Brain-Based Gene Expression of Putative Risk Genes for Anorexia Nervosa in the Human Brain

The etiology of anorexia nervosa (AN) remains elusive. Here, we characterize spatially distributed expression patterns of risk genes for AN in the human brain, developing whole-brain maps of AN gene expression. We found that genes associated with AN are most expressed in the brain, relative to all other body tissue types, and demonstrate gene-specific expression patterns which extend to cerebellar, limbic and basal ganglia structures in particular. fMRI meta-analyses reveal that AN gene expression maps correspond with functional brain activity involved in processing and anticipating appetitive and aversive cues. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The study used (or will use) ONLY openly available human data, located at: http://human.brain-map.org/ I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors