Psychogenetics and sport
Authors: Valeeva, E.V., Ahmetov, I.I. and Rees, T.
Pages: 147-165
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-816193-7.00007-5
Abstract:Sports psychogenetics is a novel field of scientific research that aims to use genetic methods to investigate the nature and origins of individual differences in cognitive abilities and personal traits of athletes. This chapter describes the heritability estimates of psychological traits (e.g., cognitive ability, memory, reaction time, temperament), their potential relationship with success in sport, as well as polymorphisms of genes expressed in the nervous system, which might be associated with athlete status and personality. Despite success in discovery of genetic variants associated with intelligence and personality in nonathletic cohorts (more than 7000 DNA polymorphisms have been identified in candidate-gene or genome-wide association studies, involving large sample sizes), there has been limited progress to date in the field of sports psychogenetics. To date, 16 psychogenetics-specific genetic markers have been reported to be associated with predisposition to specific sports (via case-control designs), and 12 markers have been linked with personality traits (via genotype-phenotype designs) in athletes. Future genetic research with large cohorts of athletes, with further validation and replication, will substantially contribute to the discovery of causal genetic variants (i.e., mutations and DNA polymorphisms) that may partly explain the heritability of athlete status and related psychological phenotypes.
Source: Scopus
Psychogenetics and sport
Authors: Valeeva, E., Ahmetov, I. and Rees, T.
Publisher: Elsevier
Source: Manual