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Genome-wide association study identifies 48 common genetic variants associated with handedness.

Nature human behaviour

Authors: Gabriel Cuellar-Partida, Joyce Y Tung, Nicholas Eriksson, Eva Albrecht, Fazil Aliev, Ole A Andreassen, Inês Barroso, Jacques S Beckmann, Marco P Boks, Dorret I Boomsma, Heather A Boyd, Monique M B Breteler, Harry Campbell, Daniel I Chasman, Lynn F Cherkas, Gail Davies, Eco J C de Geus, Ian J Deary, Panos Deloukas, Danielle M Dick, David L Duffy, Johan G Eriksson, Tõnu Esko, Bjarke Feenstra, Frank Geller, Christian Gieger, Ina Giegling, Scott D Gordon, Jiali Han, Thomas F Hansen, Annette M Hartmann, Caroline Hayward, Kauko Heikkilä, Andrew A Hicks, Joel N Hirschhorn, Jouke-Jan Hottenga, Jennifer E Huffman, Liang-Dar Hwang, M Arfan Ikram, Jaakko Kaprio, John P Kemp, Kay-Tee Khaw, Norman Klopp, Bettina Konte, Zoltan Kutalik, Jari Lahti, Xin Li, Ruth J F Loos, Michelle Luciano, Sigurdur H Magnusson, Massimo Mangino, Pedro Marques-Vidal, Nicholas G Martin, Wendy L McArdle, Mark I McCarthy, Carolina Medina-Gomez, Mads Melbye, Scott A Melville, Andres Metspalu, Lili Milani, Vincent Mooser, Mari Nelis, Dale R Nyholt, Kevin S O'Connell, Roel A Ophoff, Cameron Palmer, Aarno Palotie, Teemu Palviainen, Guillaume Pare, Lavinia Paternoster, Leena Peltonen, Brenda W J H Penninx, Ozren Polasek, Peter P Pramstaller, Inga Prokopenko, Katri Raikkonen, Samuli Ripatti, Fernando Rivadeneira, Igor Rudan, Dan Rujescu, Johannes H Smit, George Davey Smith, Jordan W Smoller, Nicole Soranzo, Tim D Spector, Beate St Pourcain, John M Starr, Hreinn Stefánsson, Stacy Steinberg, Maris Teder-Laving, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Kári Stefánsson, Nicholas J Timpson, André G Uitterlinden, Cornelia M van Duijn, Frank J A van Rooij, Jaqueline M Vink, Peter Vollenweider, Eero Vuoksimaa, Gérard Waeber, Nicholas J Wareham, Nicole Warrington, Dawn Waterworth, Thomas Werge, H-Erich Wichmann, Elisabeth Widen, Gonneke Willemsen, Alan F Wright, Margaret J Wright, Mousheng Xu, Jing Hua Zhao, Peter Kraft, David A Hinds, Cecilia M Lindgren, Reedik Mägi, Benjamin M Neale, David M Evans, Sarah E Medland

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) 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 (r = 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.

PMID: 32989287

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