriksson JG., Evans DM., Faul JD., Ferrucci L., Garcia ME., Grönberg H., Guðnason V., Hall P., Harris JM., Harris TB., Hastie ND., Heath AC., Hernandez DG., Hoffmann W., Hofman A., Holle R., Holliday EG., Hottenga J-J., Iacono WG., Illig T., Järvelin M-R., Kähönen M., Kaprio J., Kirkpatrick RM., Kowgier M., Latvala A., Launer LJ., Lawlor DA., Lehtimäki T., Li J., Lichtenstein P., Lichtner P., Liewald DC., Madden PA., Magnusson PKE., Mäkinen TE., Masala M., McGue M., Metspalu A., Mielck A., Miller MB., Montgomery GW., Mukherjee S., Nyholt DR., Oostra BA., Palmer LJ., Palotie A., Penninx BWJH., Perola M., Peyser PA., Preisig M., Räikkönen K., Raitakari OT., Realo A., Ring SM., Ripatti S., Rivadeneira F., Rudan I., Rustichini A., Salomaa V., Sarin A-P., Schlessinger D., Scott RJ., Snieder H., St Pourcain B., Starr JM., Sul JH., Surakka I., Svento R., Teumer A., LifeLines Cohort Study None., Tiemeier H., van Rooij FJA., Van Wagoner DR., Vartiainen E., Viikari J., Vollenweider P., Vonk JM., Waeber G., Weir DR., Wichmann H-E., Widen E., Willemsen G., Wilson JF., Wright AF., Conley D., Davey-Smith G., Franke L., Groenen PJF., Hofman A., Johannesson M., Kardia SLR., Krueger RF., Laibson D., Martin NG., Meyer MN., Posthuma D., Thurik AR., Timpson NJ., Uitterlinden AG., van Duijn CM., Visscher PM., Benjamin DJ., Cesarini D., Koellinger PD.
A genome-wide association study (GWAS) of educational attainment was conducted in a discovery sample of 101,069 individuals and a replication sample of 25,490. Three independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are genome-wide significant (rs9320913, rs11584700, rs4851266), and all three replicate. Estimated effects sizes are small (coefficient of determination R(2) ≈ 0.02%), approximately 1 month of schooling per allele. A linear polygenic score from all measured SNPs accounts for ≈2% of the variance in both educational attainment and cognitive function. Genes in the region of the loci have previously been associated with health, cognitive, and central nervous system phenotypes, and bioinformatics analyses suggest the involvement of the anterior caudate nucleus. These findings provide promising candidate SNPs for follow-up work, and our effect size estimates can anchor power analyses in social-science genetics.