title: Heritability and genetic correlation between the cerebral cortex and associated white matter connections.
abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the genetic influence on the cerebral cortex, based on the analyses of heritability and genetic correlation between grey matter (GM) thickness, derived from structural MR images (sMRI), and associated white matter (WM) connections obtained from diffusion MRI (dMRI). We measured on sMRI the cortical thickness (CT) from a large twin imaging cohort using a surface-based approach (N = 308, average age 22.8 ± 2.3 SD). An ACE model was employed to compute the heritability of CT. WM connections were estimated based on probabilistic tractography using fiber orientation distributions (FOD) from dMRI. We then fitted the ACE model to estimate the heritability of CT and FOD peak measures along WM fiber tracts. The WM fiber tracts where genetic influence was detected were mapped onto the cortical surface. Bivariate genetic modeling was performed to estimate the cross-trait genetic correlation between the CT and the FOD-based connectivity of the tracts associated with the cortical regions. We found some cortical regions displaying heritable and genetically correlated GM thickness and WM connectivity, forming networks under stronger genetic influence. Significant heritability and genetic correlations between the CT and WM connectivity were found in regions including the right postcentral gyrus, left posterior cingulate gyrus, right middle temporal gyri, suggesting common genetic factors influencing both GM and WM. Hum Brain Mapp 37:2331-2347, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, The Australian eHealth Research Centre, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Kai-Kai
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, The Australian eHealth Research Centre, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Doré
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, The Australian eHealth Research Centre, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, The Australian eHealth Research Centre, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Jurgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fripp
authors.affiliation: Centre for Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Katie L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health and Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Greig I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: de Zubicaray
authors.affiliation: Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Nicholas G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Imaging Genetics Center, Institute for Neuroimaging & Informatics, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, California.
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Centre for Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.|Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Margaret J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, The Australian eHealth Research Centre, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Salvado
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009929:Organ Size / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cerebral cortex; diffusion MRI; genetic correlation; grey matter; heritability; structural MRI; white matter