Education-associated SNPs are enriched for brain function and disorders

Educational attainment has important consequences for a range of economic, social, and health outcomes. Although it is known to be moderately heritable, few specific genetic variants have been credibly identified. Here we report a large genome-wide association study of educational attainment in 293,723 individuals. We identify 74 independent genome-wide-significant SNPs. The SNPs replicate well in an independent sample. On average, education-increasing alleles are associated with increased cognitive performance and intracranial volume, increased risk of bipolar disorder, decreased risk of Alzheimer’s, and lower neuroticism. Associated SNPs are enriched for genes and biological pathways known to be involved in many processes of neural development, including progenitor proliferation, neuronal migration, and the growth of axons and dendrites. The genes in our identified loci are preferentially expressed in neural tissue, especially during prenatal development, and tend to be found in genomic regions regulating gene expression in the fetal brain.