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Interactive effects of in utero nutrition and genetic inheritance on cognition: New evidence using sibling comparisons

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  • Cook, C. Justin
  • Fletcher, Jason M.

Abstract

A large literature links early environments and later outcomes, such as cognition; however, little is known about the mechanisms. One potential mechanism is sensitivity to early environments that is moderated or amplified by the genotype. With this mechanism in mind, a complementary literature outside economics examines the interaction between genes and environments, but often problems of endogeneity and bias in estimation are uncorrected. A key issue in the literature is exploring environmental variation that is not exogenous, which is potentially problematic if there are gene–environment correlation or gene–gene interactions. Using sibling pairs with genetic data in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study we extend a previous, and widely cited, gene–environment study that explores an interaction between the FADS2 gene, which is associated with the processing of essential fatty acids related to cognitive development, and early life nutrition in explaining later-life IQ. Our base OLS findings suggest that individuals with specific FADS2 variants gain roughly 0.15 standard deviations in IQ for each standard deviation increase in birth weight, our measure of the early nutrition environment; while, individuals with other variants of FADS2 do not have a statistically significant association with early nutrition, implying the genotype is influencing the effects of environmental exposure. When including family-level fixed effects, however, the magnitude of the gene–environment interaction is reduced by half and statistical significance dissipates, implying the interaction between FADS2 and early nutrition in explaining later life IQ may in part be due to unobserved, family-level factors. The example has wider implications for the practice of investigating gene–environment interactions when the environmental exposure is not exogenous and robustness to unobserved variation in the genome is not controlled for in the analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Cook, C. Justin & Fletcher, Jason M., 2014. "Interactive effects of in utero nutrition and genetic inheritance on cognition: New evidence using sibling comparisons," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 144-154.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:13:y:2014:i:c:p:144-154
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2013.09.001
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    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Wen-Yi, 2016. "On the relationship between economic conditions around the time of birth and late life cognitive abilities: Evidence from Taiwan," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 126-139.
    2. Havari, Enkelejda & Peracchi, Franco, 2017. "Growing up in wartime: Evidence from the era of two world wars," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 9-32.
    3. Cook, C. Justin & Fletcher, Jason M., 2015. "Can education rescue genetic liability for cognitive decline?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 159-170.
    4. Chatterji, Pinka & Lahiri, Kajal & Kim, Dohyung, 2014. "Fetal growth and neurobehavioral outcomes in childhood," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 187-200.
    5. Dalton Conley & Ramina Sotoudeh & Thomas Laidley, 2019. "Birth Weight and Development: Bias or Heterogeneity by Polygenic Risk Factors?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(6), pages 811-839, December.
    6. Buckles, Kasey, 2017. "Maternal Socio-Economic Status and the Well-Being of the Next Generation(s)," IZA Discussion Papers 10714, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Amin, Vikesh & Dunn, Paul & Spector, Tim, 2018. "Does education attenuate the genetic risk of obesity? Evidence from U.K. Twins," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 200-208.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    IQ; Nutrition; Gene–environment interaction; Sibling fixed effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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