Imaging genetics refers to the use of anatomical or physiological imaging technologies as phenotypic assays to evaluate genetic

Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....

 variation. Scientists that first used the term imaging genetics were interested in how genes influence psychopathology

Psychopathology

Psychopathology is the study of mental illness, mental distress, and abnormal/maladaptive behavior. The term is most commonly used within psychiatry where pathology refers to disease processes...

 and used functional neuroimaging

Functional neuroimaging

Functional neuroimaging is the use of neuroimaging technology to measure an aspect of brain function, often with a view to understanding the relationship between activity in certain brain areas and specific mental functions...

 to investigate genes that are expressed in the brain

Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...

(neuroimaging genetics).

The University of California, Irvine hosts an annual conference in January called the International Imaging Genetics Conference. This international symposium is held to assess the state of the art in the various established fields of genetics and imaging, and to facilitate the transdisciplinary fusion needed to optimize the development of the emerging field of Imaging Genetics. Upcoming conference details and the archives of past conferences can be found at the website [www.imaginggenetics.uci.edu].