Several studies have illustrated that psychopathologies show a deviation from normal developmental trajectories. In the present longitudinal study, twins were scanned with a narrow age range at 9 and at 12 years old. Using this longitudinal genetic informative sample, we were able to disentangle different genetic mechanisms that underlie individual differences in developmental brain changes over time.; Are there agespecific genetic factors, or do the same genetic factors act at both ages?
Meta-analyses estimate a statistical effect size for a test or an analysis by combining results from multiple studies without necessarily having access to each individual study's raw data. Multi-site meta-analysis is crucial for imaging genetics, as single sites rarely have a sample size large enough to pick up effects of single genetic variants associated with brain measures. However, if raw data can be shared, combining data in a is thought to improve power and precision in estimating global effects. As part of an ENIGMA-DTI investigation, we use fractional anisotropy (FA) maps from 5 studies (total N=2, 203 subjects, aged 9-85) to estimate heritability. We combine the studies through meta-and mega-analyses as well as a mixture of the two - combining some cohorts with mega-analysis and meta-analyzing the results with those of the remaining sites. A combination of mega-and meta-approaches may boost power compared to meta-analysis alone.