{"doi":"10.1101/2025.06.05.657840","title":"Genomic structural equation modeling of impulsivity and risk-taking traits reveals three latent factors distinctly associated with brain structure and development","abstract":"Background: Impulsivity is a multifaceted transdiagnostic trait that emerges in childhood. Research has identified genetic loci and brain systems associated with different facets of impulsivity and risk-taking. However, how these genetic underpinnings overlap across different facets, and how they are associated with brain development during childhood remain unknown. Methods: Using genomic structural equation modeling on 17 impulsivity and risk-taking traits, we identified latent factors capturing overlapping genetic architecture. We then calculated polygenic scores for these factors using Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study data (N = 4,142) and examined their associations with brain structure, development, and behavior in children aged 9-14 years. Finally, we tested whether socioeconomic status modulated the associations between latent polygenic scores and brain structures. Results: We identified three distinct genetic latent factors, which we label lack of self-control, reward drive, and sensation seeking. In children, polygenic scores for the three factors showed associations with distinct brain patterns: lack of self-control associated with reduced prefrontal cortical thickness, reward drive with increased subcortical cellular density, and sensation seeking with increased cortical surface area and white matter integrity. Longitudinally, lack of self-control predicted slower white matter development. The association between polygenetic score for lack of self-control and white matter mean diffusivity was modulated by socioeconomic status. Conclusions: We identified three genetically distinct dimensions of impulsivity and risk-taking with separable neurodevelopmental origins. These genetic predispositions manifested as distinct brain patterns as early as ages 9-10. Environmental experience modulated some of the genetic effects on brain development.","journal":"bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)","year":2025,"id":556423,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9556,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1244106,"name":"Lang Liu","orcid":"0000-0001-7724-3375","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":347907,"name":"Eric Yu","orcid":"0000-0003-3525-4564","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1455673,"name":"Rui Zhu","orcid":"0000-0001-9387-9672","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":277303,"name":"Laura Vilar‐Ribó","orcid":"0000-0001-8758-523X","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":237635,"name":"Renata B. Cupertino","orcid":"0000-0002-3452-0632","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":230002,"name":"Abraham A. Palmer","orcid":"0000-0003-3634-0747","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":85959,"name":"Sandra Sanchez-Roige","orcid":"0000-0001-6137-5699","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":420927,"name":"Uku Vainik","orcid":"0000-0002-9375-9520","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":561729,"name":"Filip Morys","orcid":"0000-0001-8996-2676","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":263848,"name":"Ziv Gan‐Or","orcid":"0000-0003-0332-234X","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":34560,"name":"Bratislav Misic","orcid":"0000-0003-0307-2862","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":239707,"name":"Alain Dagher","orcid":"0000-0002-0945-5779","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1455672,"name":"Mari Shishikura","orcid":"0000-0001-6764-1943","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":134,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:55:08.896385Z","pmid":"40502124","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}