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Genome-wide association analyses of risk tolerance and risky behaviors in over 1 million individuals identify hundreds of loci and shared genetic influences

  • Social Science Genetic Association Consortium
  • , 23and Me Research Team
  • , eQTLGen Consortium
  • , International Cannabis Consortium

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Humans vary substantially in their willingness to take risks. In a combined sample of over 1 million individuals, we conducted genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of general risk tolerance, adventurousness, and risky behaviors in the driving, drinking, smoking, and sexual domains. Across all GWAS, we identified hundreds of associated loci, including 99 loci associated with general risk tolerance. We report evidence of substantial shared genetic influences across risk tolerance and the risky behaviors: 46 of the 99 general risk tolerance loci contain a lead SNP for at least one of our other GWAS, and general risk tolerance is genetically correlated (∣r̂ g∣ ~ 0.25 to 0.50) with a range of risky behaviors. Bioinformatics analyses imply that genes near SNPs associated with general risk tolerance are highly expressed in brain tissues and point to a role for glutamatergic and GABAergic neurotransmission. We found no evidence of enrichment for genes previously hypothesized to relate to risk tolerance.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)245-257
Number of pages13
JournalNature Genetics
Volume51
Issue number2
Early online date14 Jan 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2019

Funding

This research was carried out under the auspices of the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium. The research was also conducted using the UK Biobank Resource under application number 11425. The study was supported by funding from the Ragnar Söderberg Foundation (E9/11 and E42/15); the Swedish Research Council (421-2013-1061); the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation; an ERC Consolidator Grant to Philipp Koellinger (647648 EdGe); the Pershing Square Fund of the Foundations of Human Behavior; the Open Philanthropy Project; the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health through grants P01-AG005842, P01-AG005842-20S2, P30-AG012810, and T32-AG000186-23 to the National Bureau of Economic Research and R01-AG042568-02 to the University of Southern California; the government of Canada through Genome Canada and the Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI-152); and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We thank the International Cannabis Consortium, the eQTLgen Consortium, and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium for sharing summary statistics from the GWAS of lifetime cannabis use, eQTL summary statistics, and summary statistics from the GWAS of ADHD, respectively. A full list of acknowledgments is provided in the Supplementary Note.

FundersFunder number
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius Stiftelse samt Tore Browaldhs Stiftelse
Government of Canada
Genome Canada
University of Southern California
National Institutes of Health
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Pershing Square Fund
European Research Council
Vetenskapsrådet421-2013-1061
Ontario Genomics InstituteOGI-152
National Institute on AgingR01AG033678, P30AG010161, R01AG017917, R56AG042568, P01AG005842, T32AG000186, P30AG012810, R01AG015819
Medical Research CouncilG0901461, MR/N01104X/2, 1811434, G0600237, G1001799, MR/K026992/1, 1805084, G0100594
???publication-publication-funding-organisation-not-added???ES/M008592/1, ES/S008349/1
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme647648
Ragnar Söderberg FoundationE42/15, E9/11
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilBB/F019394/1, BB/F022441/1
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human DevelopmentP2CHD066613
National Bureau of Economic ResearchR01-AG042568-02

    UN SDGs

    This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

    1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
      SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

    Cohort Studies

    • Netherlands Twin Register (NTR)

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