Genetic Insights into Brain Morphology: a Genome-Wide Association Study of Cortical Thickness and T₁-Weighted MRI Gray Matter-White Matter Intensity Contrast.

ABSTRACT: In T₁-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cortical thickness (CT) and gray-white matter contrast (GWC) capture brain morphological traits and vary with age-related disease. To gain insight into genetic factors underlying brain structure and dynamics observed during neurodegeneration, this genome-wide association study (GWAS) quantifies the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and both CT and GWC in UK Biobank participants (N = 43,002). To our knowledge, this is the first GWAS to investigate the genetic determinants of cortical T₁-MRI GWC in humans. We found 251 SNPs associated with CT or GWC for at least 1% of cortical locations, including 42 for both CT and GWC; 127 for only CT; and 82 for only GWC. Identified SNPs include rs1080066 (THS

SUBMITTER: Kim NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11961481 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature