Brain shape and genetic ancestry linked

摘要

A strong relationship has been found between the shape of the cerebral cortex - the brains outer layer of neural tissue - and genetic ancestry. A research team at the University of California in San Diego used genetics data - the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocogni-tion and Genetics study (PING) - and analysis of the geometry of the cerebral cortex and managed to predict genetic ancestry. "The geometry of the brain's cortical surface contains rich information about ancestry. Even in the modern contemporary US population, with its melting pot of different cultures, it was still possible to correlate brain cortex structure to ancestral background," said research associate Chun Chieh Fan.