Neurogenomics – towards a more rigorous science

Abstract

OverviewThe field of neurogenomics is coming of age, but not without some teething problems. The aim of this field is to understand the genetic basis of differences in brain structure and function, which in turn underlie differences in behaviour, cognition, perception, mood and other psychological faculties, as well as susceptibility to psychiatric disorders. Both imaging and genomic technologies are now being applied on a very large scale, greatly boosting the potential power of this combined approach. However, the field is lagging behind some others in the degree of rigour and quality control that is demanded. Past practices have yielded a literature hopelessly polluted with spurious findings. To make real progress, the field will have to learn from these mistakes and adopt more rigorous standards. In addition, our emerging understanding of the genetic architecture of psychological traits or psychiatric disorders has important implications for the design and interpretation of imaging and neurogenomics experiments.

Oxytocin Receptor Gene Polymorphisms and Early Parental Bonding Interact in Shaping Instagram Social Behavior

“…First of all, the sample size was determined by study constraints and had a prevalence of the female gender. In the last decade, genetic association studies with limited sample sizes have become the target of increasing concerns related to the small variance explained in variables by one single-nucleotide polymorphisms (i.e., OXTr rs53576) [ 113 , 114 ]. However, given the difficulty of unraveling the nature of a given psychological construct (i.e., online social behavior) in a gene-environment perspective, the same experts of the fields cannot provide a definitive and unique solution to this implicit limitation [ 113 ].…”

Mapping causal pathways from genetics to neuropsychiatric disorders using genome‐wide imaging genetics: Current status and future directions

“…The genetic correlations approach one, indicating an almost complete shared genetic basis between meta‐analysis and one‐site analysis . A lack of strict statistical thresholds or requirements for replication have led to many publications without reproducible associations . We make the assertion that brain‐imaging traits are not special; hence, genetic associations to brain‐imaging traits are subject to the same statistical thresholds and replication criteria as all other traits.…”

“…74 A lack of strict statistical thresholds or requirements for replication have led to many publications without reproducible associations. [75][76][77] We make the assertion that brainimaging traits are not special; hence, genetic associations to brain-imaging traits are subject to the same statistical thresholds and replication criteria as all other traits. With this in mind, here we focus on imaging genetic findings from large sample sizes reported by consortia.…”

The neuronal migration hypothesis of dyslexia: A critical evaluation 30 years on

“…In particular, it has been shown that, in the context of GWASs, candidate genes for schizophrenia do not show stronger signals than non‐candidates (Johnson et al., ). Nonetheless, important challenges remain in neurogenomics more generally, not only in the study of language, as highlighted by Mitchell ().…”