We wish to sequence the genes of ~7,000 ALSPAC children and parents for ~2,000 of them. We will use these data to identify rare genetic variants, combine these with existing data on common genetic variants, and then investigate the effects of these variants on the cognitive and behavioural development of ALSPAC children.

The rationale for this project comes from previous work which has shown that rare genetic variants in some genes affect children's risk of severe neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. intellectual disability, autism), but these variants are often inherited from parents who appear to have normal cognitive functioning. We have shown that, on average, these variants affect the normal spectrum of cognition in adults, as well as mental health traits and reproductive success. We suspect that the effect of these rare genetic variants might be modified by other more common variants in individuals’ genomes, which have also been shown to affect cognitive ability, as well as environmental factors. Furthermore, these effects may change across a person’s lifetime, and may be modified by the parents’ behaviour and genes.

We wish to use the rich longitudinal data on cognitive development, behaviour and educational achievement of ALSPAC children at different ages to investigate the joint impact of rare and common genetic variants on cognitive development, and whether these are modified by the parents’ behaviour. We will also look at genetic effects on mental health, as well as behavioural and personality traits relevant to reproductive success.