Mitochondrial DNA marker EST00083 is not associated with high vs. average IQ in a German sample

• Published in: Intelligence (Norwood) 1998-01, Vol.26 (4), p.377-382
• Main Authors: Moises, Hans W, Yang, Liu, Köhnke, Michael, Vetter, Peter, Neppert, Jürgen, Petrill, Stephen A, Plomin, Robert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adults; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition. Intelligence; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Foreign Countries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetics; Germany; Intellectual and cognitive abilities; Intelligence; Intelligence Quotient; Mitochondria; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology
• ISSN: 0160-2896; 1873-7935
• DOI: 10.1016/S0160-2896(99)00006-9

In a recent report in this journal (Plomin & Petrill, 1997), a mitochondrial DNA marker (EST00083) yielded significant associations with high vs. low IQ in two population-based samples of children in the U.S. The present study tested this allelic association for German adults with high vs. average IQ scores. The high IQ adults ( N=47) were members of Mensa, an organization whose membership criterion is an IQ score above 130. Their EST00083 allelic frequencies were compared to the allelic frequencies for a control group of adults ( N=77) whose IQ scores were less than 110 as estimated from short-term memory and speed-of information-processing tests. Although the differences between the two studies are considerable, the present results do not provide support for the hypothesis that EST00083 is associated with high IQ.