Abstract
Prepubertal testosterone levels are lower in intellectually gifted boys. The aim of this pilot study was to analyze potential genetic factors related to testosterone metabolism in control and gifted boys. Intellectually gifted (IQ>130; n = 95) and control (n = 67) boys were genotyped. Polymorphisms of interests were chosen in genes including androgen and estrogen receptors, 5-alpha reductase, aromatase and sex hormone binding globulin. Significant differences between control and gifted boys in genotype distributions were found for ESR2 (rs928554) and SHBG (rs1799941). A significantly lower number of CAG repeats in the AR gene were found in gifted boys. Our results support the role of genetic factors related to testosterone metabolism in intellectual giftedness. Increased androgen signaling might explain previous results of lower testosterone levels in intellectually gifted boys and add to the understanding of variability in cognitive abilities.
Highlights
General intelligence is a highly heritable trait
Significant differences in genotype distributions have been detected in ESR2 and Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) (r s179994; homozygotes are 3 times more common among gifted boys; x2 = 14,9; p,0,004)
The short tandem repeat in exon 1 of the androgen receptor gene widely studied in association with prostate cancer is slightly but significantly shorter in intellectually gifted boys
Summary
General intelligence is a highly heritable trait. Numerous epidemiological studies have shown that intelligence has a strong genetic influence that even increases with age [1,2]. The heritability is estimated to be between 60% and 80% [3]. A strong gene-environment interaction is suggested based on epidemiological data [4]. Despite intense effort to identify the underlying genetic factors, there is still no major breakthrough in sight. One of the possible reasons is that the heritability is due to a large number of genes with very small individual informative value
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