The largest ever study of the genetics of the brain -- encompassing some 36,000 brain scans -- has identified more than 4,000 genetic variants linked to brain structure.
Nature GeneticsOur brains are very complex organs, with huge variety between individuals in terms of the overall volume of the brain, how it is folded and how thick these folds are. Little is known about how our genetic make-up shapes the development of the brain.
They then linked these properties, measured both across the entire cortex as well as in 180 individual regions of the cortex, to genetic information across the genome. The team identified over 4,000 genetic variants linked to brain structure. Dr Varun Warrier from the Autism Research Centre, who co-led the study, said:"One question that has interested us for a while is if the same genes that are linked to how big the cortex is -- measured as both volume and area -- are also linked to how the cortex is folded. By measuring these different properties of the brain and linking them to genetics, we found that different sets of genes contribute to folding and size of the cortex.
Dr Richard Bethlehem, also from the Autism Research Centre and a co-lead of the study, said:"Many of the genes linked with differences in the brain sizes in the general population overlapped with genes implicated in cephalic conditions. However, we still do not know how exactly these genes lead to changes in brain size."
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