Heritability estimates of intelligence in twins: effect of chorion type

Behav Genet. 2001 Mar;31(2):209-17. doi: 10.1023/a:1010257512183.

Abstract

This study investigates the basic assumption of homogeneity of monozygotic (MZ) twins: are there differences according to the timing of the zygotic splitting, early in dichorionic (DC) and later in monochorionic (MC) pairs? We assessed the IQ of 451 same-sexed twin pairs of known zygosity and chorion type with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). The variances of within-pair differences were compared for monochorionic (MC), dichorionic monozygotic (DC-MZ) and dizygotic same-sexed (DZ) twins and structural equation modeling was applied. High heritability estimates were found for almost all subscales and IQ-scores. A significant effect of chorion type was found: the MC twins resembled each other more than the DC-MZ twins on the subscales Arithmetic and Vocabulary. The effect accounts for respectively 14% and 10% of the total variance.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Twin Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Belgium
  • Chorion
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intelligence / genetics*
  • Male
  • Twins, Dizygotic / genetics*
  • Twins, Monozygotic / genetics*
  • Wechsler Scales