Heritability of brain volume on MRI in middle to advanced age: A twin study of Japanese adults

Matthew W. Lukies, Yoshiyuki Watanabe, Hisashi Tanaka, Hiroto Takahashi, Soshiro Ogata, Kayoko Omura, Shiro Yorifuji, Noriyuki Tomiyama

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Brain atrophy is part of the aging process and accelerated by neurodegenerative diseases, so an understanding of the background heritability of brain volume is essential. The purpose of this study was to determine the heritability of brain volume in middle to advanced age East Asian adults, an age group less studied and an ethnicity not previously studied. 3T magnetic resonance images were obtained and volumetric analyses conducted for a total of 74 individuals, 20 monozygotic twin pairs (mean age 61y min 41y max 75y) and 17 dizygotic twin pairs (mean age 64y min 41y max 85y). Total brain volume and a further seven regions were assessed, including lobar volumes, lateral divisions, and separated grey and white matter. Additive genetics and unique environment (AE) models for global brain volumes including total brain (90%), grey matter (91%) and white matter (84%) and many lobar volumes demonstrated high heritability in our study population.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0175800
JournalPloS one
Volume12
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 04-2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
  • General

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