Nature and Nurture: Assessing Brain Heritability using Diffusion Tensor-Based Morphometry on Data from the Human Connectome Project

Motivation: Individual differences in brain morphology among related individuals have been assessed using T1w-imaging. However, diffusion MRI (dMRI)-derived morphometry has been shown to be more informative than T1w. Goal(s): Apply diffusion tensor-based morphometry (DTBM) on the human connectome project (HCP) data to assess both biological heritability and experimental variability of brain volume. Approach: Obtain dMRI-derived volume difference maps for each related pair and assess heritability locally and globally across the brain. Results: Individual variability among related pairs and experimental variability were adequately characterized. Groups defined by genetic traits were better differentiated by volume differences than by differences in "microstructural features" assessed by DTI-derived metrics. Impact: The DTBM-derived results indicated that nature and nurture affect the brain 'size' more than 'tissue microstructure' (assessed by DTI metrics). This is potentially significant for future applications of DTBM in heritability analysis and their possible associations to behavioral features.