The impact of early adversity on the cerebral cortex - a Mendelian randomization study
Researchers used UK Biobank genetic summary data for six early-life characteristics, including reported childhood adoption, and separate ENIGMA brain-structure data. Mendelian-randomisation analyses found no global cortical association, but genetic predictors of reported adoption showed nominal associations with thickness in several brain regions.
Limitations: Genetic predictors of a social exposure are not a direct experiment on adoption, and the results do not establish that adoption caused brain changes. The reported regional findings were nominally significant across many tests. The analysis used European-ancestry samples and different exposure and imaging datasets. The authors group adoption with adversity; that categorisation does not demonstrate harm in every adoption. The 360,450 adoption-variable participants are the whole genetic-analysis sample, not the number of adoptees.
- Research type
- Genetic instrumental-variable study
- Source reviewed
- Full text
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Age group
- Adults / Older adults
Study context and review
Age group as recorded: Adults / older adults
Adoption context: Mixed adoption pathways
Programme: UK Biobank
Institutional context: No relationship identified in the material checked
No adoption-sector organisational relationship identified from metadata reviewed. Funding and conflicts were not comprehensively audited; this is not confirmation of institutional independence.
Bibliographic screening. Bibliographic relationships are not a bias or safety rating.
Topics: adult outcomes, brain development, genetics, research methodology
Review scope: Source checked: Full text. This does not imply full-text or independent human verification.
Country as recorded: United Kingdom
- Funding
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Commissioner
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Funder role
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Declared conflicts
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Recruitment
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Adoptee involvement
- Not yet checked for this entry
Entry: study_ed40c33ad4ea3c69