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. 2022 Jan;43(1):15-22.
doi: 10.1002/hbm.25672. Epub 2021 Oct 6.

The Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis Consortium: 10 Years of Global Collaborations in Human Brain Mapping

Paul M Thompson  1 , Neda Jahanshad  1 , Lianne Schmaal  2   3 , Jessica A Turner  4 , Anderson M Winkler  5 , Sophia I Thomopoulos  1 , Gary F Egan  6   7 , Peter Kochunov  8
Affiliations

The Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis Consortium: 10 Years of Global Collaborations in Human Brain Mapping

Paul M Thompson et al. Hum Brain Mapp. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

This Special Issue of Human Brain Mapping is dedicated to a 10-year anniversary of the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium. It reports updates from a broad range of international neuroimaging projects that pool data from around the world to answer fundamental questions in neuroscience. Since ENIGMA was formed in December 2009, the initiative grew into a worldwide effort with over 2,000 participating scientists from 45 countries, and over 50 working groups leading large-scale studies of human brain disorders. Over the last decade, many lessons were learned on how best to pool brain data from diverse sources. Working groups were created to develop methods to analyze worldwide data from anatomical and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), resting state and task-based functional MRI, electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The quest to understand genetic effects on human brain development and disease also led to analyses of brain scans on an unprecedented scale. Genetic roadmaps of the human cortex were created by researchers worldwide who collaborated to perform statistically well-powered analyses of common and rare genetic variants on brain measures and rates of brain development and aging. Here, we summarize the 31 papers in this Special Issue, covering: (a) technical approaches to harmonize analysis of different types of brain imaging data, (b) reviews of the last decade of work by several of ENIGMA's clinical and technical working groups, and (c) new empirical papers reporting large-scale international brain mapping analyses in patients with substance use disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, epilepsy, and stroke.

Keywords: DTI; ENIGMA; GWAS; MRI; big data; genetics; international research; neuroimaging; neuroscience; reproducibility.

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Conflict of interest statement

Paul M. Thompson and Neda Jahanshad received grant support from Biogen, Inc., for research unrelated to this article; Paul M. Thompson also consulted for Kairos Venture Capital, Inc., on projects unrelated to this article. Lianne Schmaal, Jessica A. Turner, Sophia I. Thomopoulos, Peter Kochunov, and Gary F. Egan have no disclosures.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Current chart of the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta‐Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium's clinical and technical working groups
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Distribution of actively participating members across the world in the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta‐Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium's working groups
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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