Approved Research

Using polygenic risk scores, calculated from the largest GWAS to date, as proxy-phenotypes for the brain disorders

Lay summary

The study of brain pathologies associated with aging usually relies on case-control samples, with limited sample size. Population samples such as the UKB, suffer from a healthy bias, which limits studying clinical status. We propose to use polygenic risk scores, calculated from the largest GWAS to date, as proxy-phenotypes for the brain disorders. Such scores should be superior to self-reported family history, collected as part of the UKB. Further meta-analyses of the results obtained on the UKB and smaller clinical samples, should shed light on the brain regions associated with the disorders, but may also result in an improved risk prediction from brain MRI.