Novel genetic loci underlying human intracranial volume identified through genome-wide association.

Adams HH, Hibar DP, Chouraki V, Stein JL, Nyquist PA, Rentería ME, Trompet S, Arias-Vasquez A, Seshadri S, Desrivières S, Beecham AH, Jahanshad N, Wittfeld K, Van der Lee SJ, Abramovic L, Alhusaini S, Amin N, Andersson M, Arfanakis K, Aribisala BS, Armstrong NJ, Athanasiu L, Axelsson T, Beiser A, Bernard M, Bis JC, Blanken LM, Blanton SH, Bohlken MM, Boks MP, Bralten J, Brickman AM, Carmichael O, Chakravarty MM, Chauhan G, Chen Q, Ching CR, Cuellar-Partida G, Braber AD, Doan NT, Ehrlich S, Filippi I, Ge T, Giddaluru S, Goldman AL, Gottesman RF, Greven CU, Grimm O, Griswold ME, Guadalupe T, Hass J, Haukvik UK, Hilal S, Hofer E, Hoehn D, Holmes AJ, Hoogman M, Janowitz D, Jia T, Kasperaviciute D, Kim S, Klein M, Kraemer B, Lee PH, Liao J, Liewald DC, Lopez LM, Luciano M, Macare C, Marquand A, Matarin M, Mather KA, Mattheisen M, Mazoyer B, McKay DR, McWhirter R, Milaneschi Y, Mirza-Schreiber N, Muetzel RL, Maniega SM, Nho K, Nugent AC, Loohuis LM, Oosterlaan J, Papmeyer M, Pappa I, Pirpamer L, Pudas S, Pütz B, Rajan KB, Ramasamy A, Richards JS, Risacher SL, Roiz-Santiañez R, Rommelse N, Rose EJ, Royle NA, Rundek T, Sämann PG, Satizabal CL, Schmaal L, Schork AJ, Shen L, Shin J, Shumskaya E, Smith AV, Sprooten E, Strike LT, Teumer A, Thomson R, Tordesillas-Gutierrez D, Toro R, Trabzuni D, Vaidya D, Van der Grond J, Van der Meer D, Van Donkelaar MM, Van Eijk KR, Van Erp TG, Van Rooij D, Walton E, Westlye LT, Whelan CD, Windham BG, Winkler AM, Woldehawariat G, Wolf C, Wolfers T, Xu B, Yanek LR, Yang J, Zijdenbos A, Zwiers MP, Agartz I, Aggarwal NT, Almasy L, Ames D, Amouyel P, Andreassen OA, Arepalli S, Assareh AA, Barral S, Bastin ME, Becker DM, Becker JT, Bennett DA, Blangero J, van Bokhoven H, Boomsma DI, Brodaty H, Brouwer RM, Brunner HG, Buckner RL, Buitelaar JK, Bulayeva KB, Cahn W, Calhoun VD, Cannon DM, Cavalleri GL, Chen C, Cheng CY, Cichon S, Cookson MR, Corvin A, Crespo-Facorro B, Curran JE, Czisch M, Dale AM, Davies GE, De Geus EJ, De Jager PL, de Zubicaray GI, Delanty N, Depondt C, DeStefano AL, Dillman A, Djurovic S, Donohoe G, Drevets WC, Duggirala R, Dyer TD, Erk S, Espeseth T, Evans DA, Fedko IO, Fernández G, Ferrucci L, Fisher SE, Fleischman DA, Ford I, Foroud TM, Fox PT, Francks C, Fukunaga M, Gibbs JR, Glahn DC, Gollub RL, Göring HH, Grabe HJ, Green RC, Gruber O, Gudnason V, Guelfi S, Hansell NK, Hardy J, Hartman CA, Hashimoto R, Hegenscheid K, Heinz A, Le Hellard S, Hernandez DG, Heslenfeld DJ, Ho BC, Hoekstra PJ, Hoffmann W, Hofman A, Holsboer F, Homuth G, Hosten N, Hottenga JJ, Pol HE, Ikeda M, Ikram MK, Jack CR, Jenkinson M, Johnson R, Jönsson EG, Jukema JW, Kahn RS, Kanai R, Kloszewska I, Knopman DS, Kochunov P, Kwok JB, Lawrie SM, Lemaître H, Liu X, Longo DL, Longstreth WT, Lopez OL, Lovestone S, Martinez O, Martinot JL, Mattay VS, McDonald C, McIntosh AM, McMahon KL, McMahon FJ, Mecocci P, Melle I, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Mohnke S, Montgomery GW, Morris DW, Mosley TH, Mühleisen TW, Müller-Myhsok B, Nalls MA, Nauck M, Nichols TE, Niessen WJ, Nöthen MM, Nyberg L, Ohi K, Olvera RL, Ophoff RA, Pandolfo M, Paus T, Pausova Z, Penninx BW, Pike GB, Potkin SG, Psaty BM, Reppermund S, Rietschel M, Roffman JL, Romanczuk-Seiferth N, Rotter JI, Ryten M, Sacco RL, Sachdev PS, Saykin AJ, Schmidt R, Schofield PR, Sigurdsson S, Simmons A, Singleton A, Sisodiya SM, Smith C, Smoller JW, Soininen H, Srikanth V, Steen VM, Stott DJ, Sussmann JE, Thalamuthu A, Tiemeier H, Toga AW, Traynor BJ, Troncoso J, Turner JA, Tzourio C, Uitterlinden AG, Hernández MC, Van der Brug M, Van der Lugt A, Van der Wee NJ, Van Duijn CM, Van Haren NE, Van T Ent D, Van Tol MJ, Vardarajan BN, Veltman DJ, Vernooij MW, Völzke H, Walter H, Wardlaw JM, Wassink TH, Weale ME, Weinberger DR, Weiner MW, Wen W, Westman E, White T, Wong TY, Wright CB, Zielke HR, Zonderman AB, Deary IJ, DeCarli C, Schmidt H, Martin NG, De Craen AJ, Wright MJ, Launer LJ, Schumann G, Fornage M, Franke B, Debette S, Medland SE, Ikram MA, Thompson PM

Nat. Neurosci. 19 (12) 1569-1582 [2016-12-00; online 2016-11-01]

Intracranial volume reflects the maximally attained brain size during development, and remains stable with loss of tissue in late life. It is highly heritable, but the underlying genes remain largely undetermined. In a genome-wide association study of 32,438 adults, we discovered five previously unknown loci for intracranial volume and confirmed two known signals. Four of the loci were also associated with adult human stature, but these remained associated with intracranial volume after adjusting for height. We found a high genetic correlation with child head circumference (ρgenetic = 0.748), which indicates a similar genetic background and allowed us to identify four additional loci through meta-analysis (Ncombined = 37,345). Variants for intracranial volume were also related to childhood and adult cognitive function, and Parkinson's disease, and were enriched near genes involved in growth pathways, including PI3K-AKT signaling. These findings identify the biological underpinnings of intracranial volume and their link to physiological and pathological traits.

Bioinformatics Support for Computational Resources [Service]

NGI Uppsala (SNP&SEQ Technology Platform) [Collaborative]

National Genomics Infrastructure [Collaborative]

PubMed 27694991

DOI 10.1038/nn.4398

Crossref 10.1038/nn.4398

pii: nn.4398
pmc: PMC5227112
mid: NIHMS822505