Genomic analysis of intracranial and subcortical brain volumes yields polygenic scores accounting for variation across ancestries.

ABSTRACT: Subcortical brain structures are involved in developmental, psychiatric and neurological disorders. We performed GWAS meta-analyses of intracranial and nine subcortical brain volumes (brainstem, caudate nucleus, putamen, hippocampus, globus pallidus, thalamus, nucleus accumbens, amygdala and, for the first time, the ventral diencephalon) in 74,898 participants of European ancestry. We identified 254 independent loci associated with these brain volumes, explaining up to 35% of phenotypic variance. We observed gene expression in specific neural cell types across differentiation time points, including genes involved in intracellular signalling and brain ageing-related processes. Polygenic scores for brain volumes showed predictive ability when applied to individuals of diverse ancestries. We

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Marin LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11451674 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature