The Human Connectome Project (HCP) has acquired vast amounts of data about the pattern of long-distance connections (wiring) in the brains of large numbers of healthy participants aged 22-35 using cutting-edge MRI and MEG neuroimaging, and extensive behavioral testing. Types of MR data collected included diffusion MRI (dMRI), resting-state functional MRI (r-fMRI), and structural MRI at both 3T and 7T, and task-evoked functional MRI (t-fMRI) at 3T. Following an extensive period of development and optimization of data acquisition and analysis methods, at Washington University in St. Louis we studied 1,206 participants comprising twins and their non-twin siblings. A subset of 184 twins was scanned again at the University of Minnesota using a 7T scanner. A different subset of 95 twins was studied at St. Louis University using combined resting state and/or task-activated MEG. We were able to collect genetic data on 1142 of our 1206 participants, including 149 pairs of genetically-confirmed monozygotic twins (298 participants) and 94 pairs of genetically-confirmed dizygotic twins (188 participants). Overall, there are 457 different families in the study, as determined by genetic analysis. Our rich set of imaging, behavioral and genetic data - available through the <a href="https://www.humanconnectome.org/data/">Human Connectome</a> database - will enable many types of analysis of brain circuitry, its relationship to behavior, and the contributions of genetic and environmental factors to brain circuits.

Mapping the Human Connectome: Structure, Function, and Heritability

1 selected publication including "The WU-Minn Human Connectome Project: An overview" (5,486 citations)