A spatially resolved genomic molecular atlas of human white-matter microstructure

Human white matter has been linked to inherited variation, circulating molecular state and brain disease, but these layers have rarely been mapped onto the same tract anatomy. Here we measured genetic effects along 6,090 atlas-aligned fiber pathways sampled at 609,000 locations in 72,185 UK Biobank participants, and integrated proteomic and metabolomic profiles within the same anatomical frame. Genetic effects were not whole-tract properties: each locus formed a spatial footprint along fiber trajectories, ranging from single locations to broad multi-tract patterns and reflecting regional polygenicity rather than tract heritability. This map identified 258, 186 and 298 previously unreported loci for fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity and axial diffusivity; spatial patterns replicated in adults and 157 of 315 FA loci replicated in adolescence in ABCD. Mendelian randomization linked localized genetic effects to neurodegenerative and psychiatric traits, with Alzheimer's disease showing directional effects across 12 of 17 tracts. Multi-omic analyses identified 97 proteomic and 161 metabolomic associations, with the broadest signals from lipid metabolites including linoleic acid and phosphatidylcholines. The strongest lipid-metabolite and genetic signals converged in the corpus callosum, placing inherited variation, disease risk and systemic lipid metabolism on the same localized tract segments.