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BEHAVIORAL GENETICS

Indirect paths from genetics to education

Nature Genetics volume 54, pages 372–373 (2022)Cite this article

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An Author Correction to this article was published on 09 May 2022

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The largest genetic study of educational attainment (EA) so far combines gene mapping and family analyses to show that genetic associations with EA and its health benefits may be mostly indirect. As such, future genetic studies of human social and behavioral traits must include diversity in population, demographic and environmental contexts.

In a founding document of behavioral genetics, Francis Galton concluded that a specific kind of education attainment (EA)—Senior Classics at Cambridge—ran in families1. Generic EA, years of formal education, has since been extensively studied using genetic epidemiology2 and molecular genetics3. EA is a popular phenotype in genetics because it is easily measured and correlates with many aspects of human wellness4. Family studies of EA show strong familial–environment effects correlated with genetic contributions2. Both the observed relationship between health outcomes and EA and the relative importance of genetic and environmental components vary with context—for example, socioeconomic status, gender and nationality2,5,6. Earlier molecular genetic studies3,7 emphasized a reductionist model whereby genetic effects work directly through brain systems to cognitive performance to EA. Epidemiologic studies have shown that these genetic variants predict a range of indices of health across the lifespan, with their impact mediated not only by intelligence but also by self-control and interpersonal skills8.

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Fig. 1: Expanded context for EA genetics.

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References

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Andrew J. Schork, Roseann E. Peterson, Andrew Dahl, Na Cai.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biological Psychiatry, Mental Health Center Sct Hans, Copenhagen University Hospital–Mental Health Services CPH, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Andrew J. Schork

  2. Neurogenomics Division, The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN), Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Andrew J. Schork

  3. Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Roseann E. Peterson & Kenneth S. Kendler

  4. Section of Genetic Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Andrew Dahl

  5. Helmholtz Pioneer Campus, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany

    Na Cai

Authors
  1. Andrew J. Schork
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  2. Roseann E. Peterson
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  3. Andrew Dahl
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  4. Na Cai
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  5. Kenneth S. Kendler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenneth S. Kendler.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Schork, A.J., Peterson, R.E., Dahl, A. et al. Indirect paths from genetics to education. Nat Genet 54, 372–373 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00999-5

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