The Genetic Roots of Our Neurophysiological Individuality

Each of us has a unique pattern of brain activity: an individual “neurophysiological signature” that shapes how we think, feel, and behave. But how much of this brain-based individuality is influenced by our genes? And how does this influence evolve as the brain matures? In our latest study, published in Science Advances, we take a major step toward answering these questions.

Using millisecond brain imaging, we captured the dynamics of spontaneous brain activity in a large group of adult participants, including monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic (fraternal) twins, as well as unrelated individuals. MEG imaging allowed us to noninvasively measure how brain signals fluctuate and propagate across the cortex at rest, providing a rich dataset of neurophysiological traits.

We found that identical twins exhibited significantly more similar neurophysiological patterns than fraternal twins or unrelated individuals. This finding indicates a genetic contribution to these traits: our brain's activity are not just shaped by experience and environment, but also by inherited factors. Yet, this genetic influence is only part of the story. The majority of the variability remained individual-specific, reflecting the complexity and flexibility of brain function.

To further explore the genetic foundations of these traits, we linked the individual neurophysiological profiles (like brain-fingerprints) to gene expression maps from the Allen Human Brain Atlas. We discovered that the brain regions where heritable traits emerged were enriched in genes involved in neurotransmission, which are genes critical for communication between neurons. Strikingly, these expression patterns followed a topographical gradient across the cortex that mirrors well-known psychological functions such as attention, planning, and emotional regulation.

Even more remarkably, the genetic expression patterns associated with individual differences in brain dynamics matched those observed during adulthood in large, developmental transcriptomic datasets. This means that the genetic influence on brain activity becomes particularly aligned with gene expression profiles that stabilize later in life, reinforcing the idea that our adult neurophysiology reflects both our genetic blueprint and our lifetime of experiences.

We believe our findings provide new insight into the biological underpinnings of individuality. They suggest that the neural rhythms that support our thoughts, decisions, and behaviors are not only sculpted by life’s experiences but also anchored in our genes. This opens exciting possibilities for using neurophysiological profiling as a bridge between genetic information and cognitive traits, with potential applications in personalized medicine, developmental neuroscience, and psychiatric research.

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Read the full article in open access in Science Advances | Genetic foundations of interindividual neurophysiological variability