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Fraenz, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Fraenz, C..

2 recordsLinked to original sources
bioRxiv2020

Polygenic Scores for Cognitive Abilities and their Association with Different Aspects of General Intelligence - a Deep Phenotyping Approach

Intelligence is a highly polygenic trait and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified thousands of DNA variants contributing with small effects. Polygenic scores (PGS) can aggregate those effects for trait prediction in independent samples. As large-scale light-phenotyping GWAS operationalized intelligence as performance in rather superficial tests, the question arises which intelligence facets are actually captured. We used deep-phenotyping to investigate the molecular determinants of individual differences in cognitive ability. We therefore studied the association between PGS of intelligence (IQ-PGS), cognitive performance (CP-PGS) and educational attainment (EA-PGS) with a wide range of intelligence facets in a sample of 557 healthy adults. IQ-PGS, CP-PGS and EA-PGS had the highest incremental R2s for general (2.71%; 4.27%; 2.06%), verbal (3.30%; 4.64%; 1.61%) and numerical intelligence (3.06%; 3.24%; 1.26%) and the weakest for non-verbal intelligence (0.89%; 1.47%; 0.70%) and memory (0.80%; 1.06%; 0.67%). These results indicate that PGS derived from light-phenotyping GWAS do not reflect different facets of intelligence equally well, and thus should not be interpreted as genetic indicators of intelligence per se. The findings refine our understanding of how PGS are related to other traits or life outcomes.

genetics↗
bioRxiv2020

Fear learning sculpts functional brain connectivity at rest beyond the traditional fear network in humans

Neuroscientific research has identified specific brain networks involved in the acquisition of fear memories. Using fMRI to assess changes in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) induced by fear acquisition, single brain regions from these networks have also been linked to fear memory consolidation. However, previous studies only examined RSFC changes within restricted sets of brain regions or without a proper control group, leaving our knowledge about fear consolidation outside of traditional fear networks incomplete. Here, we tested a group of 84 healthy participants in a differential fear conditioning paradigm and quantified RSFC changes between 358 cortical and 16 subcortical brain areas. Subsequent to fear learning, 21 functional connections exhibited significant RSFC changes. Importantly, these connections were not restricted to the traditional fear networks but also comprised various frontal and visual areas. Our findings indicate that fear memory consolidation is a complex process that integrates relevant information across the entire brain.

neuroscience↗