RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 116 independent genetic variants influence the neuroticism personality trait in over 329,000 UK Biobank individuals
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 168906
DO 10.1101/168906
A1 Michelle Luciano
A1 Saskia P Hagenaars
A1 Gail Davies
A1 W David Hill
A1 Toni-Kim Clarke
A1 Masoud Shirali
A1 Riccardo E Marioni
A1 Sarah E Harris
A1 David C Liewald
A1 Chloe Fawns-Ritchie
A1 Mark J Adams
A1 David M Howard
A1 Cathryn M Lewis
A1 Catharine R. Gale
A1 Andrew M McIntosh
A1 Ian J Deary
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/28/168906.abstract
AB Neuroticism is a stable personality trait 1; twin studies report heritability between 30% and 50% 2, and SNP-based heritability is about 15% 3. Higher levels of neuroticism are associated with poorer mental and physical health 4,5, and the economic burden of neuroticism for societies is high 6. To date, genome-wide association (GWA) studies of neuroticism have identified up to 11 genetic loci 3,7. Here we report 116 significant independent genetic loci from a GWA of neuroticism in 329,821 UK Biobank participants, with replication available in a GWA meta-analysis of neuroticism in 122,867 individuals. Genetic signals for neuroticism were enriched in neuronal genesis and differentiation pathways, and substantial genetic correlations were found between neuroticism and depressive symptoms (rg = .82, SE=.03), major depressive disorder (rg = .69, SE=.07) and subjective wellbeing (rg = -.68, SE=.03) alongside other mental health traits. These discoveries significantly advance our understanding of neuroticism and its association with major depressive disorder.