Common genetic variants influence human subcortical brain structures

The highly complex structure of the human brain is strongly shaped by genetic influences1. Subcortical brain regions form circuits with cortical areas to coordinate movement2, learning, memory3 and motivation4, and altered circuits can lead to abnormal behaviour and disease2. To investigate how common genetic variants affect the structure of these brain regions, here we conduct genome-wide association studies of the volumes of seven subcortical regions and the intracranial volume derived from magnetic resonance images of 30,717 individuals from 50 cohorts. We identify five novel genetic variants influencing the volumes of the putamen and caudate nucleus. We also find stronger evidence for three loci with previously established influences on hippocampal volume5 and intracranial volume6. These variants show specific volumetric effects on brain structures rather than global effects across structures. The strongest effects were found for the putamen, where a novel intergenic locus with replicable influence on volume (rs945270; P = 1.08 × 10−33; 0.52% variance explained) showed evidence of altering the expression of the KTN1 gene in both brain and blood tissue. Variants influencing putamen volume clustered near developmental genes that regulate apoptosis, axon guidance and vesicle transport. Identification of these genetic variants provides insight into the causes of variability in human brain development, and may help to determine mechanisms of neuropsychiatric dysfunction

Search for Higgs-like bosons decaying into long-lived exotic particles

A search is presented for massive long-lived particles, in the 20–60 GeV/c2 mass range with lifetimes between 5 and 100 ps. The dataset used corresponds to 0.62fb-1 of proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb detector at s=7TeV. The particles are assumed to be pair-produced by the decay of a Higgs-like boson with mass between 80 and 140 GeV/c2. No excess above the background expectation is observed and limits are set on the production cross-section as a function of the long-lived particle mass and lifetime and of the Higgs-like boson mass

Observation of B +→ J / ψ 3 π +2 π - and B +→ ψ (2 S) π +π +π - decays

The decays B +→ J / ψ 3 π +2 π - and B +→ ψ (2S) π +π +π - are observed for the first time using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb- 1, collected by the LHCb experiment in proton–proton collisions at the centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8TeV. The branching fractions relative to that of B +→ ψ (2S) K + are measured to be (Formula Presented.), where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic

First study of the CP-violating phase and decay-width difference in Bs 0→ψ(2S)ϕ decays

A time-dependent angular analysis of Bs 0→ψ(2S)ϕ decays is performed using data recorded by the LHCb experiment. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3.0fb−1 collected during Run 1 of the LHC. The CP-violating phase and decay-width difference of the Bs 0 system are measured to be ϕs=0.23−0.28 +0.29±0.02rad and ΔΓs=0.066−0.044 +0.041±0.007ps−1, respectively, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. This is the first time that ϕs and ΔΓs have been measured in a decay containing the ψ(2S) resonance