Figure 1.

Proposed strategy for the emergent field of imaging epigenetics. Although concurrent measurements of DNA methylation, gene expression patterns, and brain function are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain in the same individuals, correlations between peripherally assessed DNA methylation and brain function can be corroborated by more extensive cross-tissue functional characterization of methylation-related molecular phenotypes derived from postmortem human brain tissue and animal models, some of which are already summarized in publically available databases. In turn, any biologically plausible associations emerging from imaging epigenetics studies, especially if replicated, could serve as motivation for more costly mechanistic follow-up efforts.