Phenotypic and genetic evidence for a unifactorial structure of spatial abilities

作者：Rimfeld Kaili^*; Shakeshaft Nicholas G; Malanchini Margherita; Rodic Maja; Selzam Saskia; Schofield Kerry; Dale Philip S; Kovas Yulia; Plomin Robert

来源：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017, 114(10): 2777-2782.

DOI：10.1073/pnas.1607883114

• spatial ability
• intelligence
• behavioral genetics
• twin studies
• mental rotation

Spatial abilities encompass several skills differentiable from general cognitive ability (g). Importantly, spatial abilities have been shown to be significant predictors of many life outcomes, even after controlling for g. To date, no studies have analyzed the genetic architecture of diverse spatial abilities using a multivariate approach. We developed "gamified" measures of diverse putative spatial abilities. The battery of 10 tests was administered online to 1,367 twin pairs (age 19-21) from the UK-representative Twins Early Development Study (TEDS). We show that spatial abilities constitute a single factor, both phenotypically and genetically, even after controlling for g. This spatial ability factor is highly heritable (69%). We draw three conclusions: (i) The high heritability of spatial abilitymakes it a good target for gene-hunting research; (ii) some genes will be specific to spatial ability, independent of g; and (iii) these genes will be associated with all components of spatial ability.

• 出版日期2017-3-7