Genetic influences on individual differences in longitudinal changes in global and subcortical brain volumes: Results of the ENIGMA plasticity working group.

ABSTRACT: Structural brain changes that occur during development and ageing are related to mental health and general cognitive functioning. Individuals differ in the extent to which their brain volumes change over time, but whether these differences can be attributed to differences in their genotypes has not been widely studied. Here we estimate heritability (h² ) of changes in global and subcortical brain volumes in five longitudinal twin cohorts from across the world and in different stages of the lifespan (N = 861). Heritability estimates of brain changes were significant and ranged from 16% (caudate) to 42% (cerebellar gray matter) for all global and most subcortical volumes (with the exception of thalamus and pallidum). Heritability estimates of change rates were generally higher in

SUBMITTER: Brouwer RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5572837 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature