Genetic Analysis of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Reveals Polygenicity but Also Suggests New Directions for Molecular Interrogation

Material below is adapted from the SfN Short Course Genetic Analysis of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Reveals Polygenicity but Also Suggests New Directions for Molecular Interrogation, by Benjamin M. Neale, PhD, and Pamela Sklar, MD, PhD. Short Courses are daylong scientific trainings on emerging neuroscience topics and research techniques held the day before SfN’s annual meeting.

Physicians first noted severe mental illness ran in families nearly a century ago. Since then, scientists have confirmed the heritability of both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in numerous studies documenting the incidence of mental illness among twins and other family members. Estimates of the inherited component of risk for these mental disorders range from 60 to 90 percent.