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Genetic Underpinnings of Risky Behaviour Relate to Altered Neuroanatomy

Gökhan Aydogan, Remi Daviet, Richard Karlsson Linnér, Todd A. Hare, Joseph W. Kable, Henry R. Kranzler, Reagan R. Wetherill, Christian C. Ruff, Philipp D. Koellinger, Gideon Nave
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/862417
Gökhan Aydogan
1Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics (ZNE), Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Remi Daviet
2Marketing Department, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Richard Karlsson Linnér
3Department of Economics, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Todd A. Hare
1Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics (ZNE), Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Joseph W. Kable
2Marketing Department, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
4Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Henry R. Kranzler
5Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
6Veterans Integrated Service Network 4, Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Reagan R. Wetherill
5Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Christian C. Ruff
1Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics (ZNE), Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Philipp D. Koellinger
3Department of Economics, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Gideon Nave
2Marketing Department, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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  • For correspondence: gnave@wharton.upenn.edu
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Abstract

Previous research points to the heritability of risk-taking behaviour. However, evidence on how genetic dispositions are translated into risky behaviour is scarce. Here, we report a genetically-informed neuroimaging study of real-world risky behaviour across the domains of drinking, smoking, driving, and sexual behaviour, in a European sample from the UK Biobank (N= 12,675). We find negative associations between risky behaviour and grey matter volume (GMV) in distinct brain regions, including amygdala, ventral striatum, hypothalamus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). These effects replicate in an independent sample recruited from the same population (N=13,004). Polygenic risk scores for risky behaviour, derived from a genome-wide association study in an independent sample (N=297,025), are inversely associated with GMV in dlPFC, putamen, and hypothalamus. This relation mediates ~2.2% of the association between genes and behaviour. Our results highlight distinct heritable neuroanatomical features as manifestations of the genetic propensity for risk taking.

One Sentence Summary Risky behaviour and its genetic associations are linked to less grey matter volume in distinct brain regions.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • https://osf.io/qkp4g/

  • ↵1 Self-reports of the number of sexual partners have been implicated in risky behaviours related to alcohol abuse (i.e., binge drinking) and unprotected sex, specifically in young adults2, irrespective of gender or sexual orientation.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted August 29, 2020.
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Genetic Underpinnings of Risky Behaviour Relate to Altered Neuroanatomy
Gökhan Aydogan, Remi Daviet, Richard Karlsson Linnér, Todd A. Hare, Joseph W. Kable, Henry R. Kranzler, Reagan R. Wetherill, Christian C. Ruff, Philipp D. Koellinger, Gideon Nave
bioRxiv 862417; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/862417
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Genetic Underpinnings of Risky Behaviour Relate to Altered Neuroanatomy
Gökhan Aydogan, Remi Daviet, Richard Karlsson Linnér, Todd A. Hare, Joseph W. Kable, Henry R. Kranzler, Reagan R. Wetherill, Christian C. Ruff, Philipp D. Koellinger, Gideon Nave
bioRxiv 862417; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/862417

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