- Main
Genome-wide association study identifies 48 common genetic variants associated with handedness
- Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel;
- Tung, Joyce Y;
- Eriksson, Nicholas;
- Albrecht, Eva;
- Aliev, Fazil;
- Andreassen, Ole A;
- Barroso, Inês;
- Beckmann, Jacques S;
- Boks, Marco P;
- Boomsma, Dorret I;
- Boyd, Heather A;
- Breteler, Monique MB;
- Campbell, Harry;
- Chasman, Daniel I;
- Cherkas, Lynn F;
- Davies, Gail;
- de Geus, Eco JC;
- Deary, Ian J;
- Deloukas, Panos;
- Dick, Danielle M;
- Duffy, David L;
- Eriksson, Johan G;
- Esko, Tõnu;
- Feenstra, Bjarke;
- Geller, Frank;
- Gieger, Christian;
- Giegling, Ina;
- Gordon, Scott D;
- Han, Jiali;
- Hansen, Thomas F;
- Hartmann, Annette M;
- Hayward, Caroline;
- Heikkilä, Kauko;
- Hicks, Andrew A;
- Hirschhorn, Joel N;
- Hottenga, Jouke-Jan;
- Huffman, Jennifer E;
- Hwang, Liang-Dar;
- Ikram, M Arfan;
- Kaprio, Jaakko;
- Kemp, John P;
- Khaw, Kay-Tee;
- Klopp, Norman;
- Konte, Bettina;
- Kutalik, Zoltan;
- Lahti, Jari;
- Li, Xin;
- Loos, Ruth JF;
- Luciano, Michelle;
- Magnusson, Sigurdur H;
- Mangino, Massimo;
- Marques-Vidal, Pedro;
- Martin, Nicholas G;
- McArdle, Wendy L;
- McCarthy, Mark I;
- Medina-Gomez, Carolina;
- Melbye, Mads;
- Melville, Scott A;
- Metspalu, Andres;
- Milani, Lili;
- Mooser, Vincent;
- Nelis, Mari;
- Nyholt, Dale R;
- O’Connell, Kevin S;
- Ophoff, Roel A;
- Palmer, Cameron;
- Palotie, Aarno;
- Palviainen, Teemu;
- Pare, Guillaume;
- Paternoster, Lavinia;
- Peltonen, Leena;
- Penninx, Brenda WJH;
- Polasek, Ozren;
- Pramstaller, Peter P;
- Prokopenko, Inga;
- Raikkonen, Katri;
- Ripatti, Samuli;
- Rivadeneira, Fernando;
- Rudan, Igor;
- Rujescu, Dan;
- Smit, Johannes H;
- Smith, George Davey;
- Smoller, Jordan W;
- Soranzo, Nicole;
- Spector, Tim D;
- Pourcain, Beate St;
- Starr, John M;
- Stefánsson, Hreinn;
- Steinberg, Stacy;
- Teder-Laving, Maris;
- Thorleifsson, Gudmar;
- Stefánsson, Kári;
- Timpson, Nicholas J;
- Uitterlinden, André G;
- van Duijn, Cornelia M;
- van Rooij, Frank JA;
- Vink, Jaqueline M;
- Vollenweider, Peter;
- Vuoksimaa, Eero;
- Waeber, Gérard;
- Wareham, Nicholas J;
- Warrington, Nicole;
- Waterworth, Dawn;
- Werge, Thomas;
- Wichmann, H-Erich;
- Widen, Elisabeth;
- Willemsen, Gonneke;
- Wright, Alan F;
- Wright, Margaret J;
- Xu, Mousheng;
- Zhao, Jing Hua;
- Kraft, Peter;
- Hinds, David A;
- Lindgren, Cecilia M;
- Mägi, Reedik;
- Neale, Benjamin M;
- Evans, David M;
- Medland, Sarah E
- et al.
Published Web Location
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-00956-yAbstract
Handedness has been extensively studied because of its relationship with language and the over-representation of left-handers in some neurodevelopmental disorders. Using data from the UK Biobank, 23andMe and the International Handedness Consortium, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of handedness (N = 1,766,671). We found 41 loci associated (P < 5 × 10-8) with left-handedness and 7 associated with ambidexterity. Tissue-enrichment analysis implicated the CNS in the aetiology of handedness. Pathways including regulation of microtubules and brain morphology were also highlighted. We found suggestive positive genetic correlations between left-handedness and neuropsychiatric traits, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Furthermore, the genetic correlation between left-handedness and ambidexterity is low (rG = 0.26), which implies that these traits are largely influenced by different genetic mechanisms. Our findings suggest that handedness is highly polygenic and that the genetic variants that predispose to left-handedness may underlie part of the association with some psychiatric disorders.
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