Heritability of neurocognitive functioning in the elderly: evidence from an Italian twin study
Heritability of neurocognitive functioning in the elderly: evidence from an Italian twin study
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DOI：
10.1093/ageing/afn132
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发表时间：
2008-11-01
期刊：
影响因子：
6.7
通讯作者：
Stazi, Maria A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Giubilei, Franco;Medda, Emanuela;Stazi, Maria A.
背景：老年人特定认知能力个体差异的遗传和环境起源知之甚少。一个原因是缺乏在认知功能正常的队列中进行的研究。目的：估计遗传和环境因素在确定意大利人群神经认知能力个体间差异中的相对作用。设计：双胞胎数据的横断面分析。设置：来自基于人群的意大利双胞胎登记处（ITR）的认知功能正常的年长双胞胎样本。受试者：这对双胞胎居住在罗马，出生于1926年至1940年，2002年通过ITR鉴定。最终的研究人群包括93对双胞胎pairs.Methods：受试者进行神经心理测试，提供有关不同认知领域的信息。使用基于线性结构方程的标准单变量孪生模型评估遗传和环境效应的贡献。结果：最佳拟合模型结合了以下测试的方差的加性遗传（A）和独特的环境（E）来源：简易精神状态检查（A = 55%），乌鸦（A = 56%），注意力矩阵（A = 79%），素描（A = 69%）和故事回忆（A = 54%）。最佳模型包括非加性（D）和独特的环境影响（D分别为62%和54%）。吸烟与语音流畅性呈负相关。对于令牌测试，个体间的差异完全是由于环境因素不共享的twin.Conclusion：我们的数据表明，大多数特定的认知能力是中度到高度遗传，这些能力的相关性的环境因素是那些造成家庭内的差异。
Background: the genetic and environmental origins of individual differences in specific cognitive abilities in the elderly are poorly understood. One reason is the lack of studies performed in cohorts with normal cognitive functions.Objective: to estimate the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors in determining inter-individual variation in neurocognitive abilities in the Italian population.Design: cross-sectional analysis of twin data.Setting: a sample of older twins with normal cognition from the population-based Italian Twin Registry (ITR).Subjects: twin pairs resident in Rome and born between 1926 and 1940, identified through the ITR in 2002. The final study population included 93 twin pairs.Methods: subjects underwent neuropsychological tests providing information about different cognitive domains. The contributions of genetic and environmental effects were assessed using standard univariate twin modelling based on linear structural equations.Results: the best-fitting model incorporated additive genetic (A) and unique environmental (E) sources of variance for the following tests: Mini-Mental State Examination (A = 55%), Raven (A = 56%), Attentional Matrices (A = 79%), Copying Drawings (A = 69%) and Story Recall (A = 54%).For Phonological and Semantic Verbal Fluency, the best model included non-additive (D) and unique environmental influences (D = 62 and 54%, respectively). Cigarette smoking was estimated to be negatively associated with the score of Phonological Verbal Fluency. For Token test, the inter-individual variance was entirely due to environmental factors not shared by the twins.Conclusion: our data showed that most of the specific cognitive abilities are moderately to highly heritable, and that the environmental factors of relevance for these abilities are those causing within-family differences.