Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26827810›Full record

ArticleNeuroImage2016

Is bigger always better? The importance of cortical configuration with respect to cognitive ability.

Eero Vuoksimaa, Matthew S Panizzon, Chi-Hua Chen, Mark Fiecas, Lisa T Eyler, Christine Fennema-Notestine, Donald J Hagler, Carol E Franz, Amy J Jak, Michael J Lyons and 6 more

Abstract readTwin Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in NeuroImage, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
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  5. Cerebral cortical structures linked to intelligence.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
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  9. Cortical Surface Area Profile Mediates Effects of Childhood Disadvantage on Later-Life General Cognitive Ability.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Eero VuoksimaaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center for Behavioral Genomics Twin Research Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Public Health, and Institute for Molecular Medicine (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: eero.vuoksimaa@helsinki.fi.
Matthew S PanizzonDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center for Behavioral Genomics Twin Research Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Chi-Hua ChenDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center for Behavioral Genomics Twin Research Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Mark FiecasDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center for Behavioral Genomics Twin Research Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Lisa T EylerMental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Christine Fennema-NotestineDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Donald J HaglerDepartment of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Carol E FranzDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center for Behavioral Genomics Twin Research Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Amy J JakDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Michael J LyonsDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Michael C NealeVirginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA 23220, USA.
Daniel A RinkerDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Imaging Genetics Center, Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Wesley K ThompsonDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Ming T TsuangDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center for Behavioral Genomics Twin Research Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Anders M DaleDepartment of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
William S KremenDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center for Behavioral Genomics Twin Research Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. Electronic address: wkremen@ucsd.edu.

Funding

The VETSA Longitudinal Twin Study of Cognition and Aging (VETSA 4)R01AG050595 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI ELMAN, JEREMY A, FRANZ, CAROL ELAINE · 2015 to 2024
$28.0M
The VETSA Longitudinal MRI Twin Study of AgingR01AG022381 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI KREMEN, WILLIAM S. · 2003 to 2019
$22.3M
The VETSA Longitudinal Twin Study of Cognition and AgingR01AG018384 · NIA · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · PI LYONS, MICHAEL J. · 2002 to 2012
$9.8M
The VETSA longitudinal twin study of cognition and agingR01AG018386 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI KREMEN, WILLIAM S. · 2002 to 2012
$9.7M
The VETSA Longitudinal Twin Study of Cortisol and AgingR01AG022982 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI KREMEN, WILLIAM S. · 2004 to 2007
$2.6M
Polygenicity, Pleiotrophy and Power: Novel Statistical Methods for Gene DiscoveryR01GM104400 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI THOMPSON, WESLEY KURT · 2014 to 2017
$1.6M
Testosterone-Androgen Receptor Genetics: Role in Cognitive and Biological AgingK08AG047903 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI PANIZZON, MATTHEW S · 2014 to 2017
$452k
NIA NIH HHS AG022381NIA NIH HHS AG022982NIA NIH HHS AG050595NIA NIH HHS K08 AG047903NIA NIH HHS R01 AG018384NIA NIH HHS R01 AG018386NIA NIH HHS R01 AG022381NIA NIH HHS R01 AG022982NIA NIH HHS R01 AG050595NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM104400
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

General cognitive ability (GCA) has substantial explanatory power for behavioral and health outcomes, but its cortical substrate is still not fully established. GCA is highly polygenic and research to date strongly suggests that its cortical substrate is highly polyregional. We show in map-based and region-of-interest-based analyses of adult twins that a complex cortical configuration underlies GCA. Having relatively greater surface area in evolutionary and developmentally high-expanded prefrontal, lateral temporal, and inferior parietal regions is positively correlated with GCA, whereas relatively greater surface area in low-expanded occipital, medial temporal, and motor cortices is negatively correlated with GCA. Essentially the opposite pattern holds for relative cortical thickness. The phenotypic positive-to-negative gradients in our cortical-GCA association maps were largely driven by a similar pattern of genetic associations. The patterns are consistent with regional cortical stretching whereby relatively greater surface area is related to relatively thinner cortex in high-expanded regions. Thus, the typical "bigger is better" view does not adequately capture cortical-GCA associations. Rather, cognitive ability is influenced by complex configurations of cortical development patterns that are strongly influenced by genetic factors. Optimal cognitive ability appears to be driven both by the absolute size and the polyregional configuration of the entire cortex rather than by small, circumscribed regions.

Indexed as

Brain MappingCerebral CortexCognitionHumansImage Processing, Computer-AssistedIntelligenceMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedTwinsCortical surface areaCortical thicknessGeneral cognitive abilityNeurodevelopmentTwin research

Identifiers

PMID26827810
PMCPMC4838639

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.