Time Spent Outdoors Partly Accounts for the Effect of Education on Myopia.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate if education contributes to the risk of myopia because educational activities typically occur indoors or because of other factors, such as prolonged near viewing.

Methods: This was a two-sample Mendelian randomization study. Participants were from the UK Biobank, Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, and Generation R.

Changes in Refractive Error During Young Adulthood: The Effects of Longitudinal Screen Time, Ocular Sun Exposure, and Genetic Predisposition.

Purpose: Changes in refractive error during young adulthood is common yet risk factors at this age are largely unexplored. This study explored risk factors for these changes, including gene-environmental interactions.

Methods: Spherical equivalent refraction (SER) and axial length (AL) for 624 community-based adults were measured at 20 (baseline) and 28 years old.

A new polygenic score for refractive error improves detection of children at risk of high myopia but not the prediction of those at risk of myopic macular degeneration.

Background: High myopia (HM), defined as a spherical equivalent refractive error (SER) ≤ -6.00 diopters (D), is a leading cause of sight impairment, through myopic macular degeneration (MMD). We aimed to derive an improved polygenic score (PGS) for predicting children at risk of HM and to test if a PGS is predictive of MMD after accounting for SER.

Education interacts with genetic variants near GJD2, RBFOX1, LAMA2, KCNQ5 and LRRC4C to confer susceptibility to myopia.

Myopia most often develops during school age, with the highest incidence in countries with intensive education systems. Interactions between genetic variants and educational exposure are hypothesized to confer susceptibility to myopia, but few such interactions have been identified. Here, we aimed to identify genetic variants that interact with education level to confer susceptibility to myopia.

Tonic and phasic effects of reward on the pupil: implications for locus coeruleus function.

The locus coeruleus (LC), a nucleus in the pons of the brainstem, plays a significant role in attention and cognitive control. Here, we use an adapted auditory oddball paradigm and measured the pupil dilation response, to provide a marker of LC activity in humans. In Experiment 1, we show event-related pupil responses to rare auditory events which were further elevated by task relevant.

Assessing the contribution of genetic nurture to refractive error.

Parents pass on both their genes and environment to offspring, prompting debate about the relative importance of nature versus nurture in the inheritance of complex traits. Advances in molecular genetics now make it possible to quantify an individual's genetic predisposition to a trait via his or her 'polygenic score'. However, part of the risk captured by an individual's polygenic score may actually be attributed to the genotype of their parents.

Unexpected Associations between the Number of FRAXE Repeats in Boys and Evidence of Diabetes in Their Mothers and Maternal Grandmothers.

The FRAXE section of the FMR2 gene, located on the X chromosome, contains varying numbers of trinucleotide repeats; boys with over 200 repeats tend to have mild cognitive impairments, though this is rare. Little is known, however, concerning the phenotypes of individuals with smaller numbers of repeats. Here we answer the research question as to whether the health of ancestors of boys from whom the relevant X chromosome was inherited differed in any way according to the number of FRAXE repeats.

Genetic Variants Associated With Human Eye Size Are Distinct From Those Conferring Susceptibility to Myopia.

Purpose: Emmetropization requires coordinated scaling of the major ocular components, corneal curvature and axial length. This coordination is achieved in part through a shared set of genetic variants that regulate eye size. Poorly coordinated scaling of corneal curvature and axial length results in refractive error.

Maternal prenatal vitamin B12 intake is associated with speech development and mathematical abilities in childhood.

Deficiencies of many nutrients in pregnancy have adverse effects on fetal brain development with consequent impaired cognitive function in childhood. However, it is unclear whether deficiencies of vitamin B12 prenatally are harmful to the developing fetus. We therefore used the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to test the hypothesis that cognitive outcomes in childhood are reduced if their mothers consumed a diet low in vitamin B12 during pregnancy.

The FRAXA and FRAXE allele repeat size of boys from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

The FRAXA and FRAXE alleles of the FMR1 and FMR2 genes located on the X chromosome contain varying numbers of trinucleotide repeats. Large numbers of repeats at FRAXA (full mutations) manifest as Fragile X syndrome, associated with mental impairment that affects males more severely. In this paper, we present the dataset of frequencies of FRAXA and FRAXE repeat size extracted from DNA samples collected from boys enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

Associations between paracetamol (acetaminophen) intake between 18 and 32 weeks gestation and neurocognitive outcomes in the child: A longitudinal cohort study.

Background: The majority of epidemiological studies concerning possible adverse effects of paracetamol (acetaminophen) in pregnancy have been focussed on childhood asthma. Initial results of a robust association have been confirmed in several studies. Recently, a few cohort studies have looked at particular neurocognitive outcomes, and several have implicated hyperactivity.