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

ABSTRACT: 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 (ρ_genetic = 0.748), which indicates a similar genetic background and allowed us to identify four additional loci through meta-analysis (N_combined = 37,345). Variants for intracranial volume were als

SUBMITTER: Adams HH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5227112 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature