RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Genome-wide meta-analysis of cognitive empathy: heritability, and correlates with sex, neuropsychiatric conditions and brain anatomy
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 081844
DO 10.1101/081844
A1 Varun Warrier
A1 Katrina Grasby
A1 Florina Uzefovsky
A1 Roberto Toro
A1 Paula Smith
A1 Bhismadev Chakrabarti
A1 Jyoti Khadake
A1 Nadia Litterman
A1 Jouke-Jan Hottenga
A1 Gitta Lubke
A1 Dorret I Boomsma
A1 Nicholas G Martin
A1 Peter K Hatemi
A1 Sarah E Medland
A1 David A Hinds
A1 Thomas Bourgeron
A1 Simon Baron-Cohen
YR 2016
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/10/19/081844.abstract
AB We conducted a genome-wide meta-analysis of cognitive empathy using the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test (Eyes Test) in 88,056 Caucasian research participants (44,574 females and 43,482 males) from 23andMe Inc., and an additional 1,497 Caucasian participants (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 < 0.001), and identified a locus in 3p26.1 that is associated with scores on the Eyes Test in females (rs7641347, Pmeta = 1.57 × 10−8). Common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) explained 20% of the twin heritability and 5.6% (± 0.76 ; P = 1.72 × 10−13) of the total trait variance in both sexes. Finally, we identified significant genetic correlation between the Eyes Test and 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 striatal volumes (caudate nucleus, putamen, and nucleus accumbens) are positively correlated with the genetic determinants of performance on the Eyes Test.