
Shared genetics between cognitive functions and physical and mental health - gwern
http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/mp2015225a.html
======
reasonattlm
There was research in bees some years ago that also tested this hypothesis and
found evidence for a genetic link between robustness and intelligence:

[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/old-and-
wise/](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/old-and-wise/)

Also see this from last year:

[http://www.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2015/07/Link...](http://www.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2015/07/Link-
between-intelligence-and-longevity-is-mostly-genetic.aspx)

"They found that, within twin pairs, the brighter twin tends to live longer
than the less bright twin and this was much more pronounced in fraternal (non
identical) twins than in identical twins."

The intriguing question here is the identity of the dominant mechanism behind
the web of associations in human demographic data that link education,
intelligence, social status, wealth, and life expectancy. The safe assumption
has long been that better lifestyle choices and better use of (and access to)
medical services were the driving force here, with smarter people doing better
in both of those. Exercise and calorie intake have large effects in comparison
to other factors that can be pinned down. It is generally thought that
genetics plays little role in mortality until very late life; if it turns out
an intelligence-robustness link is meaningful in comparison to exercise and
calorie intake, that'll be a turnaround for the consensus. Though extracting
compelling evidence from the statistics will be a real feat of arms.

~~~
thaumasiotes
> It is generally thought that genetics plays little role in mortality until
> very late life

I don't understand this at all. Risky behavior is largely driven by being
male, a genetic effect. Within males, it is _still_ largely driven by
genetics. Terminal diseases that strike young people are also often genetic
problems. How could it be generally thought that genetics plays little role in
early-life mortality? What are all the early deaths that are viewed as not
implicating genetics?

~~~
thaumasiotes
So, I found US death data by age and sex for 2007 (
[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/mortfinal2007_worktable310....](http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/mortfinal2007_worktable310.pdf)
)

Here are male deaths, expressed as a percentage of female deaths, for every
year of age from 0 to 30:

    
    
         0  127%
         1  119%
         2  130%
         3  131%
         4  142%
         5  138%
         6  123%
         7  129%
         8  122%
         9  125%
        10  126%
        11  152%
        12  143%
        13  145%
        14  178%
        15  193%
        16  199%
        17  248%
        18  278%
        19  313%
        20  317%
        21  317%
        22  342%
        23  310%
        24  314%
        25  291%
        26  261%
        27  269%
        28  250%
        29  231%
        30  237%
    

Odds are good (I haven't checked) that the male population in this age range
is larger than the female population. But it's going to be larger by less than
10%, which is completely neglible in the face of the factor-of-2-or-3
differences in deaths.

This isn't "little role in early-life mortality", it's a gargantuan genetic
effect you'd have to devote quite a lot of effort to ignoring. (And if you
meant something different by "early life", male deaths stay in the range of
150-200% of female deaths right up until the early 60s. Female deaths finally
exceed male deaths once people hit 80 years old.)

~~~
ekianjo
> Female deaths finally exceed male deaths once people hit 80 years old

Absolute numbers-wise, simply because you are running out of males.

------
marincounty
What's with the Block? Seriously, a few br's, or spaces?

I don't expect an English paper, but more people would read these if a little
bit more inviting. Or, maybe you don't want anyone to read the research? Or,
this is the agreement upon format? If that's the case--sorry.

