Abstract
Genetic and environmental sources of covariation among the P3(00) and online performance elicited in a delayed-response working memory task, and psychometric IQ assessed by the multidimensional aptitude battery, were examined in an adolescent twin sample. An association between frontal P3 latency and task performance (phenotypic r = -0.33; genotypic r = -0.49) was indicated, with genes (i.e. twin status) accounting for a large part of the covariation ( > 70%). In contrast, genes influencing P3 amplitude mediated only a small part (2%) of the total genetic variation in task performance. While task performance mediated 15% of the total genetic variation in IQ (phenotypic r = 0.22; genotypic r = 0.39) there was no association between P3 latency and IQ or P3 amplitude with IQ. The findings provide some insight into the inter-relationships among psychophysiological, performance and psychometric measures of cognitive ability, and provide support for a levels-of-processing genetic model of cognition where genes act on specific sub-components of cognitive processes. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 183-202 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Biological Psychology |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2002 |
Keywords
- P3 (P300)
- working memory
- twin study
- event-related potentials
- IQ
- multivariate genetic analyses
- individual differences
- EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS
- INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES
- P300 LATENCY
- PREFRONTAL CORTEX
- DIZYGOTIC TWINS
- REACTION-TIME
- CAPACITY
- INTELLIGENCE
- TESTS
- SPAN