Blood-based epigenome-wide analyses of cognitive abilities.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Blood-based markers of cognitive functioning might provide an accessible way to track neurodegeneration years prior to clinical manifestation of cognitive impairment and dementia.

Results

Using blood-based epigenome-wide analyses of general cognitive function, we show that individual differences in DNA methylation (DNAm) explain 35.0% of the variance in general cognitive function (g). A DNAm predictor explains ~4% of the variance, independently of a polygenic score, in two external cohorts. It also associates with circulating levels of neurology- and inflammation-related proteins, global brain imaging metrics, and regional cortical volumes.

Conclusions

As sample sizes increase, the ability to assess cognitive function from DNAm data may be informative in se

SUBMITTER: McCartney DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8762878 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature