Schizophrenia is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterised by recurrent episodes of psychosis, including hallucinations, delusions, and disorganised thinking, and given that it runs in families, researchers are focusing on genetic testing and analyses to pinpoint risk factors.Recent genomic research has identified nearly 300 common genetic variants and over 20 rare variants as significant risk factors for schizophrenia.
Patrick Sullivan, of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (FRANZCP), the Yeargan Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Genetics at the UNC School of Medicine, along with researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, have developed a detailed overview of the genetics of schizophrenia.
Their comprehensive review, published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, comprises discoveries from extensive genome-wide association studies, whole-exome sequencing, and other analyses.
Concurrently, research on the brain’s functional organisation has illuminated the complex cellular composition and interconnections within the brains of both neurotypical individuals and those with schizophrenia, where apathy, social withdrawal, and poor emotional control are other symptoms.
The findings underscore the surprising complexity of schizophrenia’s mechanisms, pointing to the involvement of multiple genes rather than a single gene. This polygenicity presents challenges due to the absence of robust theoretical frameworks and experimental tools.
