PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hilleke E. Hulshoff Pol
AU  - Hugo G. Schnack
AU  - Danielle Posthuma
AU  - René C. W. Mandl
AU  - Wim F. Baaré
AU  - Clarine van Oel
AU  - Neeltje E. van Haren
AU  - D. Louis Collins
AU  - Alan C. Evans
AU  - Katrin Amunts
AU  - Uli Bürgel
AU  - Karl Zilles
AU  - Eco de Geus
AU  - Dorret I. Boomsma
AU  - René S. Kahn
TI  - Genetic Contributions to Human Brain Morphology and Intelligence
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1312-06.2006
DP  - 2006 Oct 04
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 10235--10242
VI  - 26
IP  - 40
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/26/40/10235.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/26/40/10235.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2006 Oct 04; 26
AB  - Variation in gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volume of the adult human brain is primarily genetically determined. Moreover, total brain volume is positively correlated with general intelligence, and both share a common genetic origin. However, although genetic effects on morphology of specific GM areas in the brain have been studied, the heritability of focal WM is unknown. Similarly, it is unresolved whether there is a common genetic origin of focal GM and WM structures with intelligence. We explored the genetic influence on focal GM and WM densities in magnetic resonance brain images of 54 monozygotic and 58 dizygotic twin pairs and 34 of their siblings. For genetic analyses, we used structural equation modeling and voxel-based morphometry. To explore the common genetic origin of focal GM and WM areas with intelligence, we obtained cross-trait/cross-twin correlations in which the focal GM and WM densities of each twin are correlated with the psychometric intelligence quotient of his/her cotwin. Genes influenced individual differences in left and right superior occipitofrontal fascicle (heritability up to 0.79 and 0.77), corpus callosum (0.82, 0.80), optic radiation (0.69, 0.79), corticospinal tract (0.78, 0.79), medial frontal cortex (0.78, 0.83), superior frontal cortex (0.76, 0.80), superior temporal cortex (0.80, 0.77), left occipital cortex (0.85), left postcentral cortex (0.83), left posterior cingulate cortex (0.83), right parahippocampal cortex (0.69), and amygdala (0.80, 0.55). Intelligence shared a common genetic origin with superior occipitofrontal, callosal, and left optical radiation WM and frontal, occipital, and parahippocampal GM (phenotypic correlations up to 0.35). These findings point to a neural network that shares a common genetic origin with human intelligence.