B3836 - Bidirectional effects of educational attainment/intelligence on brain morphology - 26/08/2021

B number: 
B3836
Principal applicant name: 
Emma Anderson | IEU
Co-applicants: 
Roxanna Korologou-Linden
Title of project: 
Bidirectional effects of educational attainment/intelligence on brain morphology
Proposal summary: 

We aim to examine how educational attainment and intelligence (predicted by genetics) affect brain morphology (cortical surface area, thickness and volumes of subcortical structures) in individuals across the life course. We are aiming to examine how early we can observe the effects of educational attainment and cognitive ability on brain morphology by using cohorts of different ages, such as ABCD, Generation R, ALSPAC, IMAGEN, and UK Biobank. This can indicate whether brain plasticity exists in response to changing educational attainment/intelligence levels. We will also investigate how differences in brain morphology can affect one's educational attainment and/or intelligence, using summary-level data from the ENIGMA consortium.

Impact of research: 
Date proposal received: 
Tuesday, 17 August, 2021
Date proposal approved: 
Thursday, 26 August, 2021
Keywords: 
Genetic epidemiology (including association studies and mendelian randomisation), Computer simulations/modelling/algorithms, Cognition - cognitive function