KIBRA Gene Variant Is Associated with Ability in Chess and Science

Ildus I. Ahmetov, Валеева Елена Валерьевна, Meruert B. Yerdenova, Gaukhar K. Datkhabayeva, Amal Bouzid, Poorna Manasa Bhamidimarri, Liliya M. Sharafetdinova, Emiliya S. Egorova, Ekaterina A. Semenova, Leysan J. Gabdrakhmanova

7 more authors

Rinat A. Yusupov, Andrey K. Larin, Nikolay A. Kulemin, Edward V. Generozov, Rifat Hamoudi, Almira Kustubayeva, Tim Rees

2023

Data confidence 70 medium

How this score is calculated

It is built from checkable properties of the record itself: whether the article has a DOI, how many independent sources confirmed its data, whether the required fields are filled in, and how recent the latest confirmation is. Disagreement between sources and a missing identifier lower it. A value of 80 or above means the record was published without further checking; 60 to 79 means it is published at reduced confidence, with a manual check advisable. A record verified by an editor by hand is never pushed below 90 by a recalculation. This scores our data about the article, not the article itself.

Abstract

The kidney and brain expressed protein (KIBRA) plays an important role in synaptic plasticity. Carriers of the T allele of the KIBRA (WWC1) gene rs17070145 C/T polymorphism have been reported to have enhanced spatial ability and to outperform individuals with the CC genotype in working memory tasks. Since ability in chess and science is directly related to spatial ability and working memory, we hypothesized that the KIBRA T allele would be positively associated with chess player status and PhD status in science. We tested this hypothesis in a study involving 2479 individuals (194 chess players, 119 PhD degree holders in STEM fields, and 2166 controls; 1417 males and 1062 females) from three ethnicities (236 Kazakhs, 1583 Russians, 660 Tatars). We found that frequencies of the T allele were significantly higher in Kazakh (66.9 vs. 55.1%; p = 0.024), Russian (44.8 vs. 32.0%; p = 0.0027), and Tatar (51.5 vs. 41.8%; p = 0.035) chess players compared with ethnically matched controls (meta-analysis for CT/TT vs. CC: OR = 2.05, p = 0.0001). In addition, none of the international chess grandmasters (ranked among the 80 best chess players in the world) were carriers of the CC genotype (0 vs. 46.3%; OR = 16.4, p = 0.005). Furthermore, Russian and Tatar PhD holders had a significantly higher frequency of CT/TT genotypes compared with controls (meta-analysis: OR = 1.71, p = 0.009). Overall, this is the first study to provide comprehensive evidence that the rs17070145 C/T polymorphism of the KIBRA gene may be associated with ability in chess and science, with the T allele exerting a beneficial effect.