article published yes Daniel L. McCartney author Robert F. Hillary author Eleanor L.S. Conole author Daniel Trejo Banos author Danni A. Gadd author Rosie M. Walker author Cliff Nangle author Robin Flaig author Archie Campbell author Alison D. Murray author Susana Muñoz Maniega author María Del C. Valdés-Hernández author Mathew A. Harris author Mark E. Bastin author Joanna M. Wardlaw author Sarah E. Harris author David J. Porteous author Elliot M. Tucker-Drob author Andrew M. McIntosh author Kathryn L. Evans author Ian J. Deary author Simon R. Cox author Matthew Richard Robinson author E5D42276-F5DA-11E9-8E24-6303E66974250000-0001-8982-8813 Riccardo E. Marioni author MaRo department Improving estimation and prediction of common complex disease risk project Background: Blood-based markers of cognitive functioning might provide an accessible way to track neurodegeneration years prior to clinical manifestation of cognitive impairment and dementia. Results: Using blood-based epigenome-wide analyses of general cognitive function, we show that individual differences in DNA methylation (DNAm) explain 35.0% of the variance in general cognitive function (g). A DNAm predictor explains ~4% of the variance, independently of a polygenic score, in two external cohorts. It also associates with circulating levels of neurology- and inflammation-related proteins, global brain imaging metrics, and regional cortical volumes. Conclusions: As sample sizes increase, the ability to assess cognitive function from DNAm data may be informative in settings where cognitive testing is unreliable or unavailable. https://research-explorer.ista.ac.at/download/10702/10708/2022_GenomeBio_McCartney.pdf application/pdfno Springer Nature2022 eng 1474-7596 1474-760X 35039062 00074435830000210.1186/s13059-021-02596-5 231 https://research-explorer.ista.ac.at/record/13072 https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.24.21257698 D. L. McCartney <i>et al.</i>, “Blood-based epigenome-wide analyses of cognitive abilities,” <i>Genome Biology</i>, vol. 23, no. 1. Springer Nature, 2022. D.L. McCartney, R.F. Hillary, E.L.S. Conole, D.T. Banos, D.A. Gadd, R.M. Walker, C. Nangle, R. Flaig, A. Campbell, A.D. Murray, S.M. Maniega, M.D.C. Valdés-Hernández, M.A. Harris, M.E. Bastin, J.M. Wardlaw, S.E. Harris, D.J. Porteous, E.M. Tucker-Drob, A.M. McIntosh, K.L. Evans, I.J. Deary, S.R. Cox, M.R. Robinson, R.E. Marioni, Genome Biology 23 (2022). McCartney DL, Hillary RF, Conole ELS, Banos DT, Gadd DA, Walker RM, Nangle C, Flaig R, Campbell A, Murray AD, Maniega SM, Valdés-Hernández MDC, Harris MA, Bastin ME, Wardlaw JM, Harris SE, Porteous DJ, Tucker-Drob EM, McIntosh AM, Evans KL, Deary IJ, Cox SR, Robinson MR, Marioni RE. 2022. Blood-based epigenome-wide analyses of cognitive abilities. Genome Biology. 23(1), 26. McCartney DL, Hillary RF, Conole ELS, et al. Blood-based epigenome-wide analyses of cognitive abilities. <i>Genome Biology</i>. 2022;23(1). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-021-02596-5">10.1186/s13059-021-02596-5</a> McCartney, Daniel L., Robert F. Hillary, Eleanor L.S. Conole, Daniel Trejo Banos, Danni A. Gadd, Rosie M. Walker, Cliff Nangle, et al. “Blood-Based Epigenome-Wide Analyses of Cognitive Abilities.” <i>Genome Biology</i>. Springer Nature, 2022. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-021-02596-5">https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-021-02596-5</a>. McCartney, D. L., Hillary, R. F., Conole, E. L. S., Banos, D. T., Gadd, D. A., Walker, R. M., … Marioni, R. E. (2022). Blood-based epigenome-wide analyses of cognitive abilities. <i>Genome Biology</i>. Springer Nature. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-021-02596-5">https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-021-02596-5</a> McCartney, Daniel L., et al. “Blood-Based Epigenome-Wide Analyses of Cognitive Abilities.” <i>Genome Biology</i>, vol. 23, no. 1, 26, Springer Nature, 2022, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-021-02596-5">10.1186/s13059-021-02596-5</a>. 107022022-01-30T23:01:33Z2025-06-11T13:54:53Z