Biol Psych：智商（IQ）降低或和精神分裂症风险基因直接相关

近日，一项刊登于国际杂志Biological Psychiatry上的研究报告指出，高风险精神分裂症的个体，随着其年龄增长，其IQ会表现出明显下降的趋势。这项研究由爱丁堡大学的研究者进行，研究者表示，尽管个体并没有发展成为精神分裂症，但是高风险的个体IQ会下降。这项研究或许帮助研究者深入研究不同的精神分裂症基因是如何影响大脑功能的。

文中，研究者使用最新的遗传分析技术来研究个体的思考技能如何随着年龄增长而变化。研究者Ian Deary说，随着我们年龄增长，我们思考记忆的留存对于我们独立生活和思考非常重要，如果一个人天生就携带有患精神分裂症的基因，那么其从童年时期到老年时期，认知能力会发生明显的下降和恶化。

研究者对比了来自爱丁堡1000多人的IQ值，研究者分别在个体11岁时，以及个体在70岁时，检测了其一般的认知功能。在随后的研究中，研究者检测了参与者的基因以及计算了每一个个体发展成为精神分裂症的可能性。

然后研究者比较了高风险和低风险精神分裂症个体的IQ值，通过研究比较发现，个体在11岁时其IQ值无差异，当个体70岁时，高风险精神分裂症个体会表现出略微的IQ下降现象。

通过深入研究这些精神分裂症基因如何影响大脑功能，这或许帮助研究者理解风险基因如何影响人类的认知功能（随着年龄增长）。精神分裂症影响着1%的人口，经常在青少年以及成年早期发生，和心理能力和记忆力直接相关。

原文链接：

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Polygenic Risk for Schizophrenia Is Associated with Cognitive Change Between Childhood and Old Age

McIntosh AM, Gow A, Luciano M, Davies G, Liewald DC, Harris SE, Corley J, Hall J, Starr JM, Porteous DJ, Tenesa A, Visscher PM, Deary IJ.

Background Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have shown a polygenic component to the risk of schizophrenia. The disorder is associated with impairments in general cognitive ability that also have a substantial genetic contribution. No study has determined whether cognitive impairments can be attributed to schizophrenia’s polygenic architecture using data from GWAS. Methods Members of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936, n = 937) were assessed using the Moray House Test at age 11 and with the Moray House Test and a further cognitive battery at age 70. To create polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia, we obtained data from the latest GWAS of the Psychiatric GWAS Consortium on Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia polygenic risk profile scores were calculated using information from the Psychiatric GWAS Consortium on Schizophrenia GWAS. Results In LBC1936, polygenic risk for schizophrenia was negatively associated with IQ at age 70 but not at age 11. Greater polygenic risk for schizophrenia was associated with more relative decline in IQ between these ages. These findings were maintained when the results of LBC1936 were combined with that of the independent Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 (n = 517) in a meta-analysis. Conclusions Increased polygenic risk of schizophrenia is associated with lower cognitive ability at age 70 and greater relative decline in general cognitive ability between the ages of 11 and 70. Common genetic variants may underlie both cognitive aging and risk of schizophrenia.

来源：生物谷