Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 26;16(1):8467. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63312-6.
ABSTRACT
Childhood brain development involves dynamic remodeling shaped by genetic influences contributing to long-term neurodevelopmental variation. Here we report integrative analyses of over 8600 children, using 7 brain imaging-derived phenotype (IDP) modalities, polygenic scores (PGS) of 33 complex traits, and 266 cognitive and psychological phenotypes. Most brain IDPs show low-to-moderate SNP-based heritability, lower than typically observed in adults. Sparse generalized canonical correlation analysis reveals positive associations between cognitive-related PGS and structural MRI features (e.g., total grey matter and ventral diencephalon volumes) and N-back task-related activation, while PGS for ADHD, depression, and neuroticism showed negative associations. Cognitive PGS also correlates positively with diffusion MRI metrics (streamline counts, fractional anisotropy in subcortical-frontal tracts and inferior parietal-subcortical tracts), whereas health-risk PGS (e.g., BMI, ADHD) correlates negatively. This study delineates key gene-brain-behavior associations in preadolescence, providing a multivariate dissection of the polygenic architecture underlying neurodevelopment.
PMID:41006202 | DOI:10.1038/s41467-025-63312-6
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