Socioeconomic factors, brain-derived neurotrophic factor Val66Met polymorphism, and cortical structure in children and adolescents

Abstract

Variability in associations between socioeconomic status and cortical gray matter may be due in part to the common, functional brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism, which alters BDNF signaling. In this study, we examined whether BDNF Val66Met genotype moderated the associations between socioeconomic factors (family income, parental education) and cortical surface area (SA) and thickness (CT) in two large independent samples of typically-developing children and adolescents. Participants were 3- to 21-year-olds (N = 383; 47% female) from the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition, and Genetics (PING) study and 11- to 14-year-olds (N = 2566; 46% female) in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. High-resolution, T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired in both studies. Analyses were conducted on global and regional SA and CT. In the PING sample, BDNF Val66Met genotype significantly moderated the association between family income and total SA and SA in the left fusiform gyrus. In the ABCD sample, there were no significant interactions for global or regional SA or CT. Collectively, these results suggest that BDNF Val66Met genotype may not explain variability in associations between socioeconomic factors and SA or CT in children and adolescents.

Keywords: Cortical surface area; Cortical thickness; Family income; Gene-by-environment interaction; Neurotrophins; Parental education.

Fig. 1

Family income × BDNF Val66Met polymorphism interaction term t-values for regional cortical surface area (SA) without controlling for whole brain volume in the (a) Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition, and Genetics (PING) sample and (b) Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) sample. Brain map parcellation is according to the Desikan-Killiany-Tourville atlas. Interaction terms were non-significant after false discovery rate (FDR) correction for all regions in the ABCD sample and for all regions except the left fusiform gyrus in the PING sample.