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Structural Brain Imaging Studies Offer Clues about the Effects of the Shared Genetic Etiology among Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Radonjić, Nevena V.; Hess, Jonathan L.; Rovira, Paula; Andreassen, Ole; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Ching, Christopher R. K.; Franke, Barbara; Hoogman, Martine; Jahanshad, Neda; McDonald, Carrie; Schmaal, Lianne; Sisodiya, Sanjay M.; Stein, Dan J.; van den Heuvel, Odile A.; van Erp, Theo G.M.; van Rooij, Daan; Veltman, Dick J.; Thompson, Paul; Faraone, Stephen V.
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2019-10-17
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Abstract
Genomewide association studies have found significant genetic correlations among many neuropsychiatric disorders. In
contrast, we know much less about the degree to which structural brain alterations are similar among disorders and, if so, the
degree to which such similarities have a genetic etiology. From the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-
Analysis (ENIGMA) consortium, we acquired standardized mean differences (SMDs) in regional brain volume and cortical
thickness between cases and controls. We had data on 41 brain regions for: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
autism spectrum disorder (ASD), bipolar disorder (BD), epilepsy, major depressive disorder (MDD), obsessive compulsive
disorder (OCD), and schizophrenia (SCZ). These data had been derived from 24,360 patients and 37,425 controls. The
SMDs were significantly correlated between SCZ and BD, OCD, MDD, and ASD. MDD was positively correlated with BD
and OCD. BD was positively correlated with OCD and negatively correlated with ADHD. These pairwise correlations
among disorders were correlated with the corresponding pairwise correlations among disorders derived from genomewide
association studies (r = 0.494). Our results show substantial similarities in sMRI phenotypes among neuropsychiatric
disorders and suggest that these similarities are accounted for, in part, by corresponding similarities in common genetic
variant architectures.
