Shared genetic etiology between childhood cognitive function and longevity

Cognitive function and longevity are phenotypically and genetically correlated. Whereas molecular genetic data have been used to show that adult cognitive function is genetically correlated with longevity, no such analysis has examined the association between childhood cognitive function and longevity. Using genome-wide association study data on childhood cognitive function (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 cognitive function and parental longevity. These results add to the weight of evidence that the phenotypic link between childhood cognitive function and longevity is partly accounted for by shared genetic etiology.