In 2019, a groundbreaking study by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium analyzed genetic data from hundreds of thousands of individuals. The researchers identified 109 genetic loci (locations on the genome) associated with a range of psychiatric conditions β including:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Schizophrenia
- Bipolar Disorder
- Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
- Tourette Syndrome
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Anorexia Nervosa
These genetic risk factors were often shared across multiple disorders, suggesting that common biological pathways might underlie several mental health conditions.
More recently, researchers β including Hyejung Won, a geneticist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill β have been studying how these risk variants influence gene regulation during brain development. Rather than coding directly for proteins, many of these variants affect regulatory elements that control when and where genes are switched on or off in the brain.
βThe proteins produced by these genes are also highly connected to other proteins. Changes to these proteins could ripple through the network, potentially causing widespread effects on the brain.β
β Hyejung Won
Current studies suggest that some genetic variants influence multiple stages of neurodevelopment β not because they remain βconstantly active,β but because they regulate critical developmental windows. This influence could help explain why diverse psychiatric conditions share overlapping symptoms and risk factors.
These insights into shared genetic architecture may eventually lead to treatments targeting common pathways β potentially offering new hope for people affected by more than one psychiatric condition. However, researchers emphasize that this is an evolving field, and translating these findings into therapies will take time.
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