Objective: Zinc finger protein 804A (ZNF804A) protein participates in embryonic neural repair and development. The single nucleotide polymorphism rs1344706 in ZNF804A gene is closely related to functional abnormalities of the human brain. However, these results are inconsistent. This association was verified by meta-analysis in this study.
Methods: Fifteen studies on functional magnetic resonance imaging involving 1710 healthy individuals were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis used by Anisotropic Effect-Size Signed Differential Mapping software.
Results: Functional connectivity of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC)–left hippocampus in the rs1344706 risk allele carrier was significantly increased (z = 2.066, p < 0.001), while those in the rDLPFC–left middle frontal gyrus (z = − 1.420, p < 0.001) and rDLPFC–right middle frontal gyrus (z = − 1.298, p < 0.001) were significantly decreased. Neural activity of the left anterior cingulate gyrus in the rs1344706 risk allele carrier was significantly decreased (z = − 2.525, p < 0.001). Sensitivity analysis was almost stable, and no publication bias was found.
Conclusion: The changes in brain function have a clear correlation with ZNF804A gene in healthy individuals, which indicate the contribution of genetic variants on brain dysfunction.
Registration Number: This meta-analysis is registered in PROSPERO (No. CRD42016051331).
Keywords: functional magnetic resonance imaging, zinc finger protein 804A, meta-analysis