Grey matter, intelligence link found at last!
12 Feb 2014 5:55 AM IST
Researchers have found a gene linking intelligence to the thickness of so-called ‘grey matter’ in the brain, and say their discovery could help scientists understand how and why some people have learning difficulties.
An international team of scientists analysed DNA samples and brain scans from more than 1,500 healthy 14-year-olds and gave them a series of tests to establish their verbal and non-verbal intelligence.
The researchers looked at the cerebral cortex - the outermost layer of the brain that is also known as ‘grey matter’ and plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language and consciousness.
They then analysed more than 54,000 genetic variants possibly involved in brain development and found that, on average, teenagers with a particular gene variant had a thinner cortex in the left half of their brains - and were the ones who performed less well on tests for intellectual ability.
‘The genetic variation we identified is linked to synaptic plasticity - how neurons communicate,’ said Sylvane Desrivieres, who led the study at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry.
‘This may help us understand what happens at a neuronal level in certain forms of intellectual impairments, where the ability of the neurons to communicate effectively is somehow compromised.’
An international team of scientists analysed DNA samples and brain scans from more than 1,500 healthy 14-year-olds and gave them a series of tests to establish their verbal and non-verbal intelligence.
The researchers looked at the cerebral cortex - the outermost layer of the brain that is also known as ‘grey matter’ and plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language and consciousness.
They then analysed more than 54,000 genetic variants possibly involved in brain development and found that, on average, teenagers with a particular gene variant had a thinner cortex in the left half of their brains - and were the ones who performed less well on tests for intellectual ability.
‘The genetic variation we identified is linked to synaptic plasticity - how neurons communicate,’ said Sylvane Desrivieres, who led the study at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry.
‘This may help us understand what happens at a neuronal level in certain forms of intellectual impairments, where the ability of the neurons to communicate effectively is somehow compromised.’
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