Host genetics maps to behaviour and brain structure in mice

Gene-environment interactions in the postnatal period have a long-term impact on neurodevelopment. To effectively model neurodevelopment in the mouse, we incorporated several validated behavioural tests to develop a behavioural pipeline that measures translationally relevant milestones of development in mice. The behavioral phenotype of 1060 wild type and genetically-modified mice was examined in parallel with structural brain imaging. The influence of genetics, sex, and early life stress on behaviour and neuroanatomy was determined using traditional statistical and machine learning methods. The results demonstrated that neuroanatomical diversity was primarily associated with genotype whereas behavioural phenotypic diversity was observed to be more susceptible to gene-environment interactions.