Relating genetic and imaging data - current methodlogy and how we might improve it

Relating genetic and brain imaging data - current methodology and how we might improve it. Mike Brammer, Brain Image Analysis Unit, Department of Biostatistics and Computing, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College SE5 8AF. In recent years, genetic analysis and functional and structural neuroimaging have been widely used to probe brain normal and abnormal brain function. Papers in which these approaches are combined are also becoming increasingly common. The purpose of this presentation is to review the approaches that are currently being used, to discuss their strengths and limitations and to introduce approaches that allow us deal with some statistical problems in data analysis and to exploit multivariate aspects of the data sets that are often ignored. These methods might be useful when dealing with combined effects of multiple genes on distributed changes in brain structure and function.