The largest genetic study of cognition to date has been published, involving nearly half a million people of European ancestry. This provides a new understanding of the genetic factors that shape cognitive differences and can help us better understand certain health conditions, including neurodevelopmental conditions.

Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Center and their collaborators built on previous studies by statistically estimating problem-solving test scores for UK Biobank participants who never completed the test.

This reduced the bias that comes from analyzing only the people who chose to take the test and increased the number of people included from around 270,000 to more than 455,000.