A recent study published in Intelligence explores the power of polygenic scores to predict intelligence, finding that these genetic estimates moderately correlate with IQ scores. The researchers analyzed data from 452,864 participants across nine independent studies and found that polygenic scores explained about 6% of the variation in intelligence.
The study used a meta-analytic approach to evaluate the predictive validity of polygenic scores for intelligence. The results showed that polygenic scores correlated at approximately 0.25 with IQ test results, indicating a moderate but consistent ability to predict individuals’ performance on standardized intelligence tests.
However, the researchers also uncovered significant variability in the predictive strength of polygenic scores across the included samples. This suggests that other unexamined factors, such as environmental influences or differences in specific genetic variants, may play a role.
The study found that verbal intelligence was more strongly predicted by polygenic scores compared to general or non-verbal intelligence. However, the polygenic scores were not able to differentiate strongly between other specific domains of intelligence.
Limitations of the study include its focus on individuals of European ancestry from WEIRD countries, which limits the generalizability of the results. The study also could not disentangle genetic influences from gene-environment interactions, where genetic predispositions and environmental factors influence each other.
Despite these limitations, the study adds to a growing body of research showing that polygenic scores can provide valuable information about the genetic underpinnings of intelligence. Future studies should address these limitations by incorporating within-family designs and including more diverse groups in genome-wide association studies.
Source: https://www.psypost.org/how-well-can-genetic-scores-predict-iq-heres-what-the-latest-research-reveals/