TY - JOUR
T1 - The heritability of volumes of brain structures and its relationship to age
T2 - A review of twin and family studies
AU - Batouli, Seyed Amir Hossein
AU - Trollor, Julian N.
AU - Wen, Wei
AU - Sachdev, Perminder S.
PY - 2014/1
Y1 - 2014/1
N2 - Total brain volume (BV) and the volumes of brain substructures are influenced by genes, the magnitude of which changes with age. One approach to the examination of genetic influences on the volumes of brain structures is to determine their heritability using twin and family studies. We reviewed published cross-sectional studies which examined heritability in healthy subjects at different ages. We identified 32 studies, which examined a total of 77 brain volumetric measures. The findings of our review showed that BVs are under significant genetic influence at all ages, although different brain regions showed different heritability levels. Furthermore, the cross-sectional approach of our review found that heritability factor for the majority of BVs declined with age, such as in the total brain and cerebrum, followed by subsequent increment of environmental influences. Overall, this study identified for the first time a cross-sectional pattern for brain structures' heritability changes with age, and suggests the potential for longitudinal investigations in the future.
AB - Total brain volume (BV) and the volumes of brain substructures are influenced by genes, the magnitude of which changes with age. One approach to the examination of genetic influences on the volumes of brain structures is to determine their heritability using twin and family studies. We reviewed published cross-sectional studies which examined heritability in healthy subjects at different ages. We identified 32 studies, which examined a total of 77 brain volumetric measures. The findings of our review showed that BVs are under significant genetic influence at all ages, although different brain regions showed different heritability levels. Furthermore, the cross-sectional approach of our review found that heritability factor for the majority of BVs declined with age, such as in the total brain and cerebrum, followed by subsequent increment of environmental influences. Overall, this study identified for the first time a cross-sectional pattern for brain structures' heritability changes with age, and suggests the potential for longitudinal investigations in the future.
KW - Brain volume
KW - Elderly
KW - Healthy ageing
KW - Heritability
KW - Twins
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84888217465&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.arr.2013.10.003
DO - 10.1016/j.arr.2013.10.003
M3 - Review article
C2 - 24211464
AN - SCOPUS:84888217465
SN - 1568-1637
VL - 13
SP - 1
EP - 9
JO - Ageing Research Reviews
JF - Ageing Research Reviews
IS - 1
ER -