Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41917495›Full record

ArticleMolecular psychiatry2026

A longitudinal DNA methylation atlas and its link to brain structure and mental health.

Di Chen, Xinyang Yu, Wei Cheng, Linbo Wang, Shitong Xiang, Wei Zhang, Tobias Banaschewski, Arun L W Bokde, Herta Flor, Antoine Grigis and 26 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

36 authors.

Di ChenShanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5620-9020
Xinyang YuSocial, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8026-4839
Wei ChengInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1118-1743
Linbo WangInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6982-103X
Shitong XiangInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5513-4714
Wei ZhangInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Tobias BanaschewskiDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4595-1144
Arun L W BokdeDiscipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0114-4914
Herta FlorInstitute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4809-5398
Antoine GrigisNeuroSpin, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Hugh GaravanDepartments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8939-1014
Penny GowlandSir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4900-4817
Andreas HeinzDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, and German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Site Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Rüdiger BrühlPhysikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig and Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0111-5996
Jean-Luc MartinotInstitut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, INSERM U1299 "Developmental trajectories & psychiatry"; Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité, Ecole Normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, CNRS; Centre Borelli, UMR9010, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0136-0388
Marie-Laure Paillère MartinotInstitut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, INSERM U1299 "Developmental trajectories & psychiatry"; Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité, Ecole Normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, CNRS; Centre Borelli, UMR9010, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0452-2450
Eric ArtigesInstitut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, INSERM U1299 "Developmental trajectories & psychiatry"; Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité, Ecole Normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, CNRS; Centre Borelli, UMR9010, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4461-7646
Frauke NeesDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7796-8234
Dimitri Papadopoulos OrfanosNeuroSpin, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1242-8990
Hervé LemaîtreInstitut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, UMR 5293, CNRS, CEA, Université de Bordeaux, 33076, Bordeaux, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5952-076X
Tomáš PausDepartments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine and Centre Hosptalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1495-9338
Luise PoustkaDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Heidelberg University Hospital, Blumenstrasse 8, 69115, Heidelberg, Germany.
Sarah HohmannDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5175-6698
Nathalie HolzDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6225-9267
Christian BäuchlDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Michael N SmolkaDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5398-5569
Nilakshi VaidyaCentre for Population Neuroscience and Stratified Medicine (PONS), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4600-7158
Henrik WalterCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Charité Mitte, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9403-6121
Robert WhelanSchool of Psychology and Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2790-7281
Jianfeng FengInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5987-2258
Paul M ThompsonImaging Genetics Center, Stevens Neuroimaging & Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA.
Gunter SchumannCentre for Population Neuroscience and Stratified Medicine (PONS), Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7740-6469
Tianye Jia *Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. tianyejia@bjmu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5399-2953
Sylvane Desrivières *Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. sylvane.desrivieres@kcl.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9120-7060
IMAGEN Consortium
ENIGMA Epigenetics Working Group

Funding

Training U54EB020403 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI THOMPSON, PAUL M · 2014 to 2018
$10.1M
A decentralized macro and micro gene-by-environment interaction analysis of substance use behavior and its brain biomarkers R01DA049238 · NIDA · GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY · PI CALHOUN, VINCE D, LIU, JINGYU · 2019 to 2023
$2.9M
Axon, Testosterone and Mental Health during AdolescenceR01MH085772 · NIMH · BAYCREST CENTRE FOR GERIATRIC CARE · PI PAUS, TOMAS · 2010 to 2014
$1.5M
ENIGMA World Aging CenterR56AG058854 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI THOMPSON, PAUL M · 2018 to 2018
$683k
NIA NIH HHS R56 AG058854NIBIB NIH HHS U54 EB020403NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA049238NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH085772
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Epigenetic mechanisms are thought to contribute to neurodevelopmental vulnerability for psychiatric disorders, yet longitudinal evidence linking DNA methylation (DNAm) to brain maturation and psychopathology is limited. Using epigenome-wide DNAm (372,582 CpGs) and whole-brain structural MRI data from the IMAGEN cohort (n = 506, ages 14-19), we identified 18 co-regulated DNAm clusters, ten enriched for brain-expressed genes involved in neuronal development and signalling. The clusters showed consistent longitudinal change and were reproducible in independent adult samples (PPMI, n = 513; ADNI, n = 606). Multivariate analyses revealed coordinated coupling between DNAm change and cortical-subcortical maturation, such that greater DNAm reductions in brain-related clusters associated with greater cortical thinning and subcortical volume changes in the fronto-limbic-striatal axis. Increases in depressive symptoms, and frequency of cannabis use and binge drinking were linked to DNAm changes, with mediation models supporting DNAm as a mechanistic bridge between behaviour and brain change. Two clusters (C1 and C7) were associated with depressive and negative psychotic symptoms across adolescence. Associations of these clusters with depressive symptoms replicated in the PPMI dataset. Their coupling with amygdala-striatal maturation suggests that these DNAm signatures index environmentally shaped affective-motivational neurodevelopment.

Indexed as

BrainDNA MethylationAdolescentEpigenesis, GeneticFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMental DisordersMental HealthNeurodevelopmentYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID41917495
PMCPMC13364678

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.