Genome-Wide Analyses of Working-Memory Ability: A Review.

ABSTRACT: Working memory, a theoretical construct from the field of cognitive psychology, is crucial to everyday life. It refers to the ability to temporarily store and manipulate task-relevant information. The identification of genes for working memory might shed light on the molecular mechanisms of this important cognitive ability and-given the genetic overlap between, for example, schizophrenia risk and working-memory ability-might also reveal important candidate genes for psychiatric illness. A number of genome-wide searches for genes that influence working memory have been conducted in recent years. Interestingly, the results of those searches converge on the mediating role of neuronal excitability in working-memory performance, such that the role of each gene highlighted by genome-wide methods

SUBMITTER: Knowles EE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4339023 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature