Skip to main content

Gene Study Reveals Brain's Complex Organization

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.

By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Aug. 18, 2023 -- The brain is a complex organ, and a new study — believed to be the largest ever on the brain’s genetics — identifies more than 4,000 genetic variants linked to brain structure.

The research, involving some 36,000 brain scans, was led by a team at the University of Cambridge in England.

Brains are quite varied in terms of overall volume, how the brain is folded and how thick the folds are, according to the researchers.

The new work shows that how the brain develops is partly genetic, said study co-author Dr. Varun Warrier, who is with the university's Autism Research Center.

“Our findings can be used to understand how changes in the shape and size of the brain can lead to neurological and psychiatric conditions, potentially leading to better treatment and support for those who need it,” Warrier said in a university news release.

For the study, researchers accessed MRI scans from more than 32,000 adults from the UK Biobank cohort and over 4,000 children from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study in the United States.

The investigators measured multiple properties of the outermost layer of the brain, called the cortex. This included measuring the area and volume of the cortex and how it is folded.

“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,” Warrier said.

The researchers then linked these properties — measuring across the entire cortex and in 180 individual regions of the cortex — to genetic information across the genome.

The findings have allowed researchers to both confirm and to identify how different properties of the brain are genetically linked to each other.

The team also checked whether the same genes that are linked to variation in brain size in the general population might overlap with genes linked to certain clinical conditions, such as where head sizes are much larger or smaller than the general population. These are known as cephalic conditions.

“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,” said Richard Bethlehem, director of neuroimaging at the Autism Research Center.

The study findings were published Aug. 17 in Nature Genetics.

Sources

  • University of Cambridge, news release, Aug. 17, 2023

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted August 2023

Read this next

For Pregnant Women, Fluoridated Drinking Water Might Raise Risks for Baby: Study

TUESDAY, May 21, 2024 -- Fetal exposure to fluoride from a mom-to-be's drinking water might raise the odds for physical and mental health issues in toddlers, new research...

Helping Your Child Make Friends With a Child With Autism

WEDNESDAY, May 8, 2024 -- Kids are very likely to make the acquaintance of a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at some point, whether they know it or not. An...

Opioids During Pregnancy May Not Raise Psychiatric Risks for Offspring

THURSDAY, April 24, 2024 -- Prescription opioids taken during pregnancy are not associated with a substantial increase in risk of developmental disorders like ADHD in children, a...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.