Science . . . Fudan University and other 296 units around the world have collaborated to systematically reveal for the first time the genetic basis of the human cerebral cortex.

The inature cortex is the basis of our complex cognitive abilities.changes in the surface area and thickness of human cortex are related to neurological, psychological and behavioral characteristics and can be measured in vivo by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).studies on model organisms have identified genes that affect cortical structure, but little is known about the common genetic variations that affect human cortical structure. This paper was published by "the architecture of the University of California" in March, A genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain MRI data from 665 individuals was performed. The researchers analyzed the surface area and mean thickness of the entire cortex and 34 known functional brain regions.this study identified 199 important loci and found significantly enriched loci, which can affect the total surface area of active regulatory elements during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis.the loci that affect the surface area of the Wnt signaling pathway gather near the genes in the Wnt signaling pathway, thus affecting the expansion of progenitor cells and the identity of brain regions.changes in cortical structure are genetically associated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.in conclusion, this work has identified important genomic sites related to cortical surface area and cortical thickness, and has led to a better understanding of the genetic structure and pattern of human cerebral cortex.the human cerebral cortex is the outer gray layer of the brain, which involves many aspects of higher cognitive function.its unique folding pattern has the characteristics of convex (gyration) and concave (groove) regions.the computational brain mapping method uses a consistent folding pattern across a single cortex to label brain regions.during fetal development, excitatory neurons (the main type of neurons in the cortex) are produced by neural progenitor cells in the developing germinal zone.the expansion of cortical surface area (SA) is driven by the proliferation of these neural progenitor cells, while the thickness (th) is determined by the number of neurogenic divisions.changes in the global and regional measurements of cortical SA and th have been reliably associated with neuropsychiatric disorders and psychological characteristics.to identify the influence of genetic factors on human cortical structure. Brain imaging studies based on twins and families show that SA and th measurements are highly heritable and strongly influenced by genetic factors.despite extensive research on genes that affect cortical structure in model organisms, our current understanding of genetic variations that affect the size and pattern of human cortices is limited to rare, highly permeable variants.these variations usually disrupt cortical development and lead to structural changes after birth.however, little is known about how common genetic variations affect SA and th in human cortex.human cortical regions and associated loci to identify genetic variations that affect cortical structure, a genome-wide association meta-analysis was conducted using brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51665 individuals.the researchers analyzed the surface area and mean thickness of the entire cortex and 34 known functional brain regions.this study identified 199 important loci and found significantly enriched loci, which can affect the total surface area of active regulatory elements during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis.the loci that affect the surface area of the Wnt signaling pathway gather near the genes in the Wnt signaling pathway, thus affecting the expansion of progenitor cells and the identity of brain regions.changes in cortical structure are genetically associated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.genetic correlation and neuropsychiatric and psychological characteristics in general, this study demonstrates that genetic variations associated with brain structure also affect general cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, depression, neuroticism, hyperactivity disorder and insomnia.this means that genetic variations that affect brain structure also affect brain function.although it has been reported that most of the cortical structural differences observed in these diseases are related to th, this result shows that SA has a significant genetic correlation, which may indicate that the phenotypic differences observed in cortical th partly reflect environmental effects.in conclusion, this work has identified the genome-wide important loci associated with cortical SA and th, and has provided a deeper understanding of the genetic structure and pattern of human cerebral cortex.reference message: doi: 10.1126/ science.aay6690