Role of educational attainment, cognitive performance and intelligence in neurodegeneration: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study

Abstract

I examined the potential bi-directional causality between educational attainment (EA) (n = 766,345) and age related macular degeneration (AMD) (cases (n) =16144, controls (n) =17832) using the summary GWAS datasets on individuals with European ancestry. I used datasets on other late-onset neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimers disease (AD) and Parkinsons disease (PD) as controls to validate the findings. A risky effect of EA on AMD was observed (OR=1.318, 95% CI=1.080 -1.610, P=0.0068) after ruling out potential pleiotropy and absence of reverse causality. I further replicated previously observed protective and risky causal associations of EA with AD and PD.