BRAIN MORPHOMETRY IN READING-DISABLED TWINS

这项拟议研究的总体目标是检测基因和 环境因素对阅读障碍患者脑结构的影响 对从RD和非RD收集的MRI扫描进行形态计量分析 双胞胎。拟议研究的具体目标是： 1)每年收集20对双胞胎的核磁共振扫描。当与 目前的样本，这将导致总样本为80个单卵 (MZ)和80对双合子(DZ)，其中每对中至少有一名成员 将禁用读取(RD)和20个DZ对，其中任何成员都不会 做RD。 2.)执行最先进的形态测量分析，包括大脑皮层 部分分析，这些MRI扫描以前以结构为目标 与RD有关。这些形态测量分析将在没有 关于受试者的诊断、关系或合子的知识。 3.)进行多变量行为遗传分析。)基因 和环境因素在这些形态测量指标中的变化 和b.)它们的表型和病因学与行为指标的关系。 这些分析都将是验证性的-通过测试当前的强势 研发和探索性研究中关于大脑-行为关系的假说。 4.)为了检验影响RD的基因(S)是否也影响大脑 区分RD患者和对照组的结构。这些 分析将使用研究项目4中的方法。 5.)解决活体测量新领域的基本问题 脑形态计量学，如不同脑结构之间的关系和 它们与外部变量的关系，如性别、年龄和认知 超能力。

The overall goal of the proposed research is to test for genetic and environmental influences on brain structure in reading disability (RD) by performing morphometric analyses of MRI scans collected from RD and non-RD twin pairs. The specific goals of the proposed research are: 1.) To collect MRI scans from 20 twin pairs a year. When combined with the current sample, this will result in a total sample of 80 monozygotic (MZ) and 80 dizygotic (DZ) pairs in which at least one member of each pair will be reading disabled (RD) and 20 DZ pairs in which neither member will be RD. 2.) To perform state-of-the-art morphometric analyses, including cortical parcellation analyses, of these MRI scans targeting structures previously implicated in RD. These morphometric analyses will be performed without knowledge of subjects' diagnosis, relation, or zygosity. 3.) To conduct multivariate behavior genetic analyses of a.) the genetic and environmental components of variation in these morphometric measures and b.) their phenotypic and etiologic relations with behavioral measures. These analyses will be both confirmatory - by testing current strong hypotheses about brain-behavior relations in RD - and exploratory. 4.) To test whether the gene (s) influencing RD also influence brain structures which differentiate individuals with RD from controls. These analyses will use the methods in Research Project 4. 5.) To address basic issues in the new field of in vivo measurement of brain morphometry, such as relations among various brain structures and their relations to external variables, such as sex, age, and cognitive abilities.