Study: fMRI illustrates link between genetics, decision-making processes
By way of functional MRI (fMRI), researchers from the Imaging Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio were able to observe the default-mode network--a neural network in the brain--and determine that genetics have an effect on this and several other networks.
In the new research, published in the Jan. 18-22 online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the investigators said that they have found evidence that genetics plays a role in this default-mode, or “back-burner” brain network, which has been proven to be abnormal in a variety of psychiatric disorders.
These default-mode networks, according to Peter Fox, MD, director of the Imaging Institute, enable humans to hold low-priority ideas, or social decisions in queue until a time when they can be handled appropriately. "Usually these back-burner ideas relate to interpersonal interactions and decisions that can't readily be quantified and shouldn't be rushed," he said.
In prior studies, Fox and colleagues determined that human behavior can stem from collaborative interactions between the default-mode network and several other neural networks that can operate whether the mind is at rest or is occupied.
For this research, the investigators sectioned off eight anatomically distinct regions within the default-mode network, created by fMRI, in 333 individuals from 29 randomly selected, extended-families.
"We found that more than 40 percent of the between-subject variance in functional connectivity within the default-mode network was under genetic control," said the researchers who correlated network connectivity and gray-matter density to genetic factors through the MR images.
"One long-term research goal is to test whether other intrinsically connected networks are also under genetic control, which we expect they will be," said Fox. "We also want to identify the genes that are controlling the default-mode network and other networks, and identify disorders associated with their abnormalities. A final goal is to develop treatment strategies."
In the new research, published in the Jan. 18-22 online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the investigators said that they have found evidence that genetics plays a role in this default-mode, or “back-burner” brain network, which has been proven to be abnormal in a variety of psychiatric disorders.
These default-mode networks, according to Peter Fox, MD, director of the Imaging Institute, enable humans to hold low-priority ideas, or social decisions in queue until a time when they can be handled appropriately. "Usually these back-burner ideas relate to interpersonal interactions and decisions that can't readily be quantified and shouldn't be rushed," he said.
In prior studies, Fox and colleagues determined that human behavior can stem from collaborative interactions between the default-mode network and several other neural networks that can operate whether the mind is at rest or is occupied.
For this research, the investigators sectioned off eight anatomically distinct regions within the default-mode network, created by fMRI, in 333 individuals from 29 randomly selected, extended-families.
"We found that more than 40 percent of the between-subject variance in functional connectivity within the default-mode network was under genetic control," said the researchers who correlated network connectivity and gray-matter density to genetic factors through the MR images.
"One long-term research goal is to test whether other intrinsically connected networks are also under genetic control, which we expect they will be," said Fox. "We also want to identify the genes that are controlling the default-mode network and other networks, and identify disorders associated with their abnormalities. A final goal is to develop treatment strategies."