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Updated: May 23, 2026

Large-scale Three-dimensional Imaging of Cellular Organization in the Mouse Neocortex
Published on: September 5, 2018
Hierarchical genetic organization of human cortical surface area
Chi-Hua Chen1, E D Gutierrez, Wes Thompson
1Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Abstract:
Surface area of the cerebral cortex is a highly heritable trait, yet little is known about genetic influences on regional cortical differentiation in humans. Using a data-driven, fuzzy clustering technique with magnetic resonance imaging data from 406 twins, we parceled cortical surface area into genetic subdivisions, creating a human brain atlas based solely on genetically informative data. Boundaries of the genetic divisions corresponded largely to meaningful structural and functional regions; however, the divisions represented previously undescribed phenotypes different from conventional (non-genetically based) parcellation systems. The genetic organization of cortical area was hierarchical, modular, and predominantly bilaterally symmetric across hemispheres. We also found that the results were consistent with human-specific regions being subdivisions of previously described, genetically based lobar regionalization patterns.
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