Abstract
Individual variability in word generation is a product of genetic and environmental influences. The genetic effects on semantic verbal fluency were estimated in 1,735 participants from the Brazilian Baependi Heart Study. The numbers of exemplars produced in 60 s were broken down into time quartiles because of the involvement of different cognitive processes—predominantly automatic at the beginning, controlled/executive at the end. Heritability in the unadjusted model for the 60-s measure was 0.32. The best-fit model contained age, sex, years of schooling, and time of day as covariates, giving a heritability of 0.21. Schooling had the highest moderating effect. The highest heritability (0.17) was observed in the first quartile, decreasing to 0.09, 0.12, and 0.0003 in the following ones. Heritability for average production starting point (intercept) was 0.18, indicating genetic influences for automatic cognitive processes. Production decay (slope), indicative of controlled processes, was not significant. The genetic influence on different quartiles of the semantic verbal fluency test could potentially be exploited in clinical practice and genome-wide association studies.
Highlights
The historical roots of the semantic verbal fluency (SVF) task lie in tests requiring the production of words from a certain semantic category [1]
We aimed to explore the variation in the proportion of genetic, demographic and environmental factors involved in performance in the SVF task over 60 s and in four-time quartiles of 15 s [0-15s (T1), 16-30s (T2), 31-45s (T3), 46-60s (T4)] [34]
Heritability of semantic verbal fluency task using time-interval analysis this study, unadjusted heritability estimates for 60-s score increased with the addition of sex and age, and decreased when years of schooling was considered as a covariate
Summary
The historical roots of the semantic verbal fluency (SVF) task lie in tests requiring the production of words from a certain semantic category [1]. This task involves long-term memory retrieval according to the meaning of words, or semantic memories [2]. The most common category used in SVF tests is “animals”, a semantic category with minimal differences across countries, generations, and feasible across different education levels [3]. Previous SVF studies have demonstrated that demographic characteristics such as sex [4], age [5], time of day [6], and education [7, 8] can influence performance. The task is broadly used in clinical and non-clinical research [9], mainly because its sensitivity to several neurobiological
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
