Big data reveals hints of how, when and where mental disorders start
New genetic complexities emerge for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism
Psychiatric disorders’ many complexities have stymied scientists looking for clear genetic culprits. But a new giant dataset holds clues to how, when and where these brain disorders begin.
Called PsychENCODE, the project’s first large data release has revealed intricate insights into the behavior of genes and the stretches of genetic material between them in both healthy brains and those from people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or autism spectrum disorder.
The results, split among 10 studies published online December 13 in Science, Science Advances and Science Translational Medicine, offer some of the most detailed looks yet at the links between these genetic elements and brain health. “It’s all connected, and now we have the tools to unravel those connections,” says geneticist Thomas Lehner of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md., who oversaw the project but wasn’t involved in the research.