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. 2025 May 23:S2451-9022(25)00169-7.
doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2025.05.010. Online ahead of print.

Penetrance of Neurodevelopmental Copy Number Variants Is Associated With Variations in Cortical Morphology

Ana I Silva  1 Ida E Sønderby  2 George Kirov  3 Abdel Abdellaoui  4 Ingrid Agartz  5 David Ames  6 Nicola J Armstrong  7 Eric Artiges  8 Tobias Banaschewski  9 Anne S Bassett  10 Carrie E Bearden  11 John Blangero  12 Rune Boen  13 Dorret I Boomsma  14 Robin Bülow  15 Nancy J Butcher  16 Vince Calhoun  17 Linda E Campbell  18 Eva W C Chow  19 Simone Ciufolini  20 Michael C Craig  21 Benedicto Crespo-Farroco  22 Adam C Cunningham  23 Shareefa Dalvie  24 Eileen Daly  25 Paola Dazzan  26 Eco J C de Geus  27 Greig I de Zubicaray  28 Joanne L Doherty  29 Gary Donohoe  30 Mark Drakesmith  31 Thomas Espeseth  32 Vincent Frouin  33 Hugh Garavan  34 David C Glahn  35 Naomi J Goodrich-Hunsaker  36 Penny A Gowland  37 Hans J Grabe  38 Antoine Grigis  33 Maria Gudbrandsen  39 Boris A Gutman  40 Jan Haavik  41 Asta K Håberg  42 Jeremy Hall  3 Andreas Heinz  43 Sarah Hohmann  44 Jouke-Jan Hottenga  45 Sébastien Jacquemont  46 Neda Jahanshad  47 Rachel K Jonas  13 Derek K Jones  48 Erik G Jönsson  49 Sanne Koops  50 Kuldeep Kumar  51 Stephanie Le Hellard  52 Herve Lemaitre  53 Jingyu Liu  54 Astri J Lundervold  55 Jean-Luc Martinot  56 Karen A Mather  57 Donna M McDonald-McGinn  58 Katie L McMahon  59 Allan F McRae  60 Sarah E Medland  61 Clara A Moreau  51 Kieran C Murphy  62 Declan Murphy  25 Robin M Murray  20 Frauke Nees  63 Michael J Owen  3 Marie-Laure Paillère Martinot  64 Diimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos  33 Tomas Paus  65 Luise Poustka  66 Tiago Reis Marques  67 David R Roalf  68 Perminder S Sachdev  69 Freda Scheffler  70 J Eric Schmitt  71 Gunter Schumann  72 Vidar M Steen  52 Dan J Stein  73 Lachlan T Strike  61 Alexander Teumer  74 Anbupalam Thalamuthu  75 Sophia I Thomopoulos  47 Diana Tordesillas-Gutiérrez  76 Julian N Trollor  77 Anne Uhlmann  78 Ariana Vajdi  79 Dennis van 't Ent  27 Therese van Amelsvoort  80 Marianne B M van den Bree  3 Dennis van der Meer  81 Javier Vázquez-Bourgon  82 Julio E Villalón-Reina  47 Uwe Völker  83 Henry Völzke  84 Jacob A S Vorstman  85 Lars T Westlye  86 Nigel Williams  23 Katharina Wittfeld  38 Margaret J Wright  87 Paul M Thompson  47 Ole A Andreassen  88 David E J Linden  89 ENIGMA-CNV Working Group
Affiliations

Penetrance of Neurodevelopmental Copy Number Variants Is Associated With Variations in Cortical Morphology

Ana I Silva et al. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. .

Abstract

Background: Copy number variants (CNVs) may increase the risk for neurodevelopmental conditions. The neurobiological mechanisms that link these high-risk genetic variants to clinical phenotypes are largely unknown. An important question is whether brain abnormalities in individuals who carry CNVs are associated with their degree of penetrance.

Methods: We investigated whether increased CNV penetrance for schizophrenia and other developmental disorders was associated with variations in cortical and subcortical morphology. We pooled T1-weighted brain magnetic resonance imaging and genetic data from 22 cohorts from the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta Analysis)-CNV consortium. In the main analyses, we included 9268 individuals (aged 7-90 years, 54% female), from which we identified 398 carriers of 36 neurodevelopmental CNVs at 20 distinct loci. A secondary analysis was performed including additional neuroimaging data from the ENIGMA-22q consortium, including 274 carriers of the 22q11.2 deletion and 291 noncarriers. CNV penetrance was estimated through penetrance scores that were previously generated from large cohorts of patients and controls. These scores represent the probability risk of developing either schizophrenia or other developmental disorders (including developmental delay, autism spectrum disorder, and congenital malformations).

Results: For both schizophrenia and developmental disorders, increased penetrance scores were associated with lower surface area in the cerebral cortex and lower intracranial volume. For both conditions, associations between CNV-penetrance scores and cortical surface area were strongest in regions of the occipital lobes, specifically in the cuneus and lingual gyrus.

Conclusions: Our findings link global and regional cortical morphometric features with CNV penetrance, providing new insights into neurobiological mechanisms of genetic risk for schizophrenia and other developmental disorders.

Keywords: Autism; Neuroimaging; Psychiatric disorders; Schizophrenia; Structural imaging.

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