Dataset Information

The common genetic influence over processing speed and white matter microstructure: Evidence from the Old Order Amish and Human Connectome Projects.

ABSTRACT: Speed with which brain performs information processing influences overall cognition and is dependent on the white matter fibers. To understand genetic influences on processing speed and white matter FA, we assessed processing speed and diffusion imaging fractional anisotropy (FA) in related individuals from two populations. Discovery analyses were performed in 146 individuals from large Old Order Amish (OOA) families and findings were replicated in 485 twins and siblings of the Human Connectome Project (HCP). The heritability of processing speed was h(2)=43% and 49% (both p<0.005), while the heritability of whole brain FA was h(2)=87% and 88% (both p<0.001), in the OOA and HCP, respectively. Whole brain FA was significantly correlated with processing speed in the two cohorts. Quantitative genetic analysis demonstrated a significant degree to which common genes influenced joint variation in FA and brain processing speed. These estimates suggested common sets of genes influencing variation in both phenotypes, consistent with the idea that common genetic variations contributing to white matter may also support their associated cognitive behavior.

SUBMITTER: Kochunov P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4691385 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The common genetic influence over processing speed and white matter microstructure: Evidence from the Old Order Amish and Human Connectome Projects.

Kochunov Peter P Thompson Paul M PM Winkler Anderson A Morrissey Mary M Fu Mao M Coyle Thomas R TR Du Xiaoming X Muellerklein Florian F Savransky Anya A Gaudiot Christopher C Sampath Hemalatha H Eskandar George G Jahanshad Neda N Patel Binish B Rowland Laura L Nichols Thomas E TE O'Connell Jeffrey R JR Shuldiner Alan R AR Mitchell Braxton D BD Hong L Elliot LE

NeuroImage 20151021

Speed with which brain performs information processing influences overall cognition and is dependent on the white matter fibers. To understand genetic influences on processing speed and white matter FA, we assessed processing speed and diffusion imaging fractional anisotropy (FA) in related individuals from two populations. Discovery analyses were performed in 146 individuals from large Old Order Amish (OOA) families and findings were replicated in 485 twins and siblings of the Human Connectome ...[more]

PMID: 26499807

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Project description:Although aging is associated with changes in brain structure and cognition it remains unclear which specific structural changes mediate individual cognitive changes. Several studies have reported that white matter (WM) integrity, as assessed by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), mediates, in part, age-related differences in processing speed (PS). There is less evidence for WM integrity mediating age-related differences in higher order abilities (e.g., memory and executive functions). In 165 typically aging adults (age range 54-89) we show that WM integrity in select cerebral regions is associated with higher cognitive abilities and accounts variance not accounted for by PS or age. Specifically, voxel-wise analyses using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) revealed that WM integrity was associated with reasoning, cognitive flexibility and PS, but not memory or word fluency, after accounting for age and gender. While cerebral fractional anisotropy (FA) was only associated with PS; mean (MD), axial (AD) and radial (RD) diffusivity were associated with reasoning and flexibility. Reasoning was selectively associated with left prefrontal AD, while cognitive flexibility was associated with MD, AD and RD throughout the cerebrum. Average WM metrics within select WM regions of interest accounted for 18% and 29% of the variance in reasoning and flexibility, respectively, similar to the amount of variance accounted for by age. WM metrics mediated ~50% of the age-related variance in reasoning and flexibility and different proportions, 11% for reasoning and 44% for flexibility, of the variance accounted for by PS. In sum, (i) WM integrity is significantly, but variably, related to specific higher cognitive abilities and can account for a similar proportion of variance as age, and (ii) while FA is selectively associated with PS; while MD, AD and RD are associated with reasoning, flexibility and PS. This illustrates both the anatomical and cognitive selectivity of structure-cognition relationships in the aging brain.

Dataset Information

The common genetic influence over processing speed and white matter microstructure: Evidence from the Old Order Amish and Human Connectome Projects.

Publications

The common genetic influence over processing speed and white matter microstructure: Evidence from the Old Order Amish and Human Connectome Projects.

Similar Datasets

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