Do mental health issues have similarities with genetic traits? Scientists studied how genes relate to brain disorders on a much larger scale than before. They found that psychiatric conditions share a lot of genetic traits, while diseases like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s seem genetically different. This suggests that mental health issues might have key similarities in their genes that current diagnostic categories don’t show.
Bipolar illness and schizophrenia are two conditions that frequently run in families. Scientists from all around the world investigated the genetic connections between these mental health conditions and other brain illnesses in detail. Researchers discovered that while mental health issues are largely inherited, diseases such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s appeared to have distinct genetic backgrounds.
This is the largest investigation on the relationship between genes and brain illnesses, and it was published in Science. The results imply that there may be substantial genetic connections between mental health illnesses that are not currently recognized by the diagnostic systems in place.
Lead authors of the study were Aiden Corvin, a professor at Trinity College Dublin, and Ben Neale, director of population genetics at the Stanley Centre at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and faculty member in the Analytical and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. Verneri Anttila, a postdoctoral research fellow in Neale’s lab, was the first author. Researchers from more than 600 institutions worldwide are also a part of the collaboration.
Genetic patterns across psychiatric and neurological diseases
“This work is starting to reshape how we think about disorders of the brain,” says Neale. “If we can uncover the genetic influences and patterns of overlap between different disorders, then we might be able to better understand the root causes of these conditions — and potentially identify specific mechanisms appropriate for tailored treatments.”
It’s challenging to study biological linkages. Direct brain research is difficult, which makes thorough scans and moral biopsies difficult. Furthermore, it can be challenging to distinguish how one brain disease may be influencing the development of another when they coexist.
Genetics is used by scientists to investigate the biological connections between various illnesses. Global groups pooled their data for this study to examine genetic trends in 25 different brain illnesses. Since the probability of an illness is only marginally influenced by each gene mutation, large data sets were required for the research to identify distinct patterns within the data.
Utilizing genome-wide studies including more than a million participants, the researchers examined the genetic connections between these illnesses. They also examined relationships between 17 additional variables, including educational attainment, and brain disorders. They gathered information from every significant study on prevalent brain illnesses that had sizable enough cohorts.
“This was an unprecedented effort in sharing data, from hundreds of researchers all around the world, to improve our understanding of the brain,” says Anttila.
Widespread genetic overlap across different types of psychological disorders
The results demonstrated the high genetic overlap among many psychiatric diseases, particularly major depressive disorder, ADHD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Significant genetic connections were also discovered between OCD and Tourette syndrome, as well as between OCD and anorexia nervosa.
However, illnesses such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease appeared distinct from mental illnesses. The exception was migraine, which was linked to Tourette syndrome, ADHD, and serious depression genetically.
The researchers think that the existing classification systems employed in clinics don’t accurately reflect the genuine biological relationships between mental diseases because of the strong hereditary linkages among them. “The tradition of drawing these sharp lines when patients are diagnosed probably doesn’t follow the reality, where mechanisms in the brain might cause overlapping symptoms,” says Neale.
Consider a single mechanism influencing focus that may contribute to schizophrenia’s decision-making difficulties as well as ADHD’s concentration problems. Investigating these genetic connections may aid in the development of new genetically based patient types and direct the selection and development of treatments for them.
Genetic factors of some neurological diseases were negatively linked to early cognitive measures
Remarkably, genes associated with mental illnesses such as anorexia, autism, bipolar disorder, and OCD were also associated with improved cognitive measures during childhood, including higher levels of education. Conversely, there was a negative correlation observed between these cognitive assessments and neurological illnesses such as stroke and Alzheimer’s.
“We were surprised that genetic factors of some neurological diseases, normally associated with the elderly, were negatively linked to genetic factors affecting early cognitive measures. It was also surprising that the genetic factors related to many psychiatric disorders were positively correlated with educational attainment,” says Anttila. “We’ll need more work and even larger sample sizes to understand these connections.”
To investigate these patterns further and possibly identify the relevant processes and pathways that underpin and connect these illnesses, they intend to look at other characteristics and genetic variants.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Original written by Karen Zusi. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Verneri Anttila et al. Analysis of shared heritability in common disorders of the brain. Science, 2018; 360 (6395): eaap8757 DOI: 10.1126/science.aap8757
Page citation:
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. “Psychiatric disorders share an underlying genetic basis.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 June 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180621141059.htm>.
Help is here:
Toll-Free Mental Health Rehabilitation Helpline Kiran (1800-599-0019)
Name of the Organisation: Indian Organization for Rare Diseases
(IORD) is an umbrella organization, representing the interests of all rare disease patients, patient support groups, health policy advocates, and health care providers extending support or working in the field of any of the undermentioned rare disease groups.
Website: https://www.rarediseases.in/
Contact: Email: info@rarediseases.in, indiaord@gmail.com
Telephone: +91-9666438880
Name of the Organisation: Vandrevala Foundation
Vandrevala Foundation is a non-profit that partners with organizations to help communities thrive by providing education and healthcare. Vandrevala Foundation launched a mental health helpline in India in 2009 to offer free psychological counselling and crisis mediation to anyone who is experiencing distress due to depression, trauma, mood disorders, chronic illness, and relationship conflict.
Website: http://www.vandrevalafoundation.com
Contact: Email: info@vandrevalafoundation.com
Telephone: +91 9999 666 555