RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 <em>DRD2</em> and <em>FOXP2</em> are implicated in the associations between computerized device use and psychiatric disorders
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 497420
DO 10.1101/497420
A1 Frank R Wendt
A1 Carolina Muniz Carvalho
A1 Joel Gelernter
A1 Renato Polimanti
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/12/17/497420.abstract
AB The societal health effects of ubiquitous computerized device use (CDU) is mostly unknown. Epidemiological evidence supports associations between CDU and psychiatric traits, but the underlying biological mechanisms are unclear. We investigated genetic overlaps, causal relationships, and molecular pathways shared between these traits using genome-wide data regarding CDU (UK Biobank; up to N=361,194 individuals) and Psychiatric Genomics Consortium phenotypes (14,477&lt;N&lt;150,064). The strongest genetic correlations were between “weekly usage of mobile phone in last 3 months” (PhoneUse) vs. attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (rg=0.425, p=4.59x10-11) and “plays computer games” (CompGaming) vs. schizophrenia (SCZ) (rg=-0.271, p=7.16x10-26). Latent causal variable analysis did not support causal relationships between these traits, but the observed genetic overlap was related to shared molecular pathways, including: dopamine transport (Gene Ontology:0015872, pSCZvsCompGaming=2.74x10-10) and DRD2 association (pSCZ=7.94x10-8; pCompGaming=3.98x10-25), and FOXP2 association (pADHD=9.32x10-7; pPhoneUse=9.00x10-11). Our results support epidemiological observations with genetic data, and uncover biological mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders contribution to CDUs.