Home LiteratureArticle Details
PMID: 26998691 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Genetic risk for autism spectrum disorders and neuropsychiatric variation in the general population.

Nature genetics ·Vol. 48 ·No. 5 ·2016-00-00 ·Pages 552-5

Robinson EB, St Pourcain B, Anttila V, Kosmicki JA, Bulik-Sullivan B, Grove J, Maller J, Samocha KE, Sanders SJ, Ripke S, Martin J, Hollegaard MV, Werge T, Hougaard DM, iPSYCH-SSI-Broad Autism Group, Neale BM, Evans DM, Skuse D, Mortensen PB, Børglum AD, Ronald A, Smith GD, Daly MJ

Abstract

Almost all genetic risk factors for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) can be found in the general population, but the effects of this risk are unclear in people not ascertained for neuropsychiatric symptoms. Using several large ASD consortium and population-based resources (total n > 38,000), we find genome-wide genetic links between ASDs and typical variation in social behavior and adaptive functioning. This finding is evidenced through both LD score correlation and de novo variant analysis, indicating that multiple types of genetic risk for ASDs influence a continuum of behavioral and developmental traits, the severe tail of which can result in diagnosis with an ASD or other neuropsychiatric disorder. A continuum model should inform the design and interpretation of studies of neuropsychiatric disease biology.

MeSH Terms
Adult Autism Spectrum Disorder/genetics Child Communication Disorders/genetics Female Genetic Predisposition to Disease Genetic Variation Genetics, Population Genome-Wide Association Study Health Status Indicators Humans Male Mental Disorders/genetics
Authors & Affiliations
23 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Robinson Elise B
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. | Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
St Pourcain Beate
Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. | Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Anttila Verneri ORCID
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. | Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Kosmicki Jack A
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. | Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Center for Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Bulik-Sullivan Brendan
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. | Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Grove Jakob
Department of Biomedicine-Human Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. | Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Copenhagen, Denmark. | Centre for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. | Bioinformatics Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Maller Julian
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. | Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Samocha Kaitlin E
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. | Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Program in Genetics and Genomics, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Sanders Stephan J ORCID
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Ripke Stephan
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. | Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
Martin Joanna
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. | Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Hollegaard Mads V
Center for Neonatal Screening, Department for Congenital Disorders, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Werge Thomas
Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Copenhagen, Denmark. | Institute of Biological Psychiatry, Mental Health Center Sct. Hans, Mental Health Services Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. | Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Hougaard David M
Center for Neonatal Screening, Department for Congenital Disorders, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
iPSYCH-SSI-Broad Autism Group
Neale Benjamin M ORCID
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. | Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Evans David M
Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. | Diamantina Institute, Translational Research Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Skuse David
Behavioural Sciences Unit, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK.
Mortensen Preben Bo
Department of Biomedicine-Human Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. | Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Copenhagen, Denmark. | National Centre for Register-based Research, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark.
Børglum Anders D
Department of Biomedicine-Human Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. | Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Copenhagen, Denmark. | Centre for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Ronald Angelica
Department of Psychological Sciences, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck University of London, London, UK.
Smith George Davey
Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Daly Mark J ORCID
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. | Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. | Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Investigators
20 investigators, click to expand
Als Thomas D
Baekvad-Hansen Marie
Belliveau Richard
Demontis Ditte
Dumont Ashley
Goldstein Jacqueline
Grauholm Jonas
Hansen Christine S
Hansen Thomas F
Howrigan Daniel
Lescai Francesco
Mattheisen Manuel
Moran Jennifer
Mors Ole
Nordentoft Merete
Norgaard-Pedersen Bent
Poterba Timothy
Poulsen Jesper
Stevens Christine
Walters Raymond
References (30)
30 references, click to expand
  1. Cohort Profile: the 'children of the 90s'--the index offspring of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.
    Int J Epidemiol. 2013 Feb;42(1):111-27 PMID: 22507743
  2. The cognitive and behavioral phenotype of the 16p11.2 deletion in a clinically ascertained population.
    Biol Psychiatry. 2015 May 1;77(9):785-93 PMID: 25064419
  3. Contrasting genetic architectures of schizophrenia and other complex diseases using fast variance-components analysis.
    Nat Genet. 2015 Dec;47(12):1385-92 PMID: 26523775
  4. Stability of autistic traits in the general population: further evidence for a continuum of impairment.
    J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2011 Apr;50(4):376-84 PMID: 21421177
  5. Genetic relationship between five psychiatric disorders estimated from genome-wide SNPs.
    Nat Genet. 2013 Sep;45(9):984-94 PMID: 23933821
  6. Cohort Profile: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children: ALSPAC mothers cohort.
    Int J Epidemiol. 2013 Feb;42(1):97-110 PMID: 22507742
  7. Autism spectrum disorder severity reflects the average contribution of de novo and familial influences.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Oct 21;111(42):15161-5 PMID: 25288738
  8. Biological insights from 108 schizophrenia-associated genetic loci.
    Nature. 2014 Jul 24;511(7510):421-7 PMID: 25056061
  9. LD Score regression distinguishes confounding from polygenicity in genome-wide association studies.
    Nat Genet. 2015 Mar;47(3):291-5 PMID: 25642630
  10. A framework for the interpretation of de novo mutation in human disease.
    Nat Genet. 2014 Sep;46(9):944-50 PMID: 25086666
  11. Sibling recurrence and the genetic epidemiology of autism.
    Am J Psychiatry. 2010 Nov;167(11):1349-56 PMID: 20889652
  12. The contribution of de novo coding mutations to autism spectrum disorder.
    Nature. 2014 Nov 13;515(7526):216-21 PMID: 25363768
  13. Copy number variations and cognitive phenotypes in unselected populations.
    JAMA. 2015 May 26;313(20):2044-54 PMID: 26010633
  14. Common disorders are quantitative traits.
    Nat Rev Genet. 2009 Dec;10(12):872-8 PMID: 19859063
  15. Variability in the common genetic architecture of social-communication spectrum phenotypes during childhood and adolescence.
    Mol Autism. 2014 Feb 24;5(1):18 PMID: 24564958
  16. The Simons Simplex Collection: a resource for identification of autism genetic risk factors.
    Neuron. 2010 Oct 21;68(2):192-5 PMID: 20955926
  17. Synaptic, transcriptional and chromatin genes disrupted in autism.
    Nature. 2014 Nov 13;515(7526):209-15 PMID: 25363760
  18. Measuring autistic traits: heritability, reliability and validity of the Social and Communication Disorders Checklist.
    Br J Psychiatry. 2005 Dec;187:568-72 PMID: 16319410
  19. A method and server for predicting damaging missense mutations.
    Nat Methods. 2010 Apr;7(4):248-9 PMID: 20354512
  20. An atlas of genetic correlations across human diseases and traits.
    Nat Genet. 2015 Nov;47(11):1236-41 PMID: 26414676
  21. Most genetic risk for autism resides with common variation.
    Nat Genet. 2014 Aug;46(8):881-5 PMID: 25038753
  22. Genetic heterogeneity between the three components of the autism spectrum: a twin study.
    J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2006 Jun;45(6):691-9 PMID: 16721319
  23. Robustness of genome-wide scanning using archived dried blood spot samples as a DNA source.
    BMC Genet. 2011 Jul 04;12:58 PMID: 21726430
  24. Autism spectrum disorders and autistic like traits: similar etiology in the extreme end and the normal variation.
    Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012 Jan;69(1):46-52 PMID: 22213788
  25. Evidence that autistic traits show the same etiology in the general population and at the quantitative extremes (5%, 2.5%, and 1%).
    Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2011 Nov;68(11):1113-21 PMID: 22065527
  26. GCTA: a tool for genome-wide complex trait analysis.
    Am J Hum Genet. 2011 Jan 7;88(1):76-82 PMID: 21167468
  27. The role of parental cognitive, behavioral, and motor profiles in clinical variability in individuals with chromosome 16p11.2 deletions.
    JAMA Psychiatry. 2015 Feb;72(2):119-26 PMID: 25493922
  28. Excess of rare, inherited truncating mutations in autism.
    Nat Genet. 2015 Jun;47(6):582-8 PMID: 25961944
  29. Genome-wide study of association and interaction with maternal cytomegalovirus infection suggests new schizophrenia loci.
    Mol Psychiatry. 2014 Mar;19(3):325-33 PMID: 23358160
  30. CNVs conferring risk of autism or schizophrenia affect cognition in controls.
    Nature. 2014 Jan 16;505(7483):361-6 PMID: 24352232
Article Info
Journal
Nature genetics
Abbr.
Nat Genet
ISSN
1546-1718
Published
2016-00-00
Epub
2016-00-21
Pages
552-5
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
9216904
PMCID
PMC4986048
Subset
IM
Grants
NIMH NIH HHS · K01 MH099286 · United States
Wellcome Trust · 102215 · United Kingdom
Medical Research Council · MC_PC_15018 · United Kingdom
Medical Research Council · MC_UU_12013/1 · United Kingdom
Medical Research Council · MC_UU_12013/4 · United Kingdom
NIMH NIH HHS · U01 MH094432 · United States
Medical Research Council · G9815508 · United Kingdom
Corrections
CommentIn
Analysis Services
Analysis Services

Contact

No. 2 Wenbo Road, Zhangqiu District, Jinan, Shandong

Qilu Normal University · Genelibs Bioinformatics Lab

750 Shunhua Rd, Jinan

2F, Bldg F, University Science Park

Tel: 0531-88819269

WeChat Official Account

Follow our WeChat subscription account for real-time updates and the latest in medical and biological research.


Business Email

E-mail: [email protected]