The connectome in the human brain: defining its heritability and association with ADHD

FARE Award Winner

Authors

• GP Sudre
• T Bonner
• S Choudhury
• W Sharp
• J Sarlls
• P Shaw

Abstract

While Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is highly heritable (h2=0.7), there has been limited progress in identifying the genes conferring risk. One strategy to accelerate progress is to use quantitative neural endophenotypes that both reflect genetic risk and may lie closer to the etiology of ADHD than the more distal clinical phenotype. Here we examine the connectome, defined as the interconnected brain regions or networks that support cognition, and focus on its structural basis provided by white matter tracts. Participants were 165 members from 24 multi-generational, extended families. Eleven major white matter tracts that constitute the structural connectome were defined using diffusion tensor imaging. The total additive genetic heritability (h2r) of each white matter metric was determined by modeling the covariance among family members as a function of genetic proximity using SOLAR. We used linear mixed model regressions to calculate the association between ADHD symptoms and the properties of white matter tracts. Thirteen out of 33 tract properties were significantly heritable (at Bonferroni adjusted p

Scientific Focus Area: Genetics and Genomics

This page was last updated on Friday, March 26, 2021