NeuroTalk Support Groups - Some psychiatric disorder linked via genes: Study

ADHD, Autism, Schizophrenia, Other Psychiatric Disorders Genetically Linked In Huge New Study

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...ef=mostpopular

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WASHINGTON — The largest genetic study of mental illnesses to date finds five major disorders may not look much alike but they share some gene-based risks. The surprising discovery comes in the quest to unravel what causes psychiatric disorders and how to better diagnose and treat them.

The disorders – autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia – are considered distinct problems. But findings published online Wednesday suggest they're related in some way.

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The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, a collaboration of researchers in 19 countries, analyzed the genomes of more than 61,000 people, some with one of the five disorders and some without. They found four regions of the genetic code where variation was linked to all five disorders.

Of particular interest are disruptions in two specific genes that regulate the flow of calcium in brain cells, key to how neurons signal each other. That suggests that this change in a basic brain function could be one early pathway that leaves someone vulnerable to developing these disorders, depending on what else goes wrong.

The study is from the Lancet: not free on the internet but here is the the link to the abstract:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...223-8/fulltext

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The rapid growth of data repositories has enabled researchers to undertake large studies and meta-analyses, and has increased the power for detection of trait-associated variants.