Clyde Francks
@clydefrancks.bsky.social
Prof. of Brain Imaging Genomics @ Max Planck Institute & Donders Institute, Nijmegen, Netherlands. Biologist interested in genes, brains, behaviour, psychiatry, left-right asymmetry.
https://www.mpi.nl/people/francks-clyde
https://www.mpi.nl/people/francks-clyde
whereas functional brain asymmetries such as left-hemisphere language dominance seem to be unaltered compared to the general population, again regardless of the presence or absence of identifiable genetic causes for their reversed visceral organ placement ...3/5
November 6, 2025 at 9:03 AM
whereas functional brain asymmetries such as left-hemisphere language dominance seem to be unaltered compared to the general population, again regardless of the presence or absence of identifiable genetic causes for their reversed visceral organ placement ...3/5
We found that asymmetrical 'torque' of brain structure tends to reverse in people with situs inversus totalis regardless of whether they have identifiable genetic causes ... 2/5
November 6, 2025 at 9:03 AM
We found that asymmetrical 'torque' of brain structure tends to reverse in people with situs inversus totalis regardless of whether they have identifiable genetic causes ... 2/5
Asymmetries of the brain and body - are they linked genetically? In a new study we sequenced the genomes of people with their visceral organs reversed on the left-right axis, in a rare congenital condition called situs inversus totalis: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Short thread below ⬇️ 1/5
November 6, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Asymmetries of the brain and body - are they linked genetically? In a new study we sequenced the genomes of people with their visceral organs reversed on the left-right axis, in a rare congenital condition called situs inversus totalis: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Short thread below ⬇️ 1/5
In mouse auditory cortex, various microtubule-associated genes showed evidence for subtle left-right differences. Again the human versions have been linked to brain asymmetry or handedness in previous large-scale studies www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 5/7
September 12, 2025 at 7:10 AM
In mouse auditory cortex, various microtubule-associated genes showed evidence for subtle left-right differences. Again the human versions have been linked to brain asymmetry or handedness in previous large-scale studies www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 5/7
... corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 was differently expressed in the left and right mouse hippocampus, and also to an extent in auditory cortex. We previously found that the human version of this gene is associated with structural brain asymmetry www.nature.com/articles/s41... 4/7
September 12, 2025 at 7:10 AM
... corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 was differently expressed in the left and right mouse hippocampus, and also to an extent in auditory cortex. We previously found that the human version of this gene is associated with structural brain asymmetry www.nature.com/articles/s41... 4/7
... so we focused on these two brain structures in slices from 31 adult mouse brains using Xenium, a method to detect single mRNA molecules and place them in cellular context. We found that ... 3/7
September 12, 2025 at 7:10 AM
... so we focused on these two brain structures in slices from 31 adult mouse brains using Xenium, a method to detect single mRNA molecules and place them in cellular context. We found that ... 3/7
New @maxplanck.de study: We looked for left-right differences of gene expression and cell-type abundances in the brains of MICE 🐭using Xenium @10xgenomics.bsky.social. Possible clues to how functional brain asymmetry is supported !! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Short thread below ⬇️
September 12, 2025 at 7:10 AM
New @maxplanck.de study: We looked for left-right differences of gene expression and cell-type abundances in the brains of MICE 🐭using Xenium @10xgenomics.bsky.social. Possible clues to how functional brain asymmetry is supported !! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Short thread below ⬇️
Fascinating study suggests that left-right differences in the fly brain arise from asymmetrical twist of neurons www.biorxiv.org/node/4751792... Might also be true for human brains as we suggested here www.nature.com/articles/s41... after implicating microtubules in human structural brain asymmetry
July 24, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Fascinating study suggests that left-right differences in the fly brain arise from asymmetrical twist of neurons www.biorxiv.org/node/4751792... Might also be true for human brains as we suggested here www.nature.com/articles/s41... after implicating microtubules in human structural brain asymmetry
Do mice🐭 show molecular and cellular differences between the left and right sides of their brains? If so they could be helpful models to understand brain asymmetry in human health and disease. Danielle Houwing will present our results using @10xgenomics.bsky.social Xenium data at NWO Life conference
May 21, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Do mice🐭 show molecular and cellular differences between the left and right sides of their brains? If so they could be helpful models to understand brain asymmetry in human health and disease. Danielle Houwing will present our results using @10xgenomics.bsky.social Xenium data at NWO Life conference
Are the asymmetries of body and brain linked genetically?@meng-yun.bsky.social will present our latest work on the genetics of visceral organ asymmetry in relation to functional brain laterality at #ESHG2025 in Milan this weekend. Stop by his poster to find out!
May 19, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Are the asymmetries of body and brain linked genetically?@meng-yun.bsky.social will present our latest work on the genetics of visceral organ asymmetry in relation to functional brain laterality at #ESHG2025 in Milan this weekend. Stop by his poster to find out!
Seems that ambidexterity shows generally stronger genetic correlations with other traits than left-handedness www.nature.com/articles/s41...
May 2, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Seems that ambidexterity shows generally stronger genetic correlations with other traits than left-handedness www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Non-right-handedness associated with various different diagnoses and other traits, from psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202... @ocklenburg.bsky.social
May 2, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Non-right-handedness associated with various different diagnoses and other traits, from psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202... @ocklenburg.bsky.social
Hard copy arrived!
April 30, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Hard copy arrived!
Nice to receive lovely gifts from China as PhD student Chenghui Zhang arrives for a 1-year research visit from Xiangzhen Kong's group at Zhejiang Uni, digging further into brain asymmetry and genetics!
March 19, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Nice to receive lovely gifts from China as PhD student Chenghui Zhang arrives for a 1-year research visit from Xiangzhen Kong's group at Zhejiang Uni, digging further into brain asymmetry and genetics!
'Large-scale genetic mapping for human brain asymmetry'. Chapter by @zhiqiangsha.bsky.social and me in an edition of the Handbook of Clinical Neurology about cerebral asymmetries. Eds Papagno & Corballis, with chapters by many experts on brain laterality www.sciencedirect.com/handbook/han...
March 13, 2025 at 11:52 AM
'Large-scale genetic mapping for human brain asymmetry'. Chapter by @zhiqiangsha.bsky.social and me in an edition of the Handbook of Clinical Neurology about cerebral asymmetries. Eds Papagno & Corballis, with chapters by many experts on brain laterality www.sciencedirect.com/handbook/han...
Very pleased to welcome a new co-chair of the brain Laterality Working Group of the @enigmabrains.bsky.social consortium. Xiangzhen Kong (Zhejiang Uni) will join Eileen Lueders (Auckland Uni) and myself (Max Planck Institute, NL) in coordinating large-scale international studies of brain asymmetry
February 6, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Very pleased to welcome a new co-chair of the brain Laterality Working Group of the @enigmabrains.bsky.social consortium. Xiangzhen Kong (Zhejiang Uni) will join Eileen Lueders (Auckland Uni) and myself (Max Planck Institute, NL) in coordinating large-scale international studies of brain asymmetry
Amazing to think that just two tiny changes in the genome probably caused this person to have 'situs inversus', where the visceral organs - heart, lungs, liver etc. - are mirror reversed on the left-right body axis
January 24, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Amazing to think that just two tiny changes in the genome probably caused this person to have 'situs inversus', where the visceral organs - heart, lungs, liver etc. - are mirror reversed on the left-right body axis
Veluwezoom national park, Netherlands
December 31, 2024 at 2:46 PM
Veluwezoom national park, Netherlands
Maastricht yesterday
December 29, 2024 at 5:27 AM
Maastricht yesterday
Day out in Duesseldorf
December 26, 2024 at 8:27 PM
Day out in Duesseldorf
Whereas primary motor cortex volume is associated only with #dyslexia genetic disposition among these traits, so that reduced volume here, in combination with other brain features, may dispose relatively specifically to dyslexia. 7/8
December 18, 2024 at 7:24 PM
Whereas primary motor cortex volume is associated only with #dyslexia genetic disposition among these traits, so that reduced volume here, in combination with other brain features, may dispose relatively specifically to dyslexia. 7/8
We found that nerve fiber density in a deep brain structure, the internal capsule, is associated with genetic dispositions to all of these traits including #dyslexia 6/8
December 18, 2024 at 7:24 PM
We found that nerve fiber density in a deep brain structure, the internal capsule, is associated with genetic dispositions to all of these traits including #dyslexia 6/8
This led first author Sourena Soheili-Nezhad to identify distinct sets of brain features associated with different sets of genetic variants that dispose to #dyslexia. He called these ‘genomic impact modes’. Overall, the data fit with dyslexia as a complex and diverse trait. 4/8
December 18, 2024 at 7:24 PM
This led first author Sourena Soheili-Nezhad to identify distinct sets of brain features associated with different sets of genetic variants that dispose to #dyslexia. He called these ‘genomic impact modes’. Overall, the data fit with dyslexia as a complex and diverse trait. 4/8
There are many different variants in the genome that dispose slightly to #dyslexia , as reported by @drmluciano.bsky.social and co. We found that these genetic variants often have different patterns of association across brain features, in terms of volume and fiber density at voxel/fixel level. 3/8
December 18, 2024 at 7:24 PM
There are many different variants in the genome that dispose slightly to #dyslexia , as reported by @drmluciano.bsky.social and co. We found that these genetic variants often have different patterns of association across brain features, in terms of volume and fiber density at voxel/fixel level. 3/8