Alexandra Havdahl

Unravelling the genetic basis of stuttering: GWAS meta-analysis highlights link with rare speech disorders

This study conducts a GWAS meta-analysis of stuttering, identifying genetic links with speech disorders and highlighting shared genetic architecture across different ascertainment methods.

Phantom genetic nurture: assortative mating accounts for most of the apparent association between parental genotypes and childhood cognitive performance

The paper introduces RAVEL, a framework to estimate genetic nurture effects by distinguishing direct and non-transmitted genetic associations in parent-offspring trios, finding assortative mating explains most apparent parental genetic influence on child cognition.

Genetic and behavioural architecture of childhood eating behaviour and links to obesity risk

This study identifies genetic loci associated with childhood eating behaviour and shows they mediate obesity risk through distinct pathways, primarily driven by the child's own genotype.

The Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child cohort study (MoBa) genotyping data resource: MoBaPsychGen pipeline v.1

The paper describes the MoBaPsychGen pipeline for quality controlling and imputing genotyping data from the MoBa cohort, identifying extensive family relationships across 207,569 individuals.

Separating direct, indirect and parent-of-origin genetic effects in the human population

The paper introduces JODIE, a model to estimate direct, indirect, and parent-of-origin genetic effects on height, BMI, and educational attainment using family trios from two biobanks.

Sex differences in the genetic basis of human recombination within 190,000 parent-child pairs

This study identifies 58 genomic regions associated with meiotic recombination, 24 of which are sex-specific, and finds a moderate genetic correlation between male and female recombination rates.

Genome-Wide Association Analysis of Tic Disorders Reveals 6 Independent Risk Loci and Highlights Tic-Associated Cell Types and Brain Circuitry

This study identifies six genome-wide significant risk loci for tic disorders and links genetic risk to specific brain cell types and circuits.

Genome-wide association study of major anxiety disorders in 122,341 European-ancestry cases identifies 58 loci and highlights GABAergic signaling

This paper identifies 58 genome-wide significant loci for major anxiety disorders using a large meta-analysis and highlights GABAergic signaling as a potential mechanism.

Longitudinal modelling reveals widespread non-additive genetic effects underlying developmental plasticity

The paper develops longitudinal models to identify non-additive genetic effects on developmental plasticity, finding 76 novel loci involved in regulatory interactions.

Parental Influence on Children's Educational Achievements: Analysing Direct and Indirect Genetic Effects through Trio-GCTA

This study uses Trio-GCTA to analyze direct and indirect genetic effects on educational achievement using parent-offspring trios, finding genetic contributions and gene-environment correlations.

The Genetic and Proteomic Determinants of Pediatric Stature Development and their link to adult height and Type 2 Diabetes

This study identifies genetic and proteomic factors influencing pediatric stature across life stages and links them to adult height and type 2 diabetes risk.

The use of Mendelian randomization to explore the causal consequences of childhood maltreatment: consideration of assumptions and challenges

This paper examines the feasibility of using Mendelian randomization to study the causal effects of childhood maltreatment on mental health, highlighting challenges in interpreting MR assumptions and results.

Genome-wide association study of adolescent-onset depression

This study identifies 52 genetic variants associated with adolescent-onset depression through a large GWAS, revealing age-specific mechanisms and potential drug targets.

Genome-wide analysis of social behaviour in context: a meta-regression approach across social domains, reporters and developmental stages

This study uses genome-wide meta-regression to analyze social behavior across different contexts, ages, and reporters, identifying six genetic loci and showing modest heritability.

Genome-wide analyses of quantitative generalised anxiety symptom severity

This study conducts a genome-wide association analysis of generalised anxiety symptom severity, identifying 80 significant variants and showing genetic correlations with other mental and physical health traits.

Nulliparity modifies the maternal genetic effects on gestational duration but not on birth weight

The paper investigates how nulliparity affects maternal genetic effects on gestational duration and birth weight using GWAS data from a large cohort.

Genetic basis of partner choice

This study performs the first GWAS on a latent partner choice index using 206,617 individuals, identifying genetic correlates and solutions to reduce assortative mating biases in genetic studies.

Sex Differences in Human Brain Structure at Birth

The paper examines sex differences in brain structure at birth in newborns, finding larger brain volumes in males and specific regional differences in gray and white matter volumes between sexes.

Genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity in early neurodevelopmental traits in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study.

The paper examines genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity in early neurodevelopmental traits using data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study, identifying 11 latent factors and trait-specific genetic correlations with autism, ADHD, and schizophrenia.

Genome-wide association meta-analysis of age at onset of walking

This paper conducts a genome-wide association meta-analysis of age at onset of walking, identifying 11 loci and showing genetic correlations with ADHD, BMI, intelligence, and brain structure.

Genetic correlates of phenotypic heterogeneity in autism

This study identifies genetic correlates of phenotypic heterogeneity in autism by analyzing common and de novo variants across core features and co-occurring disabilities.

Meta-analysis of epigenome-wide associations between DNA methylation at birth and childhood cognitive skills.

This study examines DNA methylation at birth and its association with childhood cognitive skills, finding weak single CpG site associations and one region near DUSP22 linked to non-verbal cognition.

Genetic Association Study of Childhood Aggression across raters, instruments and age

This study conducts a genome-wide association meta-analysis of childhood aggression across multiple raters, instruments, and ages, identifying genetic correlations with various traits but no genome-wide significant SNPs.

Within-sibship GWAS improve estimates of direct genetic effects

In 159,701 siblings from 17 cohorts, population GWAS overstate direct effects on height, education, smoking, cognition, depressive symptoms and age at first birth; clinical traits mostly agree across models.

Direct and indirect effects of maternal, paternal, and offspring genotypes: Trio-GCTA

The paper introduces Trio-GCTA, a model to separate direct and indirect genetic effects in parent-offspring trios, applied to four phenotypes using real data.

How important are parents in the development of child anxiety and depression? A genomic analysis of parent-offspring trios in the Norwegian Mother Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa)

This study uses genomic analysis of parent-offspring trios to estimate the genetic nurture effect on child anxiety and depression symptoms at age 8, finding significant influence on depression but not anxiety.

Within-family studies for Mendelian randomization: avoiding dynastic, assortative mating, and population stratification biases

This paper introduces within-family Mendelian randomization methods to reduce biases from family structure and shows they yield different results compared to population-based analyses.

Combining multivariate genomic approaches to elucidate the comorbidity between ASD and ADHD

This study identifies shared genetic variants between ASD and ADHD using multivariate genomic analyses and finds 7 novel SNPs and 4 novel genes associated with both disorders.