Does a Child’s Math Skills Have a Genetic Basis?

Researchers Identified Genetic Variations Linked to Specific Math Abilities in Children

A recent study published in the journal Genes, Brain and Behavior has uncovered several genetic variations that could be linked with mathematical abilities in children.

The research involved conducting genome-wide association studies on 1,146 elementary school students from China, focusing on 11 categories of mathematical ability. The results revealed seven single nucleotide genetic variations in the genome that showed a strong correlation with mathematical and reasoning skills.

Additional analyses revealed significant associations of three mathematical ability categories with three genes. Variants in LINGO2 (leucine rich repeat and lg domain containing 2) were associated with subtraction ability, OAS1 (2’-5’-oligoadenylate synthetase 1) variants were associated with spatial conception ability, and HECTD1 (HECT domain E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1) variants were associated with division ability.

“Results of our research provide evidence that different mathematical abilities may have a different genetic basis. This study not only refined genome-wide association studies of mathematical ability but also added some population diversity to the literature by testing Chinese children,” said corresponding author Jingjing Zhao, Ph.D., a professor in the School of Psychology at Shaanxi Normal University, China.

Reference: “A genome-wide association study identified new variants associated with mathematical abilities in Chinese children” by Liming Zhang, Zhengjun Wang, Zijian Zhu, Qing Yang, Chen Cheng, Shunan Zhao, Chunyu Liu and Jingjing Zhao, 22 February 2023, Genes, Brain & Behavior.
DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12843

Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.
Follow us on Google and Google News.