{"id":221374,"date":"2025-06-28T13:04:04","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T13:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/221374\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T13:04:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T13:04:04","slug":"new-study-reveals-genetic-link-between-brain-criticality-and-human-cognition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/221374\/","title":{"rendered":"New study reveals genetic link between brain criticality and human cognition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"New<\/p>\n

Schematic diagram of the heritability estimation pipeline for critical dynamics. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073\/pnas.2417010122<\/p>\n

A new study has revealed compelling evidence that brain criticality\u2014a dynamic balance between neural excitation and inhibition\u2014has a strong genetic foundation and is associated with cognitive performance. The research was published<\/a> on June 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n

Led by Prof. Liu Ning from the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Prof. Yu Shan from the Institute of Automation of CAS, the team analyzed resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) data from the Human Connectome Project S1200 release. The dataset included 250 monozygotic twins<\/a>, 142 dizygotic twins<\/a>, and 437 unrelated individuals, providing a robust framework for examining the heritability of critical brain dynamics.<\/p>\n

The results showed that brain criticality is significantly influenced by genetic factors<\/a>, with stronger genetic effects observed in primary sensory cortices compared to higher-order association regions. These findings suggest that the capacity of the brain to maintain near-critical dynamics\u2014previously associated with optimal information processing and cognitive flexibility\u2014is, to a substantial degree, inherited.<\/p>\n

By integrating rs-fMRI data with transcriptional profiles from the Allen Human Brain Atlas, the researchers further identified gene expression patterns that explain regional criticality and are enriched in biological processes linked to brain disorders.<\/p>\n

Crucially, the team uncovered a shared genetic basis between brain criticality and cognitive performance<\/a>, offering new insights into how genetics may support optimal brain function.<\/p>\n

“Maintaining criticality is essential for brain function,” said Prof. Liu. “Uncovering its genetic basis opens new directions for understanding cognition and neurological disease.”<\/p>\n

This work lays the foundation for future research into the molecular mechanisms<\/a> behind critical brain dynamics and their implications for brain health.<\/p>\n

More information:<\/strong>
\n Yumeng Xin et al, Genetic contributions to brain criticality and its relationship with human cognitive functions, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073\/pnas.2417010122<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChinese Academy of Sciences<\/a>
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Citation<\/strong>:
\n New study reveals genetic link between brain criticality and human cognition (2025, June 25)
\n retrieved 28 June 2025
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2025-06-reveals-genetic-link-brain-criticality.html\n <\/p>\n

\n This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
\n part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Schematic diagram of the heritability estimation pipeline for critical dynamics. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3846],"tags":[267,1555,1554,1556,1553,1552,1557,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-221374","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-health-research","10":"tag-health-research-news","11":"tag-health-science","12":"tag-medicine-research","13":"tag-medicine-research-news","14":"tag-medicine-science","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}