Schizophrenia has been considered an illness of disrupted brain connectivity since its earliest descriptions. Several studies have suggested brain white matter is affected not only in patients with schizophrenia but also in individuals at increased risk for the disease. Marc M. Bohlken, M.Sc., of University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, and coauthors investigated whether schizophrenia risk and white matter integrity share common genes. The imaging study included 70 individual twins discordant for schizophrenia (one with, one without) and 130 healthy control twins. The authors report their analyses suggest that reductions in white matter integrity have genetic overlap with risk for schizophrenia. "This finding suggests that genes that are relevant for (the development of) structural brain connections are partly overlapping with genes for schizophrenia," the authors note.
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To read the full article and a related editorial, "Deciphering the Genetic Complexity of Schizophrenia," by Tyrone D. Cannon, Ph.D., of Yale University, New Haven, Conn., please visit the For The Media website.
(JAMA Psychiatry. Published online November 25, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.1925. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)
Editor's Note: The study contains a funding/support disclosure. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
Media Advisory: To contact study corresponding author Marc M. Bohlken, M.Sc., email m.bohlken@umcutrecht.nl
Journal
JAMA Psychiatry