Project Details
Projekt
Imaging genetics and epigenetics in alcohol use disorder
Applicants
Dr. Eva Friedel; Professor Dr. Henrik Walter
Subject Area
Biological Psychiatry
Term
from 2015 to 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 186318919
Alcohol dependence (AD) and harmful use are partially heritable with an estimated contribution of genetics to phenotypic variance of between 40-60%. Recent large genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified specific genetic variants, however such association studies require extremely large sample sizes. The combination of genetics and imaging data (referred to as imaging genetics) facilitates the identification of genetic risk variants in considerably smaller sample sizes, such as those collected by our research group. The first goal of this subproject therefore is to identify intermediate phenotypes at the brain level using imaging genetics that can, in a subsequent step, be used for classification or clinical prediction purposes allowing the consideration of genetic as well as epigenetic information. To facilitate this goal, we have collected, but not yet analysed, blood from all subjects in the First Funding Period and will continue to collect such samples within the Second Funding Period. The specific aims of the subproject are: To (i) perform chip-based genome wide genetic analyses of all samples and longitudinal epigenetic analyses of selected candidate genes in patient samples; (ii) to identify and replicate intermediate brain phenotypes based on known risk variants (including polygenetic risk scores and epigenetic information as well as neuroplastic biomarkers such as BDNF) using the standard (voxel based) and a "connectomics" (network based) approach to imaging data, in particular independent component analyses (ICA) and graph theory (GT); (iii) to use the identified intermediate brain phenotypes and epigenetic information for classification and prediction purposes in close collaboration with P07 and P03.
DFG Programme
Research Units
