Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 23, 2026

Mining Spatial Transcriptomics Datasets using DeepSpaceDB

Mining Spatial Transcriptomics Datasets using DeepSpaceDB

Published on: September 5, 2025

Spatial gene expression analysis of neuroanatomical differences in mouse models.

Darren J Fernandes¹, Jacob Ellegood², Rand Askalan³

¹Mouse Imaging Centre, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

|September 9, 2017

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Mapping the genetic architecture of human cortical expansion and its links to neuropsychiatric disorders.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Regional sex differences in human cortical anatomy vary in their morphometric bases and overlap with sex chromosomal and gonadal influences.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Gene × sex interactions on cognition in the Philadelphia neurodevelopmental cohort.

Biology of sex differences·2026

Same author

Allele-specific expression in the brain links genetic risk and cortical thinning in psychiatric disorders.

Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology·2026

Same author

Brain charts for neuroanatomical sex differences across the human lifespan.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Robust but independent sex differences in human brain function, structure, and behavior.

Nature communications·2026

Summary

Spatial gene expression poorly predicts neuroanatomy changes from single gene mutations. However, analyzing altered neuroanatomy can reveal candidate genes driving these brain differences, particularly in response to environmental enrichment.

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Genetics
Bioinformatics

Background:

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) detects neuroanatomical variations linked to genetic mutations and treatments.
Identifying causative genes for these neuroanatomical differences is crucial for understanding disease etiology.
Spatial gene expression data offers a potential avenue for identifying these genes.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the utility of spatial gene expression data from the Allen Brain Atlas in identifying genes responsible for neuroanatomical differences.
To explore the relationship between single-gene mutations, spatial gene expression, and resulting neuroanatomical phenotypes in mouse models.
To investigate candidate gene identification in environmentally induced neuroanatomical changes.

Main Methods:

More Related Videos

Microdissection of Mouse Brain into Functionally and Anatomically Different Regions

Microdissection of Mouse Brain into Functionally and Anatomically Different Regions

Published on: February 15, 2021

Applying Stereotactic Injection Technique to Study Genetic Effects on Animal Behaviors

Applying Stereotactic Injection Technique to Study Genetic Effects on Animal Behaviors

Published on: May 10, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 23, 2026

Mining Spatial Transcriptomics Datasets using DeepSpaceDB

Mining Spatial Transcriptomics Datasets using DeepSpaceDB

Published on: September 5, 2025

Microdissection of Mouse Brain into Functionally and Anatomically Different Regions

Microdissection of Mouse Brain into Functionally and Anatomically Different Regions

Published on: February 15, 2021

Applying Stereotactic Injection Technique to Study Genetic Effects on Animal Behaviors

Applying Stereotactic Injection Technique to Study Genetic Effects on Animal Behaviors

Published on: May 10, 2015

Analysis of spatial gene expression patterns in mouse models with single-gene mutations.
Correlation of altered neuroanatomy with the spatial expression of mutated genes.
Genome-wide search for genes with preferential spatial expression in neuroanatomically altered regions in response to environmental enrichment.

Main Results:

Spatial gene expression of mutated genes showed weak association with affected neuroanatomy in many single-gene mutation models.
Mutated genes exhibited preferential spatial expression in affected neuroanatomy in models with significant differences.
Environmental enrichment enabled identification of candidate genes related to learning and plasticity through spatial expression analysis in altered brain regions.

Conclusions:

Spatial gene expression alone is an unreliable predictor of neuroanatomical changes caused by single-gene mutations.
Neuroanatomical phenotypes can effectively guide the identification of candidate genes underlying these brain alterations.
This approach holds promise for discovering genes involved in neuroplasticity and learning.