Title
A multivariate analysis of neuroanatomic relationships in a genetically informative pediatric sample
Abstract
An important component of brain mapping is an understanding of the relationships between neuroanatomic structures, as well as the nature of shared causal factors. Prior twin studies have demonstrated that much of individual differences in human anatomy are caused by genetic differences, but information is limited on whether different structures share common genetic factors. We performed a multivariate statistical genetic analysis on volumetric MRI measures (cerebrum, cerebellum, lateral ventricles, corpus callosum, thalamus, and basal ganglia) from a pediatric sample of 326 twins and 158 singletons. Our results suggest that the great majority of variability in cerebrum, cerebellum, thalamus and basal ganglia is determined by a single genetic factor. Though most (75%) of the variability in corpus callosum was explained by additive genetic effects these were largely independent of other structures. We also observed relatively small but significant environmental effects common to multiple neuroanatomic regions, particularly between thalamus, basal ganglia, and lateral ventricles. These findings are concordant with prior volumetric twin studies and support radial models of brain evolution.
Year
DOI
Venue
2007
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.04.232
NeuroImage
Keywords
Field
DocType
twin study,brain mapping,multivariate statistics,genetics,genetic analysis
Thalamus,Lateral ventricles,Brain mapping,Cerebrum,Developmental psychology,Neuroscience,Anatomy,Psychology,Twin study,Corpus callosum,Basal ganglia,Additive genetic effects
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
35
1
1053-8119
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
10
0.87
2
Authors
11