Dosage effects of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on cortical surface area and functional connectivity

The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that leads to a valine-to-methionine substitution at codon 66 (Val66Met) in BDNF is correlated with differences in cognitive and memory functions, as well as with several neurological and psychiatric disorders. MRI studies have already shown that this genetic variant contributes to changes in cortical thickness and volume, but whether the Val66Met polymorphism affects the cortical surface area of healthy subjects remains unclear. Here, we used multimodal MRI to study whether this polymorphism would affect the cortical morphology and resting-state functional connectivity of a large sample of healthy Han Chinese human subjects. An SNP-wise general linear model analysis revealed a "dosage effect" of the Met allele, specifically a stepwise increase in cortical surface area of the right anterior insular cortex with increasing numbers of the Met allele. Moreover, we found enhanced functional connectivity between the anterior insular and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortices that was linked with the dosage of the Met allele. In conclusion, these data demonstrated a "dosage effect" of BDNF Val66Met on normal cortical structure and function, suggesting a new path for exploring the mechanisms underlying the effects of genotype on cognition.