Molecular genetic evidence for overlap between general cognitive ability and risk for schizophrenia: a report from the Cognitive Genomics consorTium (COGENT).

ABSTRACT: It has long been recognized that generalized deficits in cognitive ability represent a core component of schizophrenia (SCZ), evident before full illness onset and independent of medication. The possibility of genetic overlap between risk for SCZ and cognitive phenotypes has been suggested by the presence of cognitive deficits in first-degree relatives of patients with SCZ; however, until recently, molecular genetic approaches to test this overlap have been lacking. Within the last few years, large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of SCZ have demonstrated that a substantial proportion of the heritability of the disorder is explained by a polygenic component consisting of many common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of extremely small effect. Similar results have been repo

SUBMITTER: Lencz T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3968799 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature