Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Yuquan Campus, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
Nat Commun. 2024 Sep 6;15(1):7786. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52222-8.
Since the birth of cognitive science, researchers have used reaction time and accuracy to measure cognitive ability. Although recognition of these two measures is often based on empirical observations, the underlying consensus is that most cognitive behaviors may be along two fundamental dimensions: cognitive processing speed (CPS) and cognitive processing accuracy (CPA). In this study, we used genomic-wide association studies (GWAS) data from 14 cognitive traits to show the presence of those two factors and revealed the specific neurobiological basis underlying them. We identified that CPS and CPA had distinct brain phenotypes (e.g. white matter microstructure), neurobiological bases (e.g. postsynaptic membrane), and developmental periods (i.e. late infancy). Moreover, those two factors showed differential associations with other health-related traits such as screen exposure and sleep status, and a significant causal relationship with psychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. Utilizing an independent cohort from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, we also uncovered the distinct contributions of those two factors on the cognitive development of young adolescents. These findings reveal two fundamental factors underlying various cognitive abilities, elucidate the distinct brain structural fingerprint and genetic architecture of CPS and CPA, and hint at the complex interrelationship between cognitive ability, lifestyle, and mental health.
自认知科学诞生以来，研究人员一直使用反应时间和准确率来衡量认知能力。尽管这两种衡量标准的认知通常基于经验观察，但基本共识是，大多数认知行为可能沿着两个基本维度展开：认知加工速度（CPS）和认知加工准确性（CPA）。在这项研究中，我们使用来自 14 种认知特征的全基因组关联研究（GWAS）数据，表明了这两种因素的存在，并揭示了它们背后的具体神经生物学基础。我们发现 CPS 和 CPA 具有不同的大脑表型（例如，白质微观结构）、神经生物学基础（例如，突触后膜）和发育阶段（即婴儿后期）。此外，这两个因素与其他与健康相关的特征（如屏幕暴露和睡眠状态）存在差异关联，并与精神障碍（如重度抑郁症和精神分裂症）存在显著的因果关系。利用来自青少年大脑认知发展（ABCD）研究的独立队列，我们还揭示了这两个因素对青少年认知发展的不同贡献。这些发现揭示了各种认知能力背后的两个基本因素，阐明了 CPS 和 CPA 的不同大脑结构特征和遗传结构，并暗示了认知能力、生活方式和心理健康之间的复杂相互关系。
