Daniel听Gustavson

  • Assistant Professor
  • PSYCHOLOGY & NEUROSCIENCE
  • INSTITUTE FOR BEHAVIORAL GENETICS
Daniel Gustavson portrait
Address

Institute for Behavioral Genetics
麻豆影院
447 UCB
麻豆影院, CO 80309-0447

Research Interests:听

Our lab鈥檚 research spans multiple disciplines and seeks to understand links between cognitive abilities, everyday behaviors, mental health and substance use, and healthy aging. Active grant projects include examining links between musical instrument engagement and important outcomes related to substance use, mental health, and cognitive aging. We also explore lifespan changes in cognitive abilities (executive functioning, verbal fluency) and everyday self-regulation traits (impulsivity, procrastination). Methodological approaches include longitudinal and behavioral genetics approaches including twin/adoption studies, polygenic indices, and structural equation modelling.

Active Grants:

  • R01 DA063061 (Maes / Wilson / Madden / Friedman). 07/01/2025-03/31/2029. Vulnerability to Substance Use: Transitions and Trajectories in ABCD Youth with Validation Using Longitudinal Twin Family Samples. Role: Co-I
  • NIDA R01 DA059804 (Gustavson) 8/15/2024-5/31/2029. Establishing if Music Engagement is a Protective Factor in Adolescent Substance Use Using Existing Longitudinal, Genetic, and Environmental Datasets. Role: Principal Investigator
  • NIDA R21 AG087486 (Luczak) 9/23/2024 鈥 3/31/2026. Implications of midlife alcohol use for risk of dementia in male and female twins: Unique contributions and interactions with ApoeE4. Role: PI of Subaward to CU 麻豆影院
  • NIA R01 AG089666 (PI Reynolds), 08/01/2024 鈥 04/30/2029. Gene-environment interplay among modifiable factors for ADRD: risk and resilience across the lifespan. Role: Co-Investigator
  • NIDA R01 DA042755 (PI Ellingson / Rhee / Vrieze / Wilson), 07/01/24 鈥 04/30/29. The effects of cannabis legalization and persistent use: A longitudinal study of two twin cohorts Role: Co-Investigator

Additional Information:

Current CV

Gustavson Current Lab

Publications

Gustavson Highlighted Publications

We explored how cognitive measures in infancy (7-9 months) relate to measures of general cognitive ability across the first three decades of life. Over half the variance in year 29 cognitive ability was explained by shared environmental influences present by year 1 to 2 (10%), or genetic influences present by year 7 (49%). Results suggest that providing supportive environments in the first years of life could substantially impact future cognitive ability.

The study used both Genomic Structure Equation Modeling and a twin/adoptive sample to explore the association between internalizing factors based on diagnoses (e.g., major depressive disorder; generalized anxiety disorder) and those based on self-reported measures of associated traits (e.g., neuroticism, worry). Results from both methods indicated the two factors were highly, but not perfectly, genetically correlated (genetic correlation = .76 to .79). Our findings are consistent with current frameworks of psychopathology, though they suggest there are some unique genetic influences captured by internalizing diagnosis compared to trait measures.

(Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, 2024)

We used latent growth models to estimate changes in memory and executive function abilities across 3 assessments (mean age 56 to 68) in the VETSA sample. Alzheimer's disease polygenic scores predicted changes in both cognitive abilities, though associations with executive function were explained primarily by the APOE region.

(Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 2023)

We leveraged the twin/adoptive design of CATSLife to examine the heritability of executive function (EF) and its genetic overlap with intelligence in adults. Results suggest intelligence is more strongly genetically correlated with Upadating-specific abilities (rg = .69) than Common EF abilities (rg = .44). Dominance genetic influences may also mask the contribution of shared environmental influences on EF (but not intelligence) in adults.
听
(Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2022)
This study compared participant-rated and informant-rated measures of subjective cognitive decline to participants' actual cognitive changes in episodic memory and executive function across 10-12 years in midlife (mean age 56, 62, and 68). Participant-reported decline was only modestly associated with objective decline for memory (尾=鈥娾0.23) and executive function (尾=鈥娾0.19), with ratings more strongly associated with concurrent depression and anxiety symptoms (尾=鈥0.44). Results were similar for informant measures (though their ratings were less associated with participants' mood), suggesting that ratings of subjective cognitive decline capture only a small portion of variance in actual cognitive changes across middle age.
听
(Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2021)

Using genomic SEM, we evaluated the genetic factor structure of two impulsivity questionnaires and their associations with internalizing psychopathology and delay discounting based on GWAS summary statistics. A five-factor model of impulsivity best fit the data, with the two urgency subscales most strongly relating to internalizing psychopathology, and all five facets of impulsivity genetically distinct from delay discounting. Findings support impulsivity as a multi-faceted construct with differential relevance to mental health.

(Psychological Science, 2020)

This twin study examined the extent to which internalizing and externalizing factors (based on diagnostic interviews) in midlife (age 41) predicted similar factors (based on self-reported measures) 15 to 21 years later. Internalizing psychopathology at age 41 was correlated with latent factors capturing anxiety, depression, and/or post-traumatic stress symptoms at ages 56 (r = 0.51) and 62 (r = 0.43) while Externalizing psychopathology at age 41 was correlated r = 0.67 with a latent factor capturing aggression, tobacco use, and alcohol use at age 56. Stability of both factors was driven by genetic influences, demonstrating the considerable stability of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology symptoms across middle age.
听
(Psychological Medicine, 2019)
This twin study investigated the longitudinal stability of genetic and environmental influences on executive function across two waves of the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (mean age 56 and 62). Despite substantial mean-level performance decline in common executive function ability (based on 7 neuropsychological tests at each wave), phenotypic, genetic, and environmental correlations were nearly 1.0 for both common executive function and working memory-specific latent factors across the two waves. These results suggest that there is substantial decline in executive function abilities across middle age but that individual differences are almost perfectly stable.
听
(Psychology and Aging, 2018)