Partitioning variance in cortical morphometry into genetic, environmental, and subject-specific components

• Published in: Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. 1991) Vol. 34; no. 6
• Main Authors: Smith, Diana M, Parekh, Pravesh, Kennedy, Joseph, Loughnan, Robert, Frei, Oleksandr, Nichols, Thomas E, Andreassen, Ole A, Jernigan, Terry L, Dale, Anders M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Oxford University Press 04.06.2024
• Subjects: Adolescent; Cerebral Cortex - anatomy & histology; Cerebral Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral Cortex - growth & development; Child; Environment; Female; Gene-Environment Interaction; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Original; intra-class correlation; mixed effects models; heritability
• ISSN: 1047-3211; 1460-2199; 1460-2199
• DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae234

The relative contributions of genetic variation and experience in shaping the morphology of the adolescent brain are not fully understood. Using longitudinal data from 11,665 subjects in the ABCD Study, we fit vertex-wise variance components including family effects, genetic effects, and subject-level effects using a computationally efficient framework. Variance in cortical thickness and surface area is largely attributable to genetic influence, whereas sulcal depth is primarily explained by subject-level effects. Our results identify areas with heterogeneous distributions of heritability estimates that have not been seen in previous work using data from cortical regions. We discuss the biological importance of subject-specific variance and its implications for environmental influences on cortical development and maturation.