The potential of multivariate genetic methods (see section 3.1) demonstrated in behavior genetic research (Boomsma et al., 2002; van Dongen et al., 2012) has not yet been fully utilized in genetic psychophysiology. In particular, these methods can reveal whether different characteristics are influenced by overlapping or independent genetic factors. This approach can be applied to psychophysiological measures from the same domain (e.g. novelty and oddball P3), across measurement domains (e.g. ERP and startle response or measures of autonomic reactivity), and even to covariances between psychophysiological and psychometric measures (e.g. ERPs and personality or psychopathology). Information gained by such analyses can substantially further our understanding of many psychophysiological phenomena.
