| Title: | Eye-brain connections revealed by multimodal retinal and brain imaging genetics |
| Journal: | Nature Communications |
| Published: | 18 Jul 2024 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39025851/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-50309-w |
| Citations: | 2 (2 in last 2 years) as of 8 Aug 2024 |
Publication 12804
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Abstract
The retina, an anatomical extension of the brain, forms physiological connections with the visual cortex of the brain. Although retinal structures offer a unique opportunity to assess brain disorders, their relationship to brain structure and function is not well understood. In this study, we conducted a systematic cross-organ genetic architecture analysis of eye-brain connections using retinal and brain imaging endophenotypes. We identified novel phenotypic and genetic links between retinal imaging biomarkers and brain structure and function measures from multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with many associations involving the primary visual cortex and visual pathways. Retinal imaging biomarkers shared genetic influences with brain diseases and complex traits in 65 genomic regions, with 18 showing genetic overlap with brain MRI traits. Mendelian randomization suggests bidirectional genetic causal links between retinal structures and neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. Overall, our findings reveal the genetic basis for eye-brain connections, suggesting that retinal images can help uncover genetic risk factors for brain disorders and disease-related changes in intracranial structure and function.</p>
14 Keywords
- Adult
- Aged
- Brain
- Endophenotypes
- Female
- Humans
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Male
- Mendelian Randomization Analysis
- Middle Aged
- Multimodal Imaging
- Retina
- Visual Cortex
- Visual Pathways
18 Authors
- Bingxin Zhao
- Yujue Li
- Zirui Fan
- Zhenyi Wu
- Juan Shu
- Xiaochen Yang
- Yilin Yang
- Xifeng Wang
- Bingxuan Li
- Xiyao Wang
- Carlos Copana
- Yue Yang
- Jinjie Lin
- Yun Li
- Jason L. Stein
- Joan M. O'Brien
- Tengfei Li
- Hongtu Zhu
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 22783 | The joint analysis of imaging data and genetic data for early tumor detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment |
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health