Human subcortical brain asymmetries in 15,847 people worldwide reveal effects of age and sex

• Published in: Brain imaging and behavior Vol. 11; no. 5; pp. 1497 - 1514
• Main Authors: Guadalupe, Tulio, Mathias, Samuel R., Whelan, Christopher D., Zwiers, Marcel P., Abe, Yoshinari, Agartz, Ingrid, Arias-Vásquez, Alejandro, Artiges, Eric, Ayesa-Arriola, Rosa, Baboyan, Vatche G., Barker, Gareth, Baune, Bernhard T., Blangero, John, Boedhoe, Premika S.W., Bose, Anushree, Brem, Silvia, Bromberg, Uli, Brooks, Samantha, Buitelaar, Jan, Cannon, Dara M., Cheng, Yuqi, Conrod, Patricia J., Conzelmann, Annette, Corvin, Aiden, Crivello, Fabrice, de Zubicaray, Greig I., de Zwarte, Sonja M.C., Deary, Ian J., Doan, Nhat Trung, Donohoe, Gary, Dørum, Erlend S., Ehrlich, Stefan, Espeseth, Thomas, Fouche, Jean-Paul, Gallinat, Jürgen, Garavan, Hugh, Gill, Michael, Suarez, Andrea Gonzalez, Grabe, Hans J., Grotegerd, Dominik, Gruber, Oliver, Hagenaars, Saskia, Hashimoto, Ryota, Hauser, Tobias U., Hoogman, Martine, Ittermann, Bernd, Jahanshad, Neda, Jönsson, Erik G., Jurk, Sarah, Kahn, Rene S., Kelly, Sinead, Kugel, Harald, Kwon, Jun Soo, Lemaitre, Herve, Lochner, Christine, Luciano, Michelle, Marquand, Andre F., Martin, Nicholas G., Martinot, Jean-Luc, Mataix-Cols, David, Mather, Karen, McMahon, Katie L., Medland, Sarah E., Menchón, José M., Mothersill, Omar, Nakao, Tomohiro, Narayanaswaamy, Janardhanan C., Opel, Nils, Ophoff, Roel, Papadopoulos Orfanos, Dimitri, Pauli, Paul, Paus, Tomáš, Poustka, Luise, Reddy, Janardhan YC, Roiz-Santiáñez, Roberto, Roos, Annerine, Royle, Natalie A., Sánchez-Juan, Pascual, Schumann, Gunter, Shumskaya, Elena, Smolka, Michael N., Stein, Dan J., Turner, Jessica A., van der Meer, Dennis, Veltman, Dick J., Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan, Vetter, Nora C., Vuletic, Daniella, Walitza, Susanne, Walter, Henrik, Wen, Wei, Westlye, Lars T., Wolfers, Thomas, Wright, Margaret J., Xu, Xiufeng, Zhao, JingJing, Franke, Barbara, Thompson, Paul M., Mazoyer, Bernard, Fisher, Simon E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2017; Springer Nature B.V; Secaucus, NJ : Springer
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age; Age factors; Aged; Aging - genetics; Aging - pathology; Asymmetry; Basal ganglia; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain; Brain - anatomy & histology; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral hemispheres; Cognition; Cognitive science; Female; Functional Laterality - genetics; Ganglia; Gender aspects; Genetic factors; Globus pallidus; Handedness; Hemispheres; Hemispheric laterality; Heritability; Hippocampus; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mental disorders; Meta-analysis; Meta-Analysis as Topic; Middle Aged; Neuropsychology; Neuroradiology; Neuroscience; Neurosciences; Organ Size; Original Research; Psychiatry; Putamen; Quantitative Trait, Heritable; Sex; Sex Characteristics; Sex differences; Systematic review; Thalamus; Young Adult; Handedness; Subcortical brain asymmetry; Enigma; Sex; Heritability; Age; Meta-analysis
• ISSN: 1931-7557; 1931-7565
• DOI: 10.1007/s11682-016-9629-z

The two hemispheres of the human brain differ functionally and structurally. Despite over a century of research, the extent to which brain asymmetry is influenced by sex, handedness, age, and genetic factors is still controversial. Here we present the largest ever analysis of subcortical brain asymmetries, in a harmonized multi-site study using meta-analysis methods. Volumetric asymmetry of seven subcortical structures was assessed in 15,847 MRI scans from 52 datasets worldwide. There were sex differences in the asymmetry of the globus pallidus and putamen. Heritability estimates, derived from 1170 subjects belonging to 71 extended pedigrees, revealed that additive genetic factors influenced the asymmetry of these two structures and that of the hippocampus and thalamus. Handedness had no detectable effect on subcortical asymmetries, even in this unprecedented sample size, but the asymmetry of the putamen varied with age. Genetic drivers of asymmetry in the hippocampus, thalamus and basal ganglia may affect variability in human cognition, including susceptibility to psychiatric disorders.