Mendelian randomization studies of brain MRI yield insights into the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders

Background: Observational studies have identified various associations between neuroimaging alterations and neuropsychiatric disorders. However, whether such associations could truly reflect causal relations remains still unknown. Results: Here, we leveraged genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary statistics for (1) 11 psychiatric disorders (sample sizes varied from n = 9,725 to 1,331,010); (2) 110 diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measurement (sample size n = 17,706); (3) 101 region-of-interest (ROI) volumes, and investigate the causal relationship between brain structures and neuropsychiatric disorders by two-sample Mendelian randomization. Among all DTI-Disorder combinations, we observed a significant causal association between the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) and the risk of Anorexia nervosa (AN) (Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.62, 95 % confidence interval: 0.50 similar to 0.76, P = 6.4 x 10(-6)). Similar significant associations were also observed between the body of the corpus callosum (fractional anisotropy) and Alzheimer's disease (OR = 1.07, 95 % CI: 1.03 similar to 1.11, P = 4.1 x 10(-5)). By combining all observations, we found that the overall p-value for DTI - Disorder associations was significantly elevated compared to the null distribution (Kolmogorov-Smirnov P = 0.009, inflation factor lambda = 1.37), especially for DTI - Bipolar disorder (BP) (lambda = 2.64) and DTI - AN (lambda = 1.82). In contrast, for ROI-Disorder combinations, we only found a significant association between the brain region of pars triangularis and Schizophrenia (OR = 0.48, 95 % CI: 0.34 similar to 0.69, P = 5.9 x 10(-5)) and no overall p-value elevation for ROI-Disorder analysis compared to the null expectation. Conclusions: As a whole, we show that SLF degeneration may be a risk factor for AN, while DTI variations could be causally related to some neuropsychiatric disorders, such as BP and AN. Also, the white matter structure might have a larger impact on neuropsychiatric disorders than subregion volumes.

Automated summary

The study identified causal relationships between brain structures and neuropsychiatric disorders using Mendelian randomization, finding that SLF degeneration may be a risk factor for AN, and DTI variations could be causally related to disorders like BP and AN. White matter structure may have a larger impact on neuropsychiatric disorders than subregion volumes.