Nature vs. nurture in human sociality: multi-level genomic analyses of social conformity

Journal of Human Genetics
Biqing ChenYi Rao

Abstract

Social conformity is fundamental to human societies and has been studied for more than six decades, but our understanding of its mechanisms remains limited. Individual differences in conformity have been attributed to social and cultural environmental influences, but not to genes. Here we demonstrate a genetic contribution to conformity after analyzing 1,140 twins and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based studies of 2,130 young adults. A two-step genome-wide association study (GWAS) revealed replicable associations in 9 genomic loci, and a meta-analysis of three GWAS with a sample size of ~2,600 further confirmed one locus, corresponding to the NAV3 (Neuron Navigator 3) gene which encodes a protein important for axon outgrowth and guidance. Further multi-level (haplotype, gene, pathway) GWAS strongly associated genes including NAV3, PTPRD (protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type D), ARL10 (ADP ribosylation factor-like GTPase 10), and CTNND2 (catenin delta 2), with conformity. Magnetic resonance imaging of 64 subjects shows correlation of activation or structural features of brain regions with the SNPs of these genes, supporting their functional significance. Our results suggest potential moderate genetic influence on co...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 10, 2018·Genes, Brain, and Behavior·Jan VeveraStanislav Kmoch
Aug 1, 2019·European Journal of Human Genetics : EJHG·Zijian ZhuFang Fang
Feb 6, 2020·Twin Research and Human Genetics : the Official Journal of the International Society for Twin Studies·Xiaohu DingMingguang He

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
genotyping
chip
PCA
GTPase

Software Mentioned

R
xjView
Statistical Parametric Mapping ( SPM12
LocusZoom
PANTHER
Gates
VEGAS
FreeSurfer
BIOCARTA
Psychotoolbox

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