Association of Copy Number Variation of the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 Region With Cortical and Subcortical Morphology and Cognition
Authors: Dennis van der Meer, Ida E. Sønderby, Tobias Kaufmann, G. Bragi Walters, Abdel Abdellaoui, David Ames, Katrin Amunts, Micael Andersson, Nicola J. Armstrong, Manon Bernard, Nicholas B. Blackburn, John Blangero, Dorret I. Boomsma, Henry Brodaty, Rachel M. Brouwer, Robin Bülow, Wiepke Cahn, Vince D. Calhoun, Svenja Caspers, Gianpiero L. Cavalleri, Christopher R. K. Ching, Sven Cichon, Simone Ciufolini, Aiden Corvin, Benedicto Crespo-Facorro, Joanne E. Curran, Shareefa Dalvie, Paola Dazzan, Eco J. C. de Geus, Greig I. de Zubicaray, Sonja M. C. de Zwarte, Norman Delanty, Anouk den Braber, Sylvane Desrivieres, Marta Di Forti, Joanne L. Doherty, Gary Donohoe, Stefan Ehrlich, Else Eising, Thomas Espeseth, Simon E. Fisher, Tormod Fladby, Oleksandr Frei, Vincent Frouin, Masaki Fukunaga, Thomas Gareau, David C. Glahn, Hans J. Grabe, Nynke A. Groenewold, Ómar Gústafsson, Jan Haavik, Asta K. Haberg, Ryota Hashimoto, Jayne Y. Hehir-Kwa, Derrek P. Hibar, Manon H. J. Hillegers, Per Hoffmann, Laurena Holleran, Jouke-Jan Hottenga, Hilleke E. Hulshoff Pol, Masashi Ikeda, Sébastien Jacquemont, Neda Jahanshad, Christiane Jockwitz, Stefan Johansson, Erik G. Jönsson, Masataka Kikuchi, Emma E. M. Knowles, John B. Kwok, Stephanie Le Hellard, David E. J. Linden, Jingyu Liu, Arvid Lundervold, Astri J. Lundervold, Nicholas G. Martin, Karen A. Mather, Samuel R. Mathias, Katie L. McMahon, Allan F. McRae, Sarah E. Medland, Torgeir Moberget, Clara Moreau, Derek W. Morris, Thomas W. Mühleisen, Robin M. Murray, Jan E. Nordvik, Lars Nyberg, Loes M. Olde Loohuis, Roel A. Ophoff, Michael J. Owen, Tomas Paus, Zdenka Pausova, Juan M. Peralta, Bruce Pike, Carlos Prieto, Erin Burke Quinlan, Céline S. Reinbold, Tiago Reis Marques, James J. H. Rucker, Perminder S. Sachdev, Sigrid B. Sando, Peter R. Schofield, Andrew J. Schork, Gunter Schumann, Jean Shin, Elena Shumskaya, Ana I. Silva, Sanjay M. Sisodiya, Vidar M. Steen, Dan J. Stein, Lachlan T. Strike, Christian K. Tamnes, Alexander Teumer, Anbupalam Thalamuthu, Diana Tordesillas-Gutiérrez, Anne Uhlmann, Magnús Ö. Úlfarsson, Dennis van ’t Ent, Marianne B. M. van den Bree, Evangelos Vassos, Wei Wen, Katharina Wittfeld, Margaret J. Wright, Tetyana Zayats, Anders M. Dale, Srdjan Djurovic, Ingrid Agartz, Lars T. Westlye, Hreinn Stefánsson, Kári Stefánsson, Paul M. Thompson, Ole A. Andreassen
Journal: JAMA Psychiatry (2019)

<h3>Importance</h3> Recurrent microdeletions and duplications in the genomic region 15q11.2 between breakpoints 1 (BP1) and 2 (BP2) are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. These structural variants are present in 0.5% to 1.0% of the population, making 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 the site of the most prevalent known pathogenic copy number variation (CNV). It is unknown to what extent this CNV influences brain structure and affects cognitive abilities. <h3>Objective</h3> To determine the association of the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 deletion and duplication CNVs with cortical and subcortical brain morphology and cognitive task performance. <h3>Design, Setting, and Participants</h3> In this genetic association study, T1-weighted brain magnetic resonance imaging were combined with genetic data from the ENIGMA-CNV consortium and the UK Biobank, with a replication cohort from Iceland. In total, 203 deletion carriers, 45 247 noncarriers, and 306 duplication carriers were included. Data were collected from August 2015 to April 2019, and data were analyzed from September 2018 to September 2019. <h3>Main Outcomes and Measures</h3> The associations of the CNV with global and regional measures of surface area and cortical thickness as well as subcortical volumes were investigated, correcting for age, age<sup>2</sup>, sex, scanner, and intracranial volume. Additionally, measures of cognitive ability were analyzed in the full UK Biobank cohort. <h3>Results</h3> Of 45 756 included individuals, the mean (SD) age was 55.8 (18.3) years, and 23 754 (51.9%) were female. Compared with noncarriers, deletion carriers had a lower surface area (Cohen<i>d</i> = −0.41; SE, 0.08;<i>P</i> = 4.9 × 10<sup>−8</sup>), thicker cortex (Cohen<i>d</i> = 0.36; SE, 0.07;<i>P</i> = 1.3 × 10<sup>−7</sup>), and a smaller nucleus accumbens (Cohen<i>d</i> = −0.27; SE, 0.07;<i>P</i> = 7.3 × 10<sup>−5</sup>). There was also a significant negative dose response on cortical thickness (β = −0.24; SE, 0.05;<i>P</i> = 6.8 × 10<sup>−7</sup>). Regional cortical analyses showed a localization of the effects to the frontal, cingulate, and parietal lobes. Further, cognitive ability was lower for deletion carriers compared with noncarriers on 5 of 7 tasks. <h3>Conclusions and Relevance</h3> These findings, from the largest CNV neuroimaging study to date, provide evidence that 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 structural variation is associated with brain morphology and cognition, with deletion carriers being particularly affected. The pattern of results fits with known molecular functions of genes in the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 region and suggests involvement of these genes in neuronal plasticity. These neurobiological effects likely contribute to the association of this CNV with neurodevelopmental disorders.