RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A shared genetic basis for personality traits and local cortical grey matter structure?
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 645945
DO 10.1101/645945
A1 Sofie L. Valk
A1 Felix Hoffstaedter
A1 Julia A. Camilleri
A1 Peter Kochunov
A1 B.T. Thomas Yeo
A1 Simon B. Eickhoff
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/25/645945.abstract
AB Personality traits are key indices of inter-individual variation. Personality is heritable and has been associated with brain structure and function. To date, it is unknown whether the relation between personality and brain macrostructure can be explained by genetic factors. In a large-scale twin sample (Human Connectome Project), we performed genetic correlation analyses to evaluate whether personality traits (NEO-FFI) and local brain structure have a shared genetic basis. We found a genetic overlap between personality traits and local brain structure in 11 of 22 observed phenotypic associations in predominantly frontal cortices. In these regions the proportion of phenotypic covariance accounted for by shared genetic effects was between 82 and 100%. Second, in the case of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness, the phenotypic correlation between personality and local brain structure was observed to reflect genetic, more than environmental, factors. These observations indicate that genetic factors influence the relationship between personality traits and local brain structure. Importantly, observed associations between personality traits and cortical thickness did only partially replicate in two independent large-scale samples of unrelated individuals. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that genes impact the relationship between personality and local brain structure, but that phenotypic associations are, to a large extent, non-generalizable. These observations provide a novel perspective on the nature and nurture of the biological basis of personality.