Heritability of Subcortical Grey Matter Structures

<i>Background and Objectives</i>: Subcortical grey matter structures play essential roles in cognitive, affective, social, and motoric functions in humans. Their volume changes with age, and decreased volumes have been linked with many neuropsychiatric disorders. The aim of our study was...

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Main Authors: David Strelnikov, Amirreza Alijanpourotaghsara, Marton Piroska, Laszlo Szalontai, Bianka Forgo, Zsofia Jokkel, Alíz Persely, Anita Hernyes, Lajos Rudolf Kozak, Adam Szabo, Pal Maurovich-Horvat, David Laszlo Tarnoki, Adam Domonkos Tarnoki
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-11-01
Series:Medicina
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/58/11/1687
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author David Strelnikov
Amirreza Alijanpourotaghsara
Marton Piroska
Laszlo Szalontai
Bianka Forgo
Zsofia Jokkel
Alíz Persely
Anita Hernyes
Lajos Rudolf Kozak
Adam Szabo
Pal Maurovich-Horvat
David Laszlo Tarnoki
Adam Domonkos Tarnoki
author_facet David Strelnikov
Amirreza Alijanpourotaghsara
Marton Piroska
Laszlo Szalontai
Bianka Forgo
Zsofia Jokkel
Alíz Persely
Anita Hernyes
Lajos Rudolf Kozak
Adam Szabo
Pal Maurovich-Horvat
David Laszlo Tarnoki
Adam Domonkos Tarnoki
author_sort David Strelnikov
collection DOAJ
description <i>Background and Objectives</i>: Subcortical grey matter structures play essential roles in cognitive, affective, social, and motoric functions in humans. Their volume changes with age, and decreased volumes have been linked with many neuropsychiatric disorders. The aim of our study was to examine the heritability of six subcortical brain volumes (the amygdala, caudate nucleus, pallidum, putamen, thalamus, and nucleus accumbens) and four general brain volumes (the total intra-cranial volume and the grey matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume) in twins. <i>Materials and Methods</i>: A total of 118 healthy adult twins from the Hungarian Twin Registry (86 monozygotic and 32 dizygotic; median age 50 ± 27 years) underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging. Two automated volumetry pipelines, Computational Anatomy Toolbox 12 (CAT12) and volBrain, were used to calculate the subcortical and general brain volumes from three-dimensional T1-weighted images. Age- and sex-adjusted monozygotic and dizygotic intra-pair correlations were calculated, and the univariate ACE model was applied. Pearson’s correlation test was used to compare the results obtained by the two pipelines. <i>Results</i>: The age- and sex-adjusted heritability estimates, using CAT12 for the amygdala, caudate nucleus, pallidum, putamen, and nucleus accumbens, were between 0.75 and 0.95. The thalamus volume was more strongly influenced by common environmental factors (C = 0.45−0.73). The heritability estimates, using volBrain, were between 0.69 and 0.92 for the nucleus accumbens, pallidum, putamen, right amygdala, and caudate nucleus. The left amygdala and thalamus were more strongly influenced by common environmental factors (C = 0.72−0.85). A strong correlation between CAT12 and volBrain (r = 0.74−0.94) was obtained for all volumes. <i>Conclusions</i>: The majority of examined subcortical volumes appeared to be strongly heritable. The thalamus was more strongly influenced by common environmental factors when investigated with both segmentation methods. Our results underline the importance of identifying the relevant genes responsible for variations in the subcortical structure volume and associated diseases.
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spelling doaj.art-7bb580d0873142af829f7ca4712dcd452023-11-24T09:12:00ZengMDPI AGMedicina1010-660X1648-91442022-11-015811168710.3390/medicina58111687Heritability of Subcortical Grey Matter StructuresDavid Strelnikov0Amirreza Alijanpourotaghsara1Marton Piroska2Laszlo Szalontai3Bianka Forgo4Zsofia Jokkel5Alíz Persely6Anita Hernyes7Lajos Rudolf Kozak8Adam Szabo9Pal Maurovich-Horvat10David Laszlo Tarnoki11Adam Domonkos Tarnoki12Medical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, HungaryMedical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, HungaryMedical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, HungaryMedical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, HungaryDepartment of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, 702 81 Örebro, SwedenMedical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, HungaryMedical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, HungaryMedical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, HungaryMedical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, HungaryMedical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, HungaryMedical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, HungaryMedical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, HungaryMedical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, 1082 Budapest, Hungary<i>Background and Objectives</i>: Subcortical grey matter structures play essential roles in cognitive, affective, social, and motoric functions in humans. Their volume changes with age, and decreased volumes have been linked with many neuropsychiatric disorders. The aim of our study was to examine the heritability of six subcortical brain volumes (the amygdala, caudate nucleus, pallidum, putamen, thalamus, and nucleus accumbens) and four general brain volumes (the total intra-cranial volume and the grey matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume) in twins. <i>Materials and Methods</i>: A total of 118 healthy adult twins from the Hungarian Twin Registry (86 monozygotic and 32 dizygotic; median age 50 ± 27 years) underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging. Two automated volumetry pipelines, Computational Anatomy Toolbox 12 (CAT12) and volBrain, were used to calculate the subcortical and general brain volumes from three-dimensional T1-weighted images. Age- and sex-adjusted monozygotic and dizygotic intra-pair correlations were calculated, and the univariate ACE model was applied. Pearson’s correlation test was used to compare the results obtained by the two pipelines. <i>Results</i>: The age- and sex-adjusted heritability estimates, using CAT12 for the amygdala, caudate nucleus, pallidum, putamen, and nucleus accumbens, were between 0.75 and 0.95. The thalamus volume was more strongly influenced by common environmental factors (C = 0.45−0.73). The heritability estimates, using volBrain, were between 0.69 and 0.92 for the nucleus accumbens, pallidum, putamen, right amygdala, and caudate nucleus. The left amygdala and thalamus were more strongly influenced by common environmental factors (C = 0.72−0.85). A strong correlation between CAT12 and volBrain (r = 0.74−0.94) was obtained for all volumes. <i>Conclusions</i>: The majority of examined subcortical volumes appeared to be strongly heritable. The thalamus was more strongly influenced by common environmental factors when investigated with both segmentation methods. Our results underline the importance of identifying the relevant genes responsible for variations in the subcortical structure volume and associated diseases.https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/58/11/1687subcorticalvolumetrytwinsheritabilityMRICAT12
spellingShingle David Strelnikov
Amirreza Alijanpourotaghsara
Marton Piroska
Laszlo Szalontai
Bianka Forgo
Zsofia Jokkel
Alíz Persely
Anita Hernyes
Lajos Rudolf Kozak
Adam Szabo
Pal Maurovich-Horvat
David Laszlo Tarnoki
Adam Domonkos Tarnoki
Heritability of Subcortical Grey Matter Structures
Medicina
subcortical
volumetry
twins
heritability
MRI
CAT12
title Heritability of Subcortical Grey Matter Structures
title_full Heritability of Subcortical Grey Matter Structures
title_fullStr Heritability of Subcortical Grey Matter Structures
title_full_unstemmed Heritability of Subcortical Grey Matter Structures
title_short Heritability of Subcortical Grey Matter Structures
title_sort heritability of subcortical grey matter structures
topic subcortical
volumetry
twins
heritability
MRI
CAT12
url https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/58/11/1687
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