Study title

Human cognition is an important determinant of educational and occupational success, social mobility, health, and longevity though it is not clear whether higher cognitive ability leads to better health and longevity through improved lifestyle choices and life opportunities or whether there is a common biological basis to a well-functioning brain and body. Cognitive ability is influenced both by genetics and the environment and epigenetic states are relevant to both. A particular class of epigenetics (imprinting) is known to be important for neurogenesis, brain function and behaviour. Epigenetic imprints are generally established in early life, they are often stable over time, and they can persist in a wide range of cell types many divisions and decades later. These characteristics make imprints particularly amenable to study in longitudinal cohort designs where only blood samples may be available. This study investigates the link between epigenetic imprinting and measures of cognitive function at age 11 and in adulthood using data from a well-characterised cohort born in 1936 and recruited at 64 years of age. We studied the average methylation in selected regions of imprints (H19, IGF2, SNRPN, PEG3, MEST1, NESPAS, KvDMR, IG-DMR and ZAC1) by pyrosequencing in DNA extracted from blood samples. The data consist of average percent methylation in selected regions of imprints (H19, IGF2, SNRPN, PEG3, MEST1, NESPAS, KvDMR, IG-DMR and ZAC1) measured by pyrosequencing in DNA extracted from blood samples. Measures of cognitive function are; MATSCO (Childhood Moray House Test Score); NART (National Adult Reading Test Score); RAVN (Raven’s Progressive Matrices).There is much evidence that early life experiences (from fetal life through childhood) can influence adult outcomes. However, the pathways and mechanisms by which earlier experiences become embedded in an individual's life-course and how they influence health and behavioral outcomes are still not clear. Epigenetics...