Psychiatric genetics

Psychiatric genetics is a subfield of behavioral neurogenetics and behavioral genetics which studies the role of genetics in the development of mental disorders (such as alcoholism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism). The basic principle behind psychiatric genetics is that genetic polymorphisms (as indicated by linkage to e.g. a single nucleotide polymorphism) are part of the causation of psychiatric disorders.[1]

Psychiatric genetics is a somewhat new name for the old question, "Are behavioral and psychological conditions and deviations inherited?".[2] The goal of psychiatric genetics is to better understand the causes of psychiatric disorders, to use that knowledge to improve treatment methods, and possibly also to develop personalized treatments based on genetic profiles (see pharmacogenomics). In other words, the goal is to transform parts of psychiatry into a neuroscience-based discipline.[3]

Recent advances in molecular biology allowed for the identification of hundreds of common and rare genetic variations that contribute to psychiatric disorders.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Burmeister was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Maier, Wolfgang (2003). "Psychiatric Genetics: Overview on Achievements, Problems, Perspectives". Psychiatric Genetics. Methods in Molecular Medicine. Vol. 77. Humana Press. pp. 3–20. doi:10.1385/1-59259-348-8:03. ISBN 9781588290373.
  3. ^ Züchner S, Roberts ST, Speer MC, Beckham JC (2007). "Update on psychiatric genetics". Genet Med. 9 (6): 332–40. doi:10.1097/GIM.0b013e318065a9fa. PMID 17575499.
  4. ^ Jordan Smoller; et al. (2018). "Psychiatric genetics and the structure of psychopathology". Molecular Psychiatry. 24 (3): 409–420. doi:10.1038/s41380-017-0010-4. hdl:1805/17312. PMC 6684352. PMID 29317742.