TY - JOUR T1 - Genome-wide association analysis identifies novel loci for chronotype in 100,420 individuals from the UKBiobank JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/038620 SP - 038620 AU - Jacqueline M. Lane AU - Irma Vlasac AU - Simon G. Anderson AU - Simon Kyle AU - William G. Dixon AU - David A. Bechtold AU - Shubhroz Gill AU - Max A. Little AU - Annemarie Luik AU - Andrew Loudon AU - Richard Emsley AU - Frank AJL. Scheer AU - Deborah A. Lawlor AU - Susan Redline AU - David W. Ray AU - Martin K. Rutter AU - Richa Saxena Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/02/02/038620.abstract N2 - Our sleep timing preference, or chronotype, is a manifestation of our internal biological clock. Variation in chronotype has been linked to sleep disorders, cognitive and physical performance, and chronic disease. Here, we perform a genome-wide association study of self-reported chronotype within the UKBiobank cohort (n=100,420). We identify 12 new genetic loci that implicate known components of the circadian clock machinery and point to previously unstudied genetic variants and candidate genes that might modulate core circadian rhythms or light-sensing pathways. Pathway analyses highlight central nervous and ocular systems and fear-response related processes. Genetic correlation analysis suggests chronotype shares underlying genetic pathways with schizophrenia, educational attainment and possibly BMI. Further, Mendelian randomization suggests that evening chronotype relates to higher educational attainment. These results not only expand our knowledge of the circadian system in humans, but also expose the influence of circadian characteristics over human health and life-history variables such as educational attainment. ER -