title: A method for integrating neuroimaging into genetic models of learning performance.
abstract: Specific learning disorders (SLD) are an archetypal example of how clinical neuropsychological (NP) traits can differ from underlying genetic and neurobiological risk factors. Disparate environmental influences and pathologies impact learning performance assessed through cognitive examinations and clinical evaluations, the primary diagnostic tools for SLD. We propose a neurobiological risk for SLD with neuroimaging biomarkers, which is integrated into a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of learning performance in a cohort of 479 European individuals between 8 and 21 years of age. We first identified six regions of interest (ROIs) in temporal and anterior cingulate regions where the group diagnosed with learning disability has the least overall variation, relative to the other group, in thickness, area, and volume measurements. Although we used the three imaging measures, the thickness was the leading contributor. Hence, we calculated the Euclidean distances between any two individuals based on their thickness measures in the six ROIs. Then, we defined the relative similarity of one individual according to the averaged ranking of pairwise distances from the individuals to those in the SLD group. The inverse of this relative similarity is called the neurobiological risk for the individual. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the AGBL1 gene on chromosome 15 had a significant association with learning performance at a genome-wide level. This finding was supported in an independent cohort of 2,327 individuals of the same demographic profile. Our statistical approach for integrating genetic and neuroimaging biomarkers can be extended into studying the biological basis of other NP traits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Chintan M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Gruen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Heping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D002884:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15 / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008957:Models, Genetic; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods*; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: biological sciences; diseases; genetics; health sciences; neurodevelopmental disorders; neurological disorders