Capacity of cognitive control's estimated heritability was 0.66, & shared & non-shared environmental influences were 0.18 and 0.16; CCC was significantly correlated to higher-level cognition

Accessing the development and heritability of the capacity of cognitive control. Yu Chen et al.
Neuropsychologia, January 24 2020, 107361, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107361

Highlights
• We examined the developmental course of the capacity of cognitive control (CCC) from early childhood to late adolescence and the heritability of the CCC.
• The CCC increases from the age of 6 years and reaches 95% capacity at 21 years with declined growth rate as a function of age.
• The CCC is highly heritable with an estimated heritability of 0.64.

Abstract
Cognitive control serves as a core construct, with limited capacity, to support executive functions and other higher-level mental processes such as intellectual activity. Although previous studies have investigated the development of executive functions during specific age periods, the development of the capacity of cognitive control (CCC) from early childhood to late adolescence and the heritability of the CCC have yet to be delineated. In this study, we estimated the CCC based on the performance of a perceptual decision-making task in monozygotic (n = 95) and dizygotic (n = 81) twin pairs with an age range from 6 to 18 years and in a reference young adult group (n = 41, mean age = 26.15 years). In addition, the intelligence quotient (IQ) of these participants was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scales. We found an increase in the CCC from 1.55 bits per second (bps) at age 6 years to its 95% capacity of 3.87 bps at age 21 years, with a reduced growth rate as a function of age. The estimated heritability of the CCC was 0.66, and shared and non-shared environmental influences on the CCC were 0.18 and 0.16, respectively. In addition, the CCC was significantly correlated to IQ. These findings indicate that the CCC is developed throughout the school years, is highly heritable, and is associated with higher-level cognition.

Keywords: Cognitive controlDevelopmentHeritabilityIntellectual abilityThe capacity of cognitive control