Linked Life Data

11844738

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/11844738

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
Pt 2
pubmed:dateCreated
2002-2-14
pubmed:abstractText
Twin studies are important to investigate genetic influences on variation in human brain morphology in health and disease. However, the twin method has been criticized for its alleged non-generalizability due to differences in the intrauterine and family environment of twins, compared with singletons. To test whether twin-singleton differences complicate interpretation of genetic contributions on variation in brain volume, brains from 112 pairs of twins and 34 of their siblings with a mean (standard deviation) age of 30.7 (9.6) years were scanned using MRI. The influence of birth order, zygosity and twin-sibling differences on brain volume measures was analysed using maximum-likelihood model fitting. Variances were homogeneous across birth order, zygosity and twin-singleton status. Irrespective of zygosity, intracranial volume was smaller in second-born twins compared with first-born twins and compared with siblings. Grey matter volume was smaller in second-born twins compared with first-born twins. White matter was smaller in twins compared with siblings. Differences in grey and white matter between these groups were no longer significant after correction for intracranial volume. Total brain, and lateral and third ventricle volumes were comparable in twins and singletons. In conclusion, second-born twins have a smaller intracranial volume than their first-born co-twins and siblings. This suggests aberrant early brain development in second-born twins, which is consistent with the suboptimal pre- and perinatal environment related to birth order in twins. Since other brain volume measures were comparable between the groups, twin studies can provide reliable estimates of heritabilities in brain volume measures and these can be generalized to the singleton population.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
AIM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
0006-8950
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
125
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
384-90
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2002
pubmed:articleTitle
Twin-singleton differences in brain structure using structural equation modelling.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands. h.e.hulshoff@azu.nl
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study