AI Article Synopsis

  • * A study of 2,479 individuals indicated that T allele carriers had a significantly higher presence among chess players and PhD holders in STEM fields compared to controls, suggesting a genetic association with cognitive performance in these domains.
  • * Notably, all international chess grandmasters in the study did not carry the CC genotype, indicating a strong correlation between carrying the T allele and high-level achievement in chess and science.

Article Abstract

The kidney and brain expressed protein (KIBRA) plays an important role in synaptic plasticity. Carriers of the T allele of the () gene rs17070145 C/T polymorphism have been reported to have enhanced spatial ability and to outperform individuals with the CC genotype in working memory tasks. Since ability in chess and science is directly related to spatial ability and working memory, we hypothesized that the T allele would be positively associated with chess player status and PhD status in science. We tested this hypothesis in a study involving 2479 individuals (194 chess players, 119 PhD degree holders in STEM fields, and 2166 controls; 1417 males and 1062 females) from three ethnicities (236 Kazakhs, 1583 Russians, 660 Tatars). We found that frequencies of the T allele were significantly higher in Kazakh (66.9 vs. 55.1%; = 0.024), Russian (44.8 vs. 32.0%; = 0.0027), and Tatar (51.5 vs. 41.8%; = 0.035) chess players compared with ethnically matched controls (meta-analysis for CT/TT vs. CC: OR = 2.05, = 0.0001). In addition, none of the international chess grandmasters (ranked among the 80 best chess players in the world) were carriers of the CC genotype (0 vs. 46.3%; OR = 16.4, = 0.005). Furthermore, Russian and Tatar PhD holders had a significantly higher frequency of CT/TT genotypes compared with controls (meta-analysis: OR = 1.71, = 0.009). Overall, this is the first study to provide comprehensive evidence that the rs17070145 C/T polymorphism of the gene may be associated with ability in chess and science, with the T allele exerting a beneficial effect.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9859436PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes14010204DOI Listing

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