Genome-wide association study identifies 48 common genetic variants associated with handedness.
Gabriel Cuellar-PartidaJoyce Y TungNicholas ErikssonEva AlbrechtFazil AlievOle Andreas AndreassenInês A BarrosoJacques S BeckmannMarco P M BoksDorret I BoomsmaHeather Allison BoydMonique M B BretelerHarry CampbellDaniel I ChasmanLynn F CherkasGail DaviesEco J C N de GeusIan J DearyPanagiotis DeloukasDanielle M DickDavid L DuffyJohan G ErikssonTõnu EskoBjarke FeenstraFrank GellerChristian GiegerIna GieglingScott D GordonJiali HanThomas Folkmann HansenAnnette M HartmannCaroline HaywardKauko HeikkiläAndrew A HicksJoel N HirschhornJouke- Jan HottengaJennifer E HuffmanLiang-Dar HwangMohammad Arfan IkramJaakko A KaprioJohn P KempKay-Tee KhawNorman KloppBettina KonteZoltán KutalikJari M T LahtiXin LiRuth J F LoosMichelle LucianoSigurður H MagnussonMassimo ManginoPedro-Manuel Marques-VidalNicholas G MartinWendy L McArdleMark I McCarthyCarolina Medina-GomezMads MelbyeScott A MelvilleAndres MetspaluLili A MilaniVincent MooserMari NelisDale R NyholtKevin Sean O'ConnellRoel A OphoffCameron PalmerAarno PalotieTeemu PalviainenGuillaume ParéLavinia PaternosterLeena PeltonenBrenda W J H PenninxOzren PolasekPeter P PramstallerInga ProkopenkoKatri RaikkonenSamuli RipattiFernando RivadeneiraIgor RudanDan RujescuJohannes H SmitGeorge Davey SmithJordan W SmollerNicole SoranzoTimothy D SpectorBeate St PourcainJohn M StarrHreinn StefánssonStacy SteinbergMaris Teder-LavingGudmar ThorleifssonKári StefánssonNicholas John TimpsonAndre G UitterlindenCornelia M van DuijnFrank J A van RooijJacqueline M VinkPeter VollenweiderEero VuoksimaaGérard WaeberNicholas J WarehamNicole M WarringtonDawn WaterworthThomas M WergeH-Erich WichmannElisabeth WidenGonneke WillemsenAlan F WrightMargaret J WrightMousheng XuJing Hua ZhaoPeter KraftDavid A HindsCecilia M LindgrenReedik MägiBenjamin M NealeDavid M EvansSarah E MedlandPublished in: Nature human behaviour (2020)
Handedness has been extensively studied because of its relationship with language and the over-representation of left-handers in some neurodevelopmental disorders. Using data from the UK Biobank, 23andMe and the International Handedness Consortium, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of handedness (N = 1,766,671). We found 41 loci associated (P < 5 × 10-8) with left-handedness and 7 associated with ambidexterity. Tissue-enrichment analysis implicated the CNS in the aetiology of handedness. Pathways including regulation of microtubules and brain morphology were also highlighted. We found suggestive positive genetic correlations between left-handedness and neuropsychiatric traits, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Furthermore, the genetic correlation between left-handedness and ambidexterity is low (rG = 0.26), which implies that these traits are largely influenced by different genetic mechanisms. Our findings suggest that handedness is highly polygenic and that the genetic variants that predispose to left-handedness may underlie part of the association with some psychiatric disorders.