A longitudinal study of the effects of polymorphisms in Disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) found that rates of cortical thinning associated with maturation varied by genotype (see Fig. 6) (Raznahan et al. 2010). Leu607Phe and Ser704Cys are two common polymorphisms within DISC1 that have been specifically linked both to cortical structure, and to disorders such as schizophrenia and autism that are related to neurodevelopmental abnormalities. In this analysis, 598 scans were obtained from 255 typically developing individuals between the ages of nine and 22 years. The Phe607Car genotype showed less cortical thinning than the LeuLeu genotype in superior frontal and temporal regions, while the Ser704Ser phenotype had accelerated thinning compared to the Ser704Cys in areas within the temporal lobes. Both genotypes also showed fixed effects on cortical thickness that did not vary by age across broad ranges, with almost 20% of the cortex being affected by polymorphisms in one or the other or both sites.
