Gene-environment interplay in early life cognitive development

Abstract

Children's differences in early life cognitive development are driven by the interplay of genetic and environmental factors, but identifying replicable gene-environment interactions (GxE) has proven difficult. We systematically tested GxE effects in the prediction of cognitive development from 2 to 4 years, using polygenic scores (PGS) for years spent in education and 39 measures of the home and neighborhood environment. Data came from up to 6973 unrelated individuals from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS), a UK population-representative cohort. The environmental measures accounted together for 20.6% of the variance in cognitive development, while the PGS accounted for 0.5% (p < .001). We observed substantial gene-environment correlations but found no conclusive evidence for GxE effects. While associations between PGS and cognitive development were weak, genetic and environmental factors had direct and additive (i.e., main effects) rather than interactive influences on early life cognitive development.