Shared genetic aetiology between childhood intelligence and longevity

Abstract Background Intelligence and longevity are phenotypically and genetically correlated. Whereas molecular genetic data has been used to show that adult intelligence is genetically correlated with longevity, no such analysis has examined the association between childhood intelligence and longevity. Method and Results Using genome wide association study data on childhood intelligence (n = 12,441) and on parental longevity (n = 389,166) we found a positive genetic correlation of r g = 0.35 (SE = 0.14, P = 0.01) between childhood intelligence and parental longevity. Conclusion These results add to the weight of evidence that the phenotypic link between childhood intelligence and longevity is, partly, accounted for by shared genetic aetiology.