MapPER

Mapper is a software tool used for topological data analysis and simplification. The pipeline utilizes Mapper to analyze gene co-expression data in the context of neuroscience. The main goal is to understand how gene expression relates to and influences human behavior.

The authors validate their approach by replicating key findings from previous studies using the Allen Human Brain Atlas and correlations between resting-state fMRI and gene co-expression maps. They then apply Mapper to analyze a set of dopamine-related genes and discover that the resulting co-expression networks produced by the tool align with the well-established anatomy of the dopaminergic pathway.

The findings suggest that network-based descriptions, such as those generated by Mapper, can be a powerful approach for investigating the relationships between genetic pathways and their connections to brain function and how these relationships may be altered by disease or pharmacological interventions.