Psychiatric polygenic risk associates with cortical morphology and functional organization in aging

Abstract

Common brain abnormalities in cortical morphology and functional organization are observed in psychiatric disorders and aging, reflecting shared genetic influences. This preliminary study aimed to examine the contribution of a polygenetic risk for psychiatric disorders (PRScross) to aging brain and to identify molecular mechanisms through the use of multimodal brain images, genotypes, and transcriptome data. We showed age-related cortical thinning in bilateral inferior frontal cortex (IFC) and superior temporal gyrus and alterations in the functional connectivity between bilateral IFC and between right IFC and right inferior parietal lobe as a function of PRScross. Interestingly, the genes in PRScross, that contributed most to aging neurodegeneration, were expressed in the functioanlly connected cortical regions. Especially, genes identified through the genotype-functional connectivity association analysis were commonly expressed in both cortical regions and formed strong gene networks with biological processes related to neural plasticity and synaptogenesis, regulated by glutamatergic and GABAergic transmission, neurotrophin signaling, and metabolism. This study suggested integrating genotype and transcriptome with neuroimage data sheds new light on the mechanisms of aging brain. © 2017 The Author(s).