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Genome-wide meta-analysis of cognitive empathy: heritability, and correlates with sex, neuropsychiatric conditions and brain anatomy

Varun Warrier, Katrina Grasby, Florina Uzefovsky, Roberto Toro, Paula Smith, Bhismadev Chakrabarti, Jyoti Khadake, Eleanor Mawbey-Adamson, Nadia Litterman, Jouke-Jan Hottenga, Gitta Lubke, Dorret I Boomsma, Nicholas G Martin, Peter K Hatemi, Sarah E Medland, David A Hinds, Thomas Bourgeron, Simon Baron-Cohen
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/081844
Varun Warrier
1Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
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  • For correspondence: vw260@medschl.cam.ac.uk sb205@cam.ac.uk
Katrina Grasby
2QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
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Florina Uzefovsky
1Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
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Roberto Toro
3CNRS UMR 3571: Genes, Synapses and Cognition, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
4Universite Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Paris, France
5Institut Pasteur, 5-28 Rue du Dr Roux, 75015 Paris, France
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Paula Smith
1Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
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Bhismadev Chakrabarti
6Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
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Jyoti Khadake
7NIHR Cambridge BioResource, Cambridge University and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
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Eleanor Mawbey-Adamson
7NIHR Cambridge BioResource, Cambridge University and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
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Nadia Litterman
823andMe Inc., 899 West Evelyn Ave, Mountain View, California 94041, USA
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Jouke-Jan Hottenga
9Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
10EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
11Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Gitta Lubke
9Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
12Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, United States
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Dorret I Boomsma
9Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Nicholas G Martin
2QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
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Peter K Hatemi
13Political Science, Microbiology and Biochemistry, Pennsylvania State University
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Sarah E Medland
2QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
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David A Hinds
823andMe Inc., 899 West Evelyn Ave, Mountain View, California 94041, USA
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Thomas Bourgeron
3CNRS UMR 3571: Genes, Synapses and Cognition, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
4Universite Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Paris, France
5Institut Pasteur, 5-28 Rue du Dr Roux, 75015 Paris, France
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Simon Baron-Cohen
1Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
14CLASS Clinic, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT), Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
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  • For correspondence: vw260@medschl.cam.ac.uk sb205@cam.ac.uk
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Abstract

We conducted a genome-wide meta-analysis of cognitive empathy using the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test (Eyes Test) in 88,056 research volunteers of European Ancestry (44,574 females and 43,482 males) from 23andMe Inc., and an additional 1,497 research volunteers of European Ancestry (891 females and 606 males) from the Brisbane Longitudinal Twin Study (BLTS). We confirmed a female advantage on the Eyes Test (Cohen’s d = 0.21, P < 2.2x10−16), and identified a locus in 3p26.1 that is associated with scores on the Eyes Test in females (rs7641347, Pmeta = 1.58 x 10−8). Common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) explained 5.8% (95% CI: 0.45 - 0.72; P = 1.00 x 10−17) of the total trait variance in both sexes, and we identified a twin heritability of 0.28 (95% CI: 0.13-0.42). Finally, we identified significant genetic correlation between the Eyes Test and anorexia nervosa, measures of empathy (the Empathy Quotient), openness (NEO-Five Factor Inventory), and different measures of educational attainment and cognitive aptitude, and show that the genetic determinants of volumes of the dorsal striatum (caudate nucleus and putamen) are positively correlated with the genetic determinants of performance on the Eyes Test.

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Posted February 23, 2017.
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Genome-wide meta-analysis of cognitive empathy: heritability, and correlates with sex, neuropsychiatric conditions and brain anatomy
Varun Warrier, Katrina Grasby, Florina Uzefovsky, Roberto Toro, Paula Smith, Bhismadev Chakrabarti, Jyoti Khadake, Eleanor Mawbey-Adamson, Nadia Litterman, Jouke-Jan Hottenga, Gitta Lubke, Dorret I Boomsma, Nicholas G Martin, Peter K Hatemi, Sarah E Medland, David A Hinds, Thomas Bourgeron, Simon Baron-Cohen
bioRxiv 081844; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/081844
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Genome-wide meta-analysis of cognitive empathy: heritability, and correlates with sex, neuropsychiatric conditions and brain anatomy
Varun Warrier, Katrina Grasby, Florina Uzefovsky, Roberto Toro, Paula Smith, Bhismadev Chakrabarti, Jyoti Khadake, Eleanor Mawbey-Adamson, Nadia Litterman, Jouke-Jan Hottenga, Gitta Lubke, Dorret I Boomsma, Nicholas G Martin, Peter K Hatemi, Sarah E Medland, David A Hinds, Thomas Bourgeron, Simon Baron-Cohen
bioRxiv 081844; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/081844

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