A new study reveals that eight different psychiatric conditions share a common genetic basis, offering new possibilities for treatments targeting multiple disorders at once. Published this year, the research identifies specific genetic variants active during brain development that contribute to conditions like autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and more.
The US research team discovered that many of these variants remain active for extended periods, potentially influencing various stages of brain development. “The proteins produced by these genes are highly connected to other proteins,” says Hyejung Won, a geneticist at the University of North Carolina. “Changes in these proteins could cause widespread effects on the brain.”
In 2019, an international team identified 109 genes linked to eight psychiatric disorders. These conditions often co-occur—up to 70% of individuals with autism or ADHD also have the other condition—and cluster within families.
The study focused on 18,000 variations of shared and unique genes involved in these disorders, testing them in precursor cells that develop into neurons. This allowed researchers to identify 683 genetic variants affecting gene regulation during human development. They also tested these variants in neurons from developing mice.
The study highlights pleiotropic variants—genetic variations linked to multiple conditions. These variants were involved in more protein interactions and were active across a broader range of brain cells than those unique to individual disorders. They also impacted multiple stages of brain development, potentially explaining why they contribute to different conditions.
“Pleiotropy has been a challenge in classifying psychiatric disorders,” says Won. “However, understanding its genetic basis could allow us to develop treatments targeting these shared factors, helping treat multiple disorders with a single therapy.”
This research could be vital, as the World Health Organization estimates that nearly 1 billion people worldwide live with some form of psychiatric disorder. The study was published in Cell.
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