The genetics of cortical myelination in young adults and its relationships to cerebral surface area, cortical thickness, and intelligence: A magnetic resonance imaging study of twins and families.

ABSTRACT: The cerebral cortex contains a significant quantity of intracortical myelin, but the genetics of cortical myelination (CM) in humans is not well understood. Relatively novel MRI-derived measures now enable the investigation of cortical myelination in large samples. In this study, we use a genetically-informative neuroimaging sample of 1096 young adult subjects from the Human Connectome Project in order to investigate genetic and environmental variation in CM and its relationships with cerebral surface area (SA) and cortical thickness (CT). We found that genetic factors account for approximately 50% of the observed individual differences in mean cortical myelin, 75% of the variation in total SA, and 85% of the variance in global mean CT. Although significant genetic influences were found th

SUBMITTER: Schmitt JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7871660 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature